6,802 Subscribers. 157 Paid. Here’s Where They Actually Came From.
I traced every paid subscriber back to its source. Almost none of them came from the places I had been working hardest on.
What the attribution data actually says
Substack sends the subscribers
Of every paid subscription I have taken, 234 came from inside Substack itself. That is roughly three out of every four. The platform is the traffic source.
Notes convert, not posts
Four individual Notes brought in 46 paid subscribers between them. Not four articles. Four short posts I wrote in a few minutes each.
Short can beat long
One of my best converting posts is 145 words. It brought in as many paid subscribers as a fully researched thousand word essay.
Outside traffic barely moves it
Search brought 5 paid subscribers. Social brought 3. My own email list brought 1. I had been treating all three like they were the plan.
What I do differently now
None of this is about writing more. It is about writing in the place that actually pays.
Treat Notes as the main channel
I used to write Notes as an afterthought to promote a post. The data says the Note is the product and the post is the follow up. I write them first now.
Tell the story, not the strategy
My highest converting Notes are about divorce, starting over at 45, and wondering if it was too late. Not one of them is a marketing tip. The strategy posts convert far worse than the personal ones.
Stop waiting for the long piece
A 145 word post did the same work as a long essay. If you have one true sentence, publish it. The word count is not what people are paying for.
Put the paywall where the story turns
The paywall itself is a source in my attribution data. It converts. But only when the free half earns the click, which means the turn has to land before the wall.
Watch what you keep, not what you get
I brought in 235 paid subscriptions and lost 99 in the same stretch. Signups are the easy number. Retention is the one that decides whether any of it compounds.
Stop expecting outside traffic to save it
Search, social, and email together account for a rounding error of my paid subscribers. They are worth building for other reasons. They are not the growth engine here.
The 3-Bucket Business Field Notes
The simple way I run a one person business in three buckets so it keeps working without me chasing every shiny thing. Enter your email and I will send the field notes.
The tools I use
Some of the links below are affiliate links — if you sign up or buy through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only ever share tools I actually use.
Kit
Where my off platform list lives. Substack owns the subscribers it sends me. Kit is the one list nobody else can change the rules on.
Clicky
Real time site analytics that are easy to read. This is how I see what a post actually sent back to my own site.
Substack 101
A no fluff guide to building and growing a paid newsletter, including the funnel, the paywall, and the part most people skip.
- Set the publication up so it can take money from day one
- Write the Notes that actually bring subscribers
- Place the paywall where readers are ready to pay
“The posts get the credit. The notes get the subscribers.“— Lori Ballen
Want help building a paid newsletter that holds?
In group coaching at Ballen Academy I walk through the systems I use to build a steady creator business, step by step, live every week. We look at real dashboards, not theory.
Join group coaching →Write where the subscribers already are, not where you wish they were.
Join group coaching at Ballen Academy →Not ready to coach yet? Get Letters from Lori — my field notes on building a business that earns for the long haul.
Hey there! Just a quick heads-up: some of the links on this site are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase (including through the Amazon Associates program), at no extra cost to you. Occasionally, products featured here are gifted by brands.
I also use AI tools to help research and create content for you! While I love sharing strategies to help you succeed, please remember that everyone's journey is unique—individual results vary, and there are no guarantees. Thanks so much for stopping by!
