What I learned in a year of writing about a really unpopular topic

On Substack, we often hear about the big successes, how someone went from zero to 500,000 subscribers in 6 months. For most of us, the reality is quite different.

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I spent most of 2023 writing about and promoting a topic near and dear to my heart that challenges most of society’s beliefs around one core topic — diet culture. I created Almost Sated to chronicle my personal quest to detox from diets after having had two family members battle anorexia. I also wanted to guide others who wanted to do the same. My task as a marketer was to identify and grow an audience interested in engaging with the subject matter, not an easy feat.

In a year of faithfully adhering to a twice-weekly publishing schedule, I worked hard to gain subscribers and …

• I didn’t have a single post go viral. 

• I didn’t become a Substack featured publication. 

• I didn’t have a single post rank on any of Substack’s leaderboards. 

At times, it was a lonely, humbling experience.

But it made me a better marketer. It also made me a better writer and editor. And I was able to grow from zero to over 400 subscribers in that first year, and the newsletter is still growing today (and I’d love for you to subscribe and check it out).

Tackling a difficult topic forced me to learn new skills, drilled the value of finding my audience and carving my niche, and reinforced the value of collaboration and strategic partnerships. What follows is a long list of things I tried, what worked for me, and the lessons I learned from the experience. And these lessons can work for you, too, especially if you’re promoting a niche topic, an unpopular opinion, or a novel concept on your Substack newsletter — or anywhere else. So, let’s get into it.

All the things I tried

Collaborating, engaging, and networking — on and off the platform. This is, overall, the biggest key to growth on Substack and basically every other platform out there. Just posting and hoping for views is not a strategy. I know Substack really sells the “internal discovery” of its platform, but you’ve still got to promote your content. I did quite a few collaborations and still think this is a great strategy for growth at all levels of your journey.

My biggest early success came from writing a book review for a fellow anti-diet author on the platform. She linked to my review, and that’s how I gained my first real subscribers, beyond the odd friends and family who probably didn’t agree with my views on diet culture but supported me anyway. I took the same approach months later with another writer, and while she did not link to my review, that piece of writing is bringing me readers through organic search. There’s quite a time investment from this approach, but it’s worth considering.

I subscribed to other writers in the anti-diet space and adjacent spaces. I reached out and personally connected with as many of them as I could, introducing myself and my newsletter, and inviting them to follow me. Some did. Some didn’t. I still think this is a solid strategy for growing when you have a niche topic, and frankly, it helped save my sanity. I wouldn’t have made it that first year without

Linn Thorstensson

who writes

Joyful + Nourishment

.

I did podcast interviews, guest blogs, and had media coverage on topics related to my content. If they didn’t automatically link to me, I asked them to. Podcast interviews were much more effective at bringing in new subscribers than blogs or even media interviews, but this is dependent on each publication’s size and focus. I’m going to be doing more media pitching over the coming months.

I started a feature where I interviewed people who had quit diets and invited people to share their stories. Many of them were fellow Substack writers who promoted my newsletter, although not all of them did. I still tell people’s stories of quitting diets and would love to share yours. (Shoot me a DM!)

I regularly attended online workshops with fellow Substack writers, where I could promote my work. I made business cards and handed them out at professional networking events. I promoted my newsletter in Facebook and Reddit groups. I hosted local Substack meetups. I promoted my work to my personal networks on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, to varying degrees of success. (The only two platforms I’m actively using now are Substack and LinkedIn.)

I recommended the publications I enjoy reading, and in turn, many of them recommended mine. This is and was where a good chunk of subscribers come from, and one of the major needle movers.

I experimented with free and paid referral newsletter programs to varying degrees of success. We all have to find our sweet spot here, but my original goal with Almost Sated was to build an audience for an eventual book, which is why I didn’t charge right away and still don’t push it heavily.

I optimized my posts that had the most SEO potential, and monthly I still go in and optimize my top-searched posts on Google to capture new readers. Depending on topic, this can be a very effective way to grow audience. Substack continues to work on improving SEO, and Almost Sated gets more and more views from search each month. (By the way, here’s how to connect your Substack to Google Search Console.)

Like a politician kissing a lot of babies, I promoted a lot of other people’s work. I did a weekly roundup where I linked to other interesting reads, including other Substack writers. I regularly engaged with my audience, other writers on their newsletters, and on the aforementioned Substack Notes. Yes, I gained subscribers from this, but even better, I made friends with other people in the trenches just like me. Writing can be such a solitary process. This was— and is — one of the ways I kept my sanity and one of the things I’ve most enjoyed over the last year. Shoutout to

Andrew Smith

, who was my first real friend on this platform, and I know he’s been a friend to many here. We bonded over our similar upbringings as Gen X misfits.

My biggest lessons from all of these experiences?

There is no one right way. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa. What worked for me in my other content marketing work didn’t always work here. I had to experiment. I’m still experimenting.

There are no shortcuts. Yes, people get lucky occasionally, but growing an audience and an engaged platform takes more than just producing good work and creating value for others (although, yes, you have to do that too). And it’s a long-term play. The vast majority of regular people seeing quick success on Substack are those who write about … how to succeed on Substack … and know how to promote themselves. Also, remember, we all have different starting places, and growth is not linear. Stop comparing yourself to the person who imported their list of 15,000 subscribers if you’re starting from zero.

Your topic does matter. I consulted with a Substack expert early on who told me if each time I published, my post didn’t bring in subscribers, it was likely the quality of the writing. There was a hot minute where I got in my head about this, because many posts didn’t bring in a single subscriber (which is, I think, more the rule than the exception for writers starting from zero). This isn’t necessarily a content problem, it’s a discovery problem. 

Finding the right audience isn’t easy. In fact, it’s often the hardest part of marketing. Putting yourself out there and experimenting with different tactics and different messaging is the only way to find consistent growth. If you’re creating great content, but it’s not performing well, it’s often because you just haven’t found the right audience.

Defining your audience and niche is important. When I started, I tried to attract a wider audience of people interested in personal growth. This was great when I wrote about personal growth, but the majority of my work was about my learnings and takeaways from quitting diets and working to reject diet culture, which is still a quite radical concept. When I wrote about those topics, the people who were just following me for personal growth were turned off. I’ve had a lot of subscribes and unsubscribes.

It’s about building relationships. I have people who pay for and support my work because of the consistent efforts I’ve put into building relationships with them. And that isn’t why I do it. I genuinely want to help and connect with people. Knowing your why is so important and can keep you steady when it feels like know one is reading. Take time to nurture your relationships, respond to your readers, and engage with them authentically.

Writing for your audience is important. I initially thought women of all ages in the anti-diet space would just automatically want to follow me. But, in fact, my writing is geared toward middle-aged women who have spent their life dieting and are either ready to quit or have already quit diets and are making the transition to intuitive eating. Our younger generations, who grew up with the concept of body positivity, aren’t as steeped in diet culture and probably couldn’t relate to my writing, and women beyond my generation overwhelmingly still believe dieting is the only way to live. When I understood this, my messaging got better. My writing did too.

My biggest lesson of all?

We cannot control outcomes. We can only control our inputs and actions. This was such a hard lesson, and frankly, I had to make it a mantra I said myself over and over again in order to take it to heart.

What lessons have you learned in starting and growing a newsletter? What’s been most helpful to you? What’s been most challenging?

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How to Beat Content Creation Burnout