2 years of Substack lessons in 14 minutes
Smarter Substack | Mar 23, 2026
2 years, 43,000 subscribers, and $50K/month — compressed into a single video with the lessons that actually mattered. Here's what's worth your time today:
🧠 Strategy
2 Years of Substack Knowledge in 14 Minutes — Nine lessons from building a Substack publication to 43,000+ subscribers and $50K/month, starting from zero. Covers why running the math backwards beats chasing arbitrary milestones, how Recommendations brought in thousands of free subscribers, and the mindset shift from selling subscriptions to building a real business around a publication.
✍️ Writing
Remove These 9 Things From Your Writing To Finally Grow on Substack — A creator who grew to 7,000 subscribers in 18 months shares the nine writing habits that were silently pushing readers away. From clever-but-confusing headlines to filler words that dilute trust, each fix is small on its own — but the compound effect on readability is significant.
📈 Growth
You’re Posting Notes for the Wrong Reason — Most Notes advice focuses on growing subscriber counts, but this piece reframes the entire approach. Think of Notes as a cocktail party — each one is a 30-second window where someone decides if they want a longer conversation with you. The post breaks down 10 things your Notes can reveal about you and the types of engagement that matter more than raw follower numbers.
See you tomorrow.
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I love the Brooklyn 99 GIF on this post. Thanks for the feature!
I need to check this out! Also, I didn't know you can publish as a group. I'm assuming this article shows up in the Posts section for all three of the authors? And may I ask, how did the three of you meet and decide to launch this together?