The Quick Guide to Getting Started on Substack
What Substack beginners need to know.
So you want to get started in the online writing game, and you’ve stumbled across Substack.
Is Substack the platform for a beginner like yourself? As someone with over 200,000 views on Substack, I believe the answer is yes. Anyone - even beginners can write successfully on Substack.
You just have to get started. But where do you start?
Setting Up Your Substack.
Pick a name.
You can be as creative (like the
with over 45,000 subscribers) - or simple - as you like here. Lots of Substack writers just go with their name (like thewith over 149,000 subscribers).There’s no pressure with the decision to pick out a name. You can always change the name of your Substack later.
Tell us what your Substack is about.
Tell us as much about your Substack in one sentence as you can. Don’t put, “I write about my life.” People don’t know anything about your life unless you're already a celebrity.
Get specific.
Maybe say, “Survival tips for living in your car in Los Angeles.” Give us details about what we can expect for your Substack.
Sometimes when using the “explore” feature on Substack, I like to read the one-sentence description writers give of their Substack. A well-written summary attracts the attention of potential subscribers.
Here are a few examples to get some ideas flowing:
By the way, you noticed that, right - over 1 million subscribers?!
These are examples of the importance of the one-sentence summary from some successful writers on Substack.
Choose the right categories to help with discovery.
When you use the explore feature on Substack, you will see the different categories you can write in.
Currently, you have a lot of different options to choose from.
That’s 27 categories if my count is correct. Pick the two categories that you believe your writing fits the closest.
Explain the “why” of your Substack - the About page.
So maybe your one-sentence summary statement drew me in, but I want to know more.
If I want to know more about what you’re writing, I can just look at the homepage of your Substack. But maybe I’m interested in learning more about you and why you’re writing about your subject.
Make your “About” page more about your backstory and “why.”
Time for a little artwork.
Run over to Canva and use their templates to easily and quickly assemble a logo.
I’m not much of an artist, and I use Canva for all of my graphic design needs because they make it so easy. You can sign up for a free account and use most of their features.
You get much more at your fingertips by upgrading to a “Pro” account.
Turn on pledges.
Maybe you don’t want to turn on paid subscriptions just yet.
If you’re like me, you would like to - and plan to eventually - but you don’t yet have the “paid content” idea in place just yet.
What you should do is make sure you have Pledges turned on. You’ll find that under “Payments” in your settings.
This will allow your readers to “pledge” to pay for a future paid subscription whenever you turn on paid subscriptions.
And it does happen.
I write another Substack called
and three of my subscribers have "pledged" their support if I ever turn on paid subscriptions. It's not a lot of money - but it's reassuring to know that people care about your content enough to pledge their hard-earned money.So turn on the pledge option.
Write your first post.
It doesn’t have to be a perfect idea. It doesn’t have to be super long.
Just write something, do your best, and publish it. Once you’ve done that, here’s what you should do next.
Share on social media.
If you have a Facebook page, share what you wrote there. Odds are, some of your Facebook friends will become your first and most loyal subscribers.
Maybe you won’t get 100 subscribers from your social media friends - but what if you could get 5 or 10?
It’s a good start, so don’t forget to share it on social media.
Forward to interested friends and family.
Maybe you have a friend who would be interested in the topic you chose - forward your article to them and ask them to read it and tell you what they think.
Do the same thing with family members.
Republish on Medium.
It’s a no-brainer to republish some of your first articles from Substack on Medium. Medium already has a built-in audience, so they will serve up your articles to those interested in your topic.
Medium even has a setting that allows you to “republish” content initially published somewhere else - like Substack.
If you aren’t a member of Medium, then you can use my link to sign up at no extra cost to you. It’s only $5 a month - and you can earn money from your articles on Medium as well.
Repetition, repetition, repetition.
Finally, keep writing.
Don’t quit - don’t give up.
Keep showing up!