Unplugged by Yana G. Y.

My Growth Story and Strategy on Substack

How I Hit $10K ARR on Substack in 7 Months (Without a huge external email list, ads, or social media following)

First, let me give you some background so that what I offer can make sense to you.

In August 2024, I made a decision that changed everything: I went all in on Substack.

After watching Medium’s algorithm chaos suck the joy out of my writing, I pivoted to a platform that not only rewards both quality and consistency. It rewards me for being me. Substack.

Why? Because it’s the only email platform with built-in discoverability and a business model that wants you to win.

It took me three months to ramp it up. I had no clue at the beginning: I was coming from Medium and I wanted to continue writing on Medium but without the need to put too much effort to write something extra for Substack.

It took me about 2 months to realize I was looking at it from the wrong angle. I wanted Medium to be my core platform and Substack to be complementary when it had to be the other way around. Why? Because Substack is the place to build your email list and that’s your true asset.

So I defined my strategy and went all in on Substack, leaving Medium behind for a while.

That happened on September 1st, 2024. By that time, I had 20 paying subscribers out of 1,448 total subscribers.

My Substack strategy in a nutshell:

Daily notes to grow my free subscribers
Consistent posting of paywalled content (more than once a week), to convert to paid
Community features writing challenges to boost engagement and create a sense of belonging
Custom GPT tools to add tangible benefits to my paid subscriptions
Personalized help for my founding tier members.

By month three, I’d earned my first Bestseller badge for more than 100 paying subscribers:

The next couple of months I focused on scaling my growth, particularly how to use Notes more effectively. I was growing with around 300 subscribers per month and I wanted to scale it. So I laser-focused on that and on December 12th, 2024 I wrote my first viral Note which got 10,200 likes and brought me 168 subscribers in about 2 weeks.

That’s when I realized I was onto something.

In January 2025 I trained my custom GPT Viral Notes writer to help write viral Notes and implemented a new system that helped me consistently grow subscribers from Notes and recommendations and convert them to paid.

By month seven, in March 2027, I crossed $10K in annual recurring revenue.

At that point, I was already growing with about 900 subscribers per month. I’ve tripled my growth.

What worked?

A clear paid offer: outcomes-first, not just content, solve problems.
Consistency over hacks: publishing frequently, staying present, delivering value.
Conversion optimization: reframe offers, pricing psychology, and connect content to the offer.
Using Notes like a top-of-funnel channel, not for personal updates or pet pictures.

I built everything from scratch – no budget, no team, no pre-built audience. Just me, my keyboard, and a relentless focus on helping others grow.

I optimized for conversion using my 15+ years of experience in creating products and servant selling subscriptions.

Today, I have 4,365+ subscribers, 258 paid, and a business that feels both joyful and sustainable.

I still use Medium, but not for earnings. I use it like social media – to get subscribers from there.

The secret? No secret. Just small, intentional moves made daily.

If you’re starting from zero too, remember: success isn’t a sudden win, it’s a system. And most of the times it’s boring. Build yours. Show up. Sell well. And trust that consistency compounds.

I’ve compiled a 10-Day free email course where I share everything you need to grow your first 1000 subscribers in roughly three months. Here is the link to my free 10-day email course. I want to highligth that subscribers-in-1-3-months-working-15-minutes-day.

A link to my Kit newsletter (subscribers get a free guide on how to make money online with AI): https://creativetechbites.com/

About Me: Yana G. Y.

My name is Yana. I help people grow a paid newsletter business using my 20+ years of experience in creating products and selling services on subscriptions in a big tech corporation. I used the very same methods and strategies to:

Become a Substack Bestseller in just 3 months.
Rank in TOP 100 of the Substack Bestsellers in just 5 months.
Earn $10,000 in annual recurring revenue in just 7 months.
Built a sustainable 5-figure paid newsletter in just 2 hours per day on the side of my 9-5 job.

My free-to-paid conversion rate is currently 6%, higher than Substack’s average, and people say I’m in the top 20%.

My methods work. Now I help writers grow their paid newsletter business using tools like Substack, Kit, and AI. My work is for the writer who’s ready to treat their Substack like a business, not a blog or a hobby.

Because with the right systems in place?

Your words don’t just inspire. They convert.

My hard and methodical work resulted in good outcome.

I Became a Substack Bestseller in Just 3 Months

Links to some of my Substack articles:

The Biggest Lie About Paywalling on Substack

My Note went viral – got more than 10,000 likes and hundreds of new subscribers in just a few days

My Substack Subscribers Growth Doubled After Applying This Simple Hack

From Zero Likes to Multiple Viral Notes in Just 2 Months – an interview with Daniel Hirschi

You can check out this interview to learn more about my background.

Links to my other social media accounts and Medium:

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