The 5 Biggest Mistakes New Newsletter Creators Make
These mistakes hold you back from growing
Struggling to grow your newsletter on Substack?
My Newsletter Growth Masterclass shows you how to gain 10–20 new subscribers a day and monetize your writing.
I joined Substack in the summer of 2024 with no clue how to run a newsletter.
Ten months later, I’ve grown to nearly 2,000 subscribers, landed coaching clients, sold digital products, and picked up ghostwriting work all from my newsletter.
Substack has opened doors I didn’t even know existed.
But here’s the truth: just hitting “start a publication” isn’t enough.
If you want to grow your list, keep people reading, and turn your newsletter into a business, you need more than just content, you need strategy.
If your Substack isn’t growing the way you hoped, you might be making one of these five common mistakes.
Mistake #1: You’re Not Using Notes Enough
Substack Notes is by far the fastest way to grow your newsletter right now.
If you’re not active on Notes, you’re leaving growth on the table.
Posting even once a day can start building momentum.
And I don’t just mean sharing your newsletter link over and over again. People tune that out.
Instead, vary your content.
Share:
Quick tips or insights
Personal takes or stories
Questions that spark engagement
Snippets from your latest post
Useful resources for your niche
Think of Notes as a way to get discovered.
It’s where readers hang out and where they often decide to follow or subscribe based on your content.
When I got intentional about posting on Notes, my daily subscriber growth doubled.
Inside the Newsletter Growth Masterclass, I share 10 types of Notes that attract readers and grow your Substack faster.
Mistake #2: You’re Not Connecting with Other Creators
Substack isn’t just an email platform, it’s a community.
And one of the most underrated growth tools is creator recommendations.
A lot of new writers never ask for them.
Recommendations are free word-of-mouth marketing.
Once another creator recommends you, your newsletter shows up on their “subscribe” page and in onboarding emails for their readers.
That means passive subscriber growth without extra work from you.
About 15% of my total subscribers came from recommendations alone.
Here’s how to get started:
Find creators in a similar or complementary niche.
Read and engage with their work genuinely.
Start a conversation (DM, comment, or email).
Once you’ve built some rapport, ask for a recommendation—and offer to return the favor.
Inside my course, I walk you through exactly what to say and how to approach these conversations so they lead to real growth.
Mistake #3: Your Newsletter Doesn’t Have a Clear Niche
People don’t subscribe to newsletters that try to cover everything.
If your content is all over the place, some productivity tips here, a random opinion piece there, a health post next week, readers won’t know what to expect.
And if they don’t know what they’re getting, they won’t subscribe.
The most successful newsletters serve a specific audience with a specific problem.
When your newsletter is focused, a few things happen:
Your content becomes more valuable.
You attract readers who care about your topic.
You become easier to recommend and refer.
You open the door to monetization—coaching, courses, or products that serve that niche.
Clarity creates momentum.
Take time to define who you're writing for and what you help them with.
Mistake #4: Your Content Isn’t “Sticky”
If someone lands on your Substack, what makes them want to subscribe?
Most newsletters blend into the background.
They’re generic, forgettable, and could’ve been written by AI.
To stand out, your content needs to be sticky, meaning it hooks people in and keeps them coming back.
Here’s how to do that:
Share stories, not just facts.
Use personal experiences to teach lessons.
Have a clear voice and point of view.
Make your posts easy to skim but hard to forget.
Readers don’t want more content.
They want connection, clarity, and something that feels human.
When you write in a way that feels real and personal, people stick around, and they tell others.
Mistake #5: You’re Not Thinking About Growth Like a System
A lot of newsletter writers rely on hope: “I’ll write great stuff, and people will magically find it.”
That’s not how it works.
Growth happens when you build a simple system around:
Consistent publishing
Showing up on Notes
Collaborating with other creators
Sharing your content on discovery platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, etc.)
Giving readers a clear reason to subscribe
If you do those things consistently for 30–60 days, your list will grow.
Want to Make Content That Gets Attention?
I created a resource bank to help you do just that: The Creator’s Vault
This is a collection of the best tools and products to help you write content that builds trust, grows your following, and makes money.
Thank you Mark for these wonderful and valuable insights.