With Bestseller Badges on Substack with over 250,000 Subscribers, My Subscription Income Cannot Even Pay the Utility Bills Like Electricity, Water, or Gas. Imagine how new creators can survive in this economic climate with just subscribers.
As a creator, If your goal is to build a sustainable $10K monthly income, this story will guide you toward the principles that make it possible. I explain how creators in any field or discipline can join the top 1% of income earners with innovative strategies, ethical work, community building, and sponsor support.
If you want to earn a minimum of $10K a month, you must approach my heartfelt and caring story with an open mind. I did not write this piece just for writers. It is for every profession requiring creativity and productivity. For you benefit, I invite you to refrain from jumping to conclusions too early, as it will be a loss for you. This is my weekend gift to you, written from the heart with care.
Writing stories on Medium, posting newsletters on Substack, or adding digital products on Patreon or Gumroad can be rewarding, but most creators discover that these streams rarely add up to more than $1,000 a month. I have enough data for it, and only 0.001% is an exception.
The other $9,000 does not come from working harder in the same way, like posting every day and commenting on every story. It comes from working smarter. It comes from building strategic layers as I covered in my neurostrategy blueprint, where sponsorship, repurposing, consultancy, coaching, product design, etc., turn recognition into sustainability.
This is where the path to $10K and beyond becomes real. But there is another group to $100K monthly or even $1M monthly for some exceptional creators. In this story, I only focus on $10K, which is relatable to a broader audience and also doable with a strategic approach.
Best-selling recognitions or badges are meaningful and great for the ego, but they are not sustainable financially. Although I have bestseller badges on Substack, the income from subscriptions cannot even cover my utility bills.
I don’t reveal this as a frustration, but to show you the reality. It is also a truth shared by thousands of writers, freelancers, and content startups. Recognition does not automatically translate into financial independence.
The global economy is shifting, and the creator economy sits at the center of those changes. Paid memberships remain valuable, but my intense investigation shows they are rarely sufficient. I also noticed it in the growing literature.
For example, a large-scale study of Patreon confirmed that while memberships build loyalty, income is volatile and unpredictable. Subscription fatigue is real, and even engaged readers hesitate before adding yet another monthly charge to their credit cards.
Yesterday I talked about sponsorship, which attracted the attention of thousands of writers on Substack. They bombarded my emails, Note profiel, and Slack profile with questions asking why they could do that. If you missed it, I also published a copy on Medium. Here is the link:
Why Creators on Substack and Patreon Need Sponsors and How I Will Help Them
Substack Mastery Boost Initiative Will Be the Next Chapter and a New Window of Opportunity for Independent Creators…medium.com
Here’s Why Sponsorship Matters for Every Type of Creator and Professional
Sponsorship, when structured ethically, provides stability. It creates a triple benefit where creators gain reliable support, sponsors connect with authentic communities, and readers discover curated services that add genuine value.
Scholars and business leaders call this the win–win–win model, and it is the foundation of the Sponsorship Portal we are launching on January 1, 2026, as part of the Substack Mastery Boost Program.
I have seen how this works. For example, a client last month paid me $1,000 simply to link to their website in one of my high-traffic blog posts. Another paid $3,000 to feature a white paper link across multiple posts and pages during their product launch. There are many examples that I will provide as case studies later.
These collaborations were transparent, aligned with my community’s interests, and welcomed by readers who discovered tools they could actually use. Far from eroding trust, they deepened it and improved the quality of my content ecosystem.
Sponsorship is only one layer; there are more layers for creators to consider.
Sustainability also comes from repurposing content into new formats and revenue streams. What begins as a newsletter article can later be refined into a book, expanded into an educational program, or adapted into training modules for organizations.
The same material can be repurposed into a consultancy offering for businesses, coaching services for individuals, or even into crowdfunding campaigns through Patreon, where supporters contribute because they believe in the mission. Each layer multiplies the value of the original work.
This approach reflects how global corporations also sponsor and repurpose knowledge. For example, at IBM, Siemens, and Microsoft, I watched sponsored open-source contributions become the seeds of new ecosystems. IBM gave away software frameworks without direct profit, yet those gifts enabled entrepreneurs to build businesses and solutions that reshaped industries. Sponsorship was not a transaction; it was an investment in shared growth.
For creators, sponsorship combined with repurposing is the same.
A single white paper funded by a sponsor does not end with one publication. It can become part of a book, a lecture, a video course, a consulting engagement, and a crowdfunding project.
The sponsor benefits from being attached to each layer, the creator gains multiple income streams, and the reader or learner experiences knowledge that reaches them in formats that matter most.
This is why ethical sponsorship matters so deeply. It is not about selling out. It is about building sustainable independence while multiplying the impact of creative work. Recognition is important, but without these models, recognition remains symbolic. With sponsorship and repurposing, recognition turns into sustainability, and sustainability turns into long-term empowerment.
Although, like 7000+ others, I have bestseller badges on Substack, the reality is that subscriptions alone cannot pay the bills. But with sponsorship layered with books, education, consultancy, coaching, and crowdfunding, the model changes.
It becomes not only viable but thriving. It becomes a system where creators are supported, sponsors build trust, and readers continue to receive the independent voices they value.
This is the future I am committed to building: authentic creators, supported by ethical sponsors, empowered to serve communities with work that endures.
Here’s Why Substack Notes Alone Don’t Grow Real Audiences and What Really Works. Meet The Power of SEO and GEO for the Future
I want to offer the Path to Becoming a Top 1% Content Earner
I want to highlight another critical lesson for writers on Substack, as it is in their blind spot. First, let me give you a little personal background on my long-term content marketing strategy, in fact spanning decades now. I will use myself as a case study to make my points.
According to data from my Google Search Console, my website digitalmehmet.com has accumulated more than 215,000 external links from unique domains.
These are not random or manipulative backlinks; they are the result of years of ethical link building, trusted collaborations, and high-quality content that search engines recognize as valuable.
The impact of this is undeniable. Nearly 90% of my Substack subscribers come through my website, not through Substack itself. They find my work via search engines, where discoverability compounds and visibility extends across the globe. This is what I call the real growth engine, one that works while I sleep and continues to bring in readers long after a piece of content is published.
Now contrast this with what I see many junior writers doing on Substack. They pour endless energy into posting Notes every day, hoping for quick exposure.
After twelve months of experimentation and careful observation, which I documented in Substack Mastery V2, I can say with confidence: Notes are overrated. Genuine readers almost entirely overlook them, and most Substack Notes circulate mostly among other writers. It is a closed loop, a small pond where energy is wasted, while the real ocean of visibility lies untouched.
That ocean is SEO, blogging, and guest blogging, the proven pathways to reach audiences actively searching for ideas, solutions, and perspectives. It is ideal to grow your own platform, not borrowed platforms. SEO is not a buzzword; it is a well-established infrastructure. It is how businesses build credibility and how creators become discoverable in the broader world.
Google reports that my website contains more than 849,000 internal links, each one a bridge connecting thousands of articles, stories, newsletters, whitepapers, academic papers, patent descriptions, blog posts, book chapters, book reviews, interview scripts I have written and curated over the years.
This did not happen overnight. It is the result of deliberate, consistent work to create a rich content ecosystem where every piece strengthens the visibility of the others. Internal linking may not be glamorous, but it ensures my content is discoverable by search engines and accessible to readers worldwide. This is the infrastructure of growth.
Compare that with spending hours posting Notes or chasing likes on social media: the impact is fleeting, the visibility is shallow, and the work quickly disappears into the noise. Your own platform gets no backlinks, and Google does not even recognize your content. A carefully built ecosystem, by contrast, compounds over time. It keeps working, keeps connecting, and keeps bringing readers long after the content is published.
In addition to Google’s data, third-party SEO tools such as Ahrefs confirm the strength of my website. Ahrefs currently gives my site a Domain Rating of 74, which places it among highly trusted and authoritative websites.
This is not a number that can be bought or faked; it is earned through years of consistent publishing, ethical link building, and proper internal linking. For sponsors, readers, and fellow creators, this independent validation shows that my content ecosystem is not only rich but also recognized as credible on a global scale, as it was recognized by Thinkers360 among the top 50 most innovative companies of 2025. Many 5-star TrustPilot reviews also validated it.
Nothing Can Be More Useful Than the Power of SEO with GEO in 2025 and Beyond Based on My Experience and Observations
If you survived so far, I want to quickly touch on what I call the power of SEO with GEO. In my book Smart and Ethical SEO, I explain GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) as the next step in discoverability.
Traditional SEO ensures visibility in search engines, while GEO ensures that your content is surfaced by AI-powered tools such as Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing AI, and others.
Today, more than 50% of the external traffic to my website comes directly from these generative AI platforms, not from traditional search alone. This is the result of practicing natural, ethical SEO, creating content that is authoritative, trustworthy, and richly linked.
I’d like to highlight that discoverability is no longer just about search rankings. It is about being included in the knowledge base that these new AI-driven tools draw from, making GEO the future of sustainable visibility.
Have You Considered the Power of Landing Pages?
Over the years, I have also created hundreds of landing pages across different sites, including my own platforms. I have even supported many writers by hosting their landing pages on my website and blogs.
These pages came in different shapes and formats, but the outcome was the same: they worked as powerful discovery tools. Unlike Substack Notes, which rarely reach beyond the creator bubble, landing pages are indexed by search engines, shared widely, and optimized for visibility.
Each page acts like a digital doorway, guiding new readers and potential sponsors into the content ecosystem. This is why I see landing pages as one of the most effective instruments for long-term growth, practical, scalable, and far more impactful than the fleeting visibility of Notes.
We Need to Understand the Power of Ethical and Smart Email Marketing
Unfortunately, I noticed a troubling pattern among some junior writers who feel stuck in closed writer circles and struggle to find real subscribers.
Out of frustration, they spread rumors that Substack bestselling writers with 100,000 or more subscribers must have bought their lists. This assumption is not only misguided but deeply flawed, reflecting naivety and even stupidity.
Firstly, buying subscribers is illegal in many jurisdictions. It is unethical for any business. And content or email platforms are quick to penalize such practices, which have happened to many beginners or junior freelancers who were after shortcuts.
Secondly, it makes no financial sense. Purchased lists are filled with disengaged or fake accounts that do not open emails, do not click links, and do not generate revenue.
I explained these in my recent book Smart Email Marketing, which is now even endorsed by email marketing experts like Gunnar Habitz.
Any serious creator or business leader knows that true growth comes from trust, quality, and discoverability, not from shortcuts that sabotage credibility. Nothing can replace a good strategy, smart work, and a good work ethic.
The aha moment for your memories is this: when you combine SEO/GEO-driven growth with smart email marketing, community building, and ethical sponsorship, the results multiply.
Sponsors gain meaningful visibility through trusted content, creators gain stable income, and readers gain resources they actually need at the moment they are searching for them. This is not noise. This is sustainable growth.
The truth is crystal clear to me after doing substantial intellectual, statistical, and intuitive research into various platforms in ethnographic settings.
To move from $1,000 to $10,000 a month, you cannot stay in the small pond, spamming Notes for the same eyes every single day.
Final Tip: You must step into the ocean of discoverability, where blogging, guest blogging, book authoring, public speaking, crowfunding, sponsorship, consultancy, or coaching work together to turn recognition into lasting sustainability.
I wrote a detailed whitepaper about the business value and mechanisms of sponsorship for creators, organizations, and consumers to illuminate our subscribers. You can find it on my author platform. I will also make it a free downloadable PDF. Thanks, Dr Michael Broadly, for curating it on Medium.
I look forward to your involvement in my sponsorship initiative and feedback to refine this process and its tools. If you have experience with sponsors or sponsorship on any platform, please share it in the comments section of this story. Check out the upcoming Sponsorship Portal. You are welcome to join the Substack Mastery Boost Pilot by choosing one of the four tiers:
If you are a business owner and want to sponsor talented writers contributing to my ecosystem and publications on Medium and Substack, please reach out to me via this form, and I will provide you with the best creators who can amplify your content efficiently to a broad audience.
Many thanks to guest bloggers contributing to my Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem. Here are the top 10 guest bloggers today. Visit Our Fresh Community Blogs, free and inspiring from authentic bloggers.
I’d like to introduce the top 10 countries bringing the most traffic to Digitalmehmet today: the United States, India, Australia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Morocco.
A few days ago, I introduced our long-awaited advanced education program, which includes the video lectures of From Zero to Substack Hero Advanced levels 4, 5, & 6 bundled for beta learners at an 85% discount, and several professionals have already joined.
From Zero to Substack Hero: Advanced Levels 4, 5, & 6 Bundle Is Ready for Beta Learners
The Gift of Delay, the Promise of Growth: How my hectic schedule, our high standards, and a spirit of generosity shaped…medium.com
It is also great to see Substack Eminence gain significant visibility across multiple platforms after being published last week. It will empower our ultra-advanced writers at executive and scholarly levels. For scholars and senior executives, I authored this book titled Substack Eminence as a Neurostrategic Blueprint: For Ultra-Advanced Writers Who Want to Scale with Clarity, Authority, and Integrity. I introduced it in a story.
Here’s Why I Wanted to Write a Scholarly and Executive-Level Book About Substack
Despite low financial incentive, a specialised book born from decades of neurostrategy, written for scholars and senior…medium.com
I am pleased that Patreon Mastery was published yesterday in digital and audio formats and will soon be available as a paperback.
Why Patreon Mastery Might Open a New Window in Your Creative Journey
If your work has been turned away for being different, you will find a caring community on Patreon and a thoughtful…medium.com
Many thanks to an email marketing expert and public speaker, Gunnar Habitz, for reviewing my recent book Smart Email Marketing.
Book Review of “How to be Smart With Email Marketing” by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Insights from the Smart Email Marketing and Content Integration book and My Interview with Dr Yildiz hailing from…medium.com
There are many inspiring and uplifting updates related to our publishing, marketing, and Substack Mastery Boost Pilot initiative. I will provide them in an upcoming newsletter this weekend. Happy Weekend, dear subscribers!
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Here’s an Invitation to ILLUMINATION Scholar
Talking of scholar, we now have a publication called ILLUMINATION Scholarly, which I introduced recently, and yesterday, I posted the first draft of the submission guidelines. If you write research-based stories, you are welcome to join. You can apply by sending your Medium ID to this registration portal form.
Here’s an Introduction to Technology Horizons 2050 and Beyond: Emerging Technologies Shaping the Next 50 Years of Human and Machine Evolution
What will the world look like in 2050 when emerging technologies in biology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space exploration converge into one interconnected fabric of human and machine evolution?
In Technology Horizons 2050 and Beyond, I draw on five decades of work in technology, cognitive science, and global innovation to predict the coming five decades.
The future will not wait for us to be ready. It will unfold in the minds of those who dare to see it before it arrives, who can stand at the intersection of science and imagination, and who have the courage to turn the improbable into the inevitable. This book is an invitation to be among them.
Every genuine person is welcome to join my community of superlearners. For a limited time, to help build a big community, I’m offering an 80% discount on the monthly membership fee on Substack to build this joyful community. My goal is to reach over a million members by the end of 2026, operating it on my own platform, Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem, with assistance from Substack and Patreon.
I invite you to subscribe to my publications on Substack, where I offer experience-based and original content on health, content strategy, book authoring, and technology topics you can’t find online to inform and inspire my readers.
Healthspan Mastery (NEW)
The Purpose of Technology Excellence and Leadership Network on Substack
In Technology Leadership and Excellent Network newsletters, I offer strategic insights from over four decades of experience in innovation leadership and inventive approaches as a technologist, cognitive scientist, inventor, combinatorial innovator, entrepreneur, and thought leader. My experience is summarized on my verified LinkedIn profile.
Having the right knowledge and foresight is crucial in the rapidly evolving technology domain. With over 45 years of experience working with global organizations like IBM, Siemens, Microsoft, and NATO, my publication will go beyond theory. With advanced research skills as a postdoctoral fellow and industry certifications like distinguished enterprise architect verified by the Open Group, IBM, and Credly, I share real-world use cases and proven strategies that have driven success in some of the most challenging environments.
Here’s what subscribing to my newsletter can offer you:
- Insider Knowledge of Emerging Technologies:
From pioneering cybersecurity patents to advising on AI, quantum computing, and blockchain, I’ve been at the forefront of technological shifts. In each newsletter, I will break down complex innovations into practical insights you can apply to your career or business, providing you with an edge in a highly competitive field. - Real-World Case Studies:
My experience spans consulting for global financial institutions, managing enterprise architecture, and leading digital transformation projects. You’ll gain access to real-world case studies that show how cutting-edge technologies were successfully implemented and how you can adapt these strategies to your own projects. - Leadership Lessons for Technologists:
Leading technology teams and influencing innovation at the executive level requires more than just technical skills. I’ve worked alongside top executives, including CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs, and mentored aspiring innovators. My newsletters will deliver tangible leadership strategies that aspiring technology leaders can use to excel in their roles and make impactful decisions. - Personal Development for Tech Professionals:
I’ve authored multiple books and papers on personal and professional transformation. As an adjunct professor and postdoctoral researcher, I continue to mentor PhD candidates and contribute to research in emerging technologies. Subscribing will give you access to professional development guidance tailored for technologists, including how to build resilience, stay ahead of industry trends, and avoid burnout. - Exclusive Access to Industry-Defining Trends:
I offer exclusive content on the latest advancements in AI, IoT, Big Data, cybersecurity, and digital transformation, rooted in over four decades of hands-on experience, to solve your sticky problems. My writing goes beyond news or stories. I offer insights and practical tips that you can apply directly to your career to stay ahead of the curve. - Curated content from the expert writers of my Technology Hits publication on Medium.
- The most important aspect of this publication is to serve as a catalyst for members to network and collaborate through my award-winning content ecosystem, which was recognized as one of the top 50 most innovative companies in 2025.
Here are some early testimonials about Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem on TrustPilot.
By subscribing, you will benefit from a blend of innovation, leadership, enterprise/business/technology architecture, design thinking, and strategic business thinking that’s a rare combination in today’s fast-paced tech industry.
If you are an aspiring technologist or a technology leader, this publication and its network will equip you with the knowledge and tools to not just keep up with but shape the future of technology.
Here is the growth of the Technology Excellence and Leadership Network on Substack, reaching 40,000 subscribers in less than a year.
I am also a seasoned book author, content developer, and marketing strategist who can communicate effectively. My scientific background with a health focus helps me add rigor to my work and empathy for my readers. I have two different newsletters for them. I will link them here if they might be of interest to you.
Health and Wellness by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights
Thank you for subscribing. I look forward to supporting you in achieving your dreams.
If you are a writer, you are welcome to join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 38K writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. You can contact me via my website. If you are a new writer, check out my writing list to find some helpful stories for your education. You can also join my author platform as a guest blogger.
You can find out about my scholarly work on my Google Scholar or Bohrium profiles. Some of my technical credentials on Credly. You may check out my other most loved stories on this platform. As a new instructor, my Udemy profile includes 4 Substack courses, and I will publish more soon.
You may check out my other most loved stories on this platform.
Here are links to my FEATURED series of 50+ books on Amazon markets:
Substack Newsletter Mastery, Excellence, and Eminence Series
Check out my books at Apple Stores and my discount bookstore.
Get an email whenever Dr Mehmet Yildiz publishes. He is a top writer and editor on Medium. dr-mehmet-yildiz.medium.com
You may enjoy this comprehensive free book chapter I wrote for technology, enterprise, and business Architects as a gift: What Is a Digital Transformation Architect? — The Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem
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