The Kelly Roach Show 1098. Why I'm Betting on Substack for the Future of Thought Leadership and Books
Dec 18, 2025
Discover why Substack is Kelly's new favorite platform for thought leadership and monetizing depth rather than trends. She shares surprising statistics on subscriber engagement and highlights how smaller audiences can yield better revenue than massive followings. Learn about her strategies for launching paid memberships, creating passive income, and repurposing old content effortlessly. Kelly also reveals how Substack can build momentum for upcoming books and enable deeper connections with audiences, offering a fresh perspective for creators.
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Substack Drives Higher Reach And Conversions
- Substack rewards trust and depth with open rates around 70% compared to ~3% reach on Instagram/Facebook.
- Smaller Substack lists can convert far higher, often 5–10% versus typical 1–3% creator funnels.
Small Lists Can Outperform Big Audiences
- Small audiences on Substack can outperform huge podcast audiences because paid conversion and trust matter more than raw scale.
- Kelly notes creators with ~2,000 readers can out-earn someone with 100,000 podcast downloads.
Activate Paid Tiers Day One
- Launch a paid Substack tier immediately since you can get monetized and receive payouts from day one.
- Let your team manage the subscription so it becomes a passive income stream without service delivery.