On Your Terms® 280. How I Got My First 1,000 Subscribers on Substack
13 snips
Mar 16, 2026 They walk through organic strategies that grew a Substack to 1,000 subscribers using only consistent writing and simple tactics. Topics include treating the platform as a writing playground, building a reliable writing habit and idea bank, banking finished essays before publishing, using Substack Notes, repurposing podcast content, and referral tactics that boost discoverability.
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Become A Fan First
- Do become a genuine fan of Substack before expecting growth from it.
- Sam followed many Substacks to learn features (posts, notes, audio) and copied patterns she liked to experiment effectively.
How Sam Began On Substack
- Anecdote: Sam started on Substack by posting occasional Notes and repurposing her Kit newsletter.
- She later parked the URL, experimented intermittently, then in August began posting original weekly content and saw steady growth.
Adopt A Growth Mindset For Writing
- Do adopt a growth mindset: view writing skill as developable rather than fixed.
- Sam framed Substack as a place to learn, accept public failure, and improve through repeated practice.