Substack is the Future of the Internet (and here's why)
Why Every Serious Creator Should Treat Substack Like It's Youtube in 2010
Hey everybody! 👋
Orel here, I’m writing this on behalf of Dino who asked me to write a fantastic article for his audience today.
I’m the founder of WriteStack and Substack is my number one platform right now and honestly the best social media I used, and I believe it’s the future of media. So Dino has allowed me to have a guest post where I tell you everything I know about it and why you should be writing on it too.
When people think about Substack, most of them think of it as a newsletter. A place where you can email your audience.
They couldn’t be more wrong than that.
And to be honest, if that’s all you want, don’t use Substack. Kit and Beehive will run circles around it for pure email marketing. Better analytics, better automations, better integrations.
But Substack is playing a completely different game.
The Problem With Every Other Platform
You can build a massive audience on X, LinkedIn, Threads or whatever other platforms there are.
But here’s the thing: you don’t own any of it.
You put out content every day and you get followers. But at the end of the day, the platform owns your audience. not you. If they decide to change the algorithm, you lose exposure. If you stop putting content for a few days, you lose exposure. You do not control your audience in any way.
If you want to actually own a slice of it, you have to funnel them out. Set up a separate newsletter tool, build a lead magnet, hope enough people click the link in your bio. On a good day, you convert a fraction of your followers into email subscribers. The rest stay on the platform, which means the platform stays in control.
And platforms are not your friend. They care about the money. And if you do anything to hurt it, you’ll get banned and lose everything.
What Substack Is…
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Substack built something no other platform has: a social aspect on top of a newsletter.
The newsletter is the foundation of Substack. write long-form content, build trust, get emails. But then they layered the social platform on top.
A short-form feed, just like X, called Notes. A private inbox where you can have private conversations with other people. a subscribers chat (so powerful) where you can have chats with your subscribers without bothering everybody’s email.
Other newsletter platforms can’t give you this. Beehive doesn’t have a social feed. Kit doesn’t either. Medium has long-form content but no real mechanism for discovery that compounds into email growth.
Substack has both. In the same app. The social reach of Twitter with the ownership model of email. That’s the real power of Substack.
And that’s not all.
On X, if you want someone to join your email list, they have to go to your profile and click subscribe or read an article, scroll to the top and click subscribe. SO MUCH FRICTION.
Plus, it’s not engrained in the users experience and use of the platform, so they rarely do that.
On Substack it’s the exact opposite.
For instance you see a Note in your feed. Top right corner, an orange subscribe button. One click. Email given. Done. It’s the only orange thing in the entire Note. You can’t miss it.
And in an article? As simple and even simpler. See this button below.
The Proof
Statistics as shown on writestack.io
In the last 30 days, my Notes got 60,000 impressions.
21% of those, roughly 12,900 people, came from strangers. People who don’t follow me, aren’t subscribed, had never seen my content before.
Try getting 12,000 impressions from new people on Facebook for free. I ran Facebook ads and paid $400 for 4,000 impressions, and got 3 conversions. At that rate, I’d need $1,200 a month to match what Substack gives me for nothing.
Not only that, the link I have in the bio of my profile drives a SIGNIFICANT portion of my MRR (34%).
Of the people who replied to how did they find WriteStack, 116/334 users said they found it through my content.
Hard to beat that.
The Flywheel
When you post a Note, your subscribers see it. Some of them engage, they like it, restack it, comment. That engagement pushes your Note out to a slice of their followers. New people who’ve never heard of you, seeing your content because someone they trust engaged with it.
Some of those people subscribe. Now they’re getting your weekly article in their inbox. They build trust in you. They start engaging with your Notes. And that pushes your content to their followers.
Round and round it goes.
Post Notes → get impressions from strangers → strangers subscribe → subscribers read your articles → subscribers engage with your Notes → their followers see your content → more strangers subscribe.
Substack is the only platform that gives you the entire loop.
So Who Should Be on Substack?
Everyone who’s already creating content.
If you’re posting on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram every day, there is no good reason not to spend one extra hour a week writing a 1,000-word article on Substack. With AI, that hour is closer to 20 minutes.
Substack is still early. Not launch-day early, but early enough that the accounts growing on it today will look back in two years and be glad they got in when they did. The platform is growing, which means your account grows with it.
The trade is simple: one hour a week, compounding forever. Your social reach grows. Your email list grows. And an email list, used well, turns into real money.
No other platform is offering that deal right now.
Substack is.
—
Are you a creator on Substack? Or thinking about it? Then you NEED to have WriteStack in order to grow faster on Substack
It’s your one-stop shop for everything you’ll ever need for your Notes.
Analytics that tell you which Notes converted readers
Cross-post to any platform you want
Bulk scheduling/unscheduling
Activity Center that helps you clear out your notifications in minutes
World-class customer support. I reply crazy fast.
- Orel
PS (from Dino): If you’re serious about building on Substack, take a minute and check out WriteStack. It’s the all-inclusive app you need to dominate the Substack and every person reading this can try it free for 7 days. It has my highest recommendation. FYI we are associated and partnered with WriteStack, so click the link below and check it out risk free.
Writestack is a must if you’re looking to build on Substack even has great tools that you can use on other social media sites.
Appreciate each and every single one of you.
- Dino
This article is pure gold.
I like how Substack forces you to become a clearer thinker by writing longer posts every day (when compared to X).
Let's keep growing! Thanks for sharing.
I still don’t get what WriteStack does?