START HERE: How to Build a Substack With Potential
Our official blueprint for monetizing your newsletter, fast...
Did you know we have an ongoing community challenge to publish a Substack every week, and a newsletter with weekly tips to make it happen? I hope you will join us!
Here are the 8 steps I recommend to build a Substack with real monetization potential —
and a clear path to your first 100 paid subscribers:
1.) Choose What Your Substack is About
This is the core “soul searching” element of our Roadmap – because it’s extremely important to choose a topic/niche/theme that you’ll actually still want to engage with 5-10 years from now!
If you are still deciding on a concept, here are 13 key questions to help you land on your Dream Substack Topic (and if you already know your concept, skip to the next section)
Ask yourself:
What have you consistently loved, consistently thought about, and/or consistently pined after for years now?
What would you regret not writing about if you died tomorrow?
What’s a topic you could talk about endlessly — even if no one paid you?
What’s the one thing you want to be known for?
Is there a dream project ypu have always wanted to write about but never acted on?
What topics could you easily (and excitedly!) generate 100+ posts about?
What kind of writing makes you feel energized? What kind of writing would you wake up excited to do?
What’s the dream newsletter you yourself wish you could receive in your inbox every week?
What transformation or life goal are you obsessed with achieving in life, that you could chronicle in real time?
What would feel like a dream if this Substack led to it?
What are the top 3 things on your Bucket List, and could you write about them?
What questions do people regularly ask you, seek advice on, or trust your opinion about?
Would you rather share personal stories, research, tips, interviews, or creative writing?
Hopefully after completing these questions, you have ONE theme that continued to come up as your answer (which would definitely be your topic…)
But potentially, you have a few in mind, and that’s a great start too! (If you are in this camp, complete Steps 2 and 3 below to test out your possible topics – after, you should be able to locate a topic that combines both what you love & what the world needs.)
2.) Define the Reader You’re Writing For
Once you’ve chosen a topic, ask yourself:
Who is the audience for this topic?
How would you define your ideal reader within this audience (or “target demographic”?) – probably, you are not writing to EVERYONE in your field of choice, so who are the like-minded humans you are really writing for? What are some core ideas that unite you as a sub-group?
Who are you NOT writing to within your field? (i.e. are you writing for women and NOT men?; are you writing for budget travelers and NOT luxury travelers?; etc.)
And most importantly: What are the problems / fears / pain points your target readers face related to your concept?
👉 Definitely journal on this question and make a list, to use later
Some additional audience-related questions to consider:
What is your audience already reading?
What might they be struggling to find good content on?
What things do they regularly and easily shell out money for?
3.) Define Why Your Substack Needs to Exist (AKA Craft a “Value Proposition”)
This is where understanding the problems, fears, and pain points of your readers becomes necessary:
To create a truly monetizable Substack, we need to figure out what exists at the crossroads of “what we want to write about” and “what our audience needs.”
In other words:
A strong Substack concept solves a problem – even if the solution you offer is something like “providing escapism” or “helping people feel seen” or “providing inspiration”.
Ask yourself:
Which problems, fears, or pain points can I help solve for my readers?
What kind of content would my audience happily pay to receive?
What transformation are you offering — even subtly?
What will my readers be able to feel, do, or understand better after reading my posts consistently?
What emotional benefit am I giving my readers? (Relief, confidence, motivation, belonging?)
What belief, frustration, or longing does my newsletter quietly validate in others?
4.) Choose a Valuable Format You Can Sustain
With your Substack’s core value in mind, now it’s time to design a repeatable weekly structure that A) gives your readers what they want/need most, and B) is easy for you to replicate each week, to save you LOADS of future decision fatigue.
Could you: (as examples to get you thinking)
Write one short essay & one crucial tip every week?
Pen one reflection and offer related journal prompts for those on a similar path?
Gather a roundup of great things in your niche every Sunday?
Provide one weekly meal plan or one recipe for those in food?
Interview someone new who adds value every week?
Provide one case study or key takeaway every Monday?
Have one section that’s more diary-style and one that’s designed to help your audience with their biggest fears?
Rotate 4 sub-topics on a repeating monthly basis?
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel every week – carve out one repeatable format, and stick to it!
5.) Strategize How You’ll Split Free vs. Paid
You have a few options here:
Start with a completely free Substack now to grow your audience & build trust, then launch paid tiers later
Go with a “freemium” model where posts are partially paywalled – starting off with a tiny but of free content, then hitting a paywall for those who want to pay to keep reading
Go with a “freemium” model where some posts are fully free & some are fully paid
Go completely ‘paid’ but offer continuous previews of the value you provide
Go completely ‘free’ and monetize in other ways (see number 7 below)
The right answer for you will depend on your niche, your audience, and your own personality. Which of the above feels right to you in your gut?
6.) Think Through All Possible Revenue Streams
A Substack isn’t just a way to slap a pricetag on your writing – it can also be a powerful vehicle to grow an audience, and sell them something else – especially if you are having trouble understanding why people would pay for what you want to write about.
If that’s the case – or if you are interested in inventing multiple revenue streams to really diversify your income – would you ever want to make money from any of the following?
A book or e-book (of any length)
A magazine or zine (physical or digital)
Affiliate marketing or sponsored posts
Digital downloads full of information like PDF guides, workbooks, checklists, resource lists, recipes/itineraries, etc.
Digital or in-person courses or masterclasses
A paid community (virtual or in person)
Ticketed virtual events like workshops, masterminds, or zoom sessions
Retreats, weekend trips, tours, or day-long events (like workshops, conferences, or other meetups)
Top-tier content like recorded interviews, workshops, or other resources worth paying for
1:1 services like coaching, consulting, or mentoring
Freelance work like article writing or photography using your Substack as your portfolio
Merchandise aligned with your brand (e.g., tote bags, mugs, notebooks, stickers)
Valuable information in your field such as weekly job openings, opportunities for writers/creatives, available grants, affordable real estate, daily foreign language tips, etc.
Private community forums such as invite-only groups/chats on Whatsapp, Instagram, Slack, Discord, Voxer, Telegram, etc.
Other products related to your niche – custom stationery or planners, art prints, beauty products, recipes, clothing, the sky is the limit!
Other services related to your niche – content audits, editorial services, office hours or AMAs, travel planning, marketing / content creation, etc.
Your newsletter can be a standalone income stream — or simply exciting content that people want to receive, that happens to point to other paid products/services.
No matter what kind of writer you are (and especially if you are the type of writer whose content isn’t obviously ‘solving a problem’) – know that you have myriad monetization options at your fingertips.
7.) Study What’s Working
Now go stalk 10+ newsletters in your niche, and analyze:
What are they clearly doing well?
How are they monetizing?
What aspects do you like, and which will you avoid in your own Substack?
How is their perspective different or similar to your own?
What’s missing?
Learning the landscape of fellow writers who already exist in your niche is crucial so you can position yourself wisely, and know how you stand out.
Make sure to give your favorite 5+ Substacks a follow (ideally ones that are doing something similar to yours), so you can continue following along to help you stay motivated.
8.) Set a Weekly Writing Cadence – & Commit to Weekly Publishing
The most important growth metric isn’t followers. It’s finished posts.
Decide:
What your weekly writing ritual will look like (Will you write over a giant pot of tea every Sunday morning? Will you head to a wine bar to write every Wednesday evening? Will you whip out a post every Friday lunch break?)
What day/time you’ll post (committing to at least one post per week – you can always expand later!)
How long your posts will be (anything 500-2000 words can work, depending upon your topic)
When you’ll write weekly Notes, respond to comments, etc.
How you can hold yourself accountable (Could you enlist a friend to join you? Or join a virtual/local writing group?)
The only way to grow is to show up consistently – and the truth is that one monthly post just isn’t enough to command real income.
Commit to weekly posts for an entire year, and you are guaranteed to see real traction.
🎯 Your next step:
If you’re serious about building a profitable Substack, here’s how we can help.
Our paid weekly newsletter will give you:
✅ A community challenge to post every week, & an inspiring space to share with each other
✅ A weekly visibility challenge, to ensure you’re maximizing the algorithm and getting in front of new people every week
✅ A reflection question to help you shape your content/marketing strategy more & more each week
✅ Ongoing interviews with writers making real income from their Substacks, so you can copy their methods
✅ Exclusive invites to community Zoom sessions & Substack-focused Writing Retreats (get excited because we’re heading to Italy in 2026…)
For a limited time our Substack is just £5 per month:
BONUS: Our Virtual Power Hours
Want an added layer of accountability to actually sit down & get your writing done?
We offer a weekly 2-hour sessions (with 60 minutes of inspiring group conversation & 60 minutes of silent writing time) through our virtual community Bottega Collective.
One hour is all you need to whip out a quality weekly post, & our community will keep you inspired along the way: