The Substack Success Podcast Authentic Substack Growth: Two Under-the-Radar Success Stories
Find out how the title of your Substack, building community, and tapping into the Substack network can lead to real, meaningful growth.
Authentic Growth PDF toolkit below.
I bring you my interview with (and case study of) two amazing Substack creators—and, I’m proud to say, clients—Seth Werkheiser and Cassidy Frost.
They both found extraordinary success on Substack:
* Seth grew from 541 to over 4000 subscribers in one year through experimenting with his offerings and taking advantage of the Substack network.
* Seth is a musician and guide for the growing social media exodus. Through his Substack Social Media Escape Club, he empowers creatives to connect directly with their audience, grow their fanbase, and burn down the constraints of social media algorithms.
* Cassidy built 1400 subscribers from 0 (that’s zero, folks) in five months by focusing their Substack and building a tight community.
* Cassidy is a writer and artist educator living in San Francisco. They run the Substack Dedicate Your Life to Music, “helping women & queers build their music careers.”
Check out both my interview with them above and my case studies of what led to their enormous growth below.
Interview and Case Study Quick Tip:
Your Substack Title Is Everything
When Seth came to see me for 1:1 guidance, I immediately saw how much incredible value he was offering, but—there’s often a but—the name of his Substack was Heavy Metal Email.
Seth: “I always tell people it was like 27 minutes into our 30-minute call. And Sarah was like, ‘I don’t like the name.’ I don’t know if it was exactly like that, but I just remember it was just like, ‘I don't like the name.’”
It wasn’t about liking or not liking; I just had no idea what Heavy Metal Email meant and that maybe it was too restrictive.
And Seth had so much to offer.
Seth: “The name change was just a mindset shift with that of like, Oh yeah, I could still rail against social media, but it doesn’t have to be limited to just music.”
He was against a title change. All his branding was there. But he did it.
And as soon as he changed it to Social Media Escape Club, his Substack took off:
The title of your Substack is everything. Unless it tells subscribers exactly what they’ll find there—be leaden, not poetic or “intriguing”—they will not visit your Substack. People are busy; they don’t have time to try to puzzle out your Substack.
Cassidy’s does so much work for the potential subscriber: Dedicate Your Life to Music. I know exactly what it is. I even know the energy behind it.
For paid subscribers:
Authentic Growth Toolkit (PDF)
* How Seth and Cassidy 10x’d and 14x’d their subscribers by focusing on community building and using the Substack network
* A clear implementation strategy based on the community-building approaches that have worked and are working so well for Seth and Cassidy\
Paid subscribers get access to guidance from my proven proprietary Substack Growth Framework—trusted by 700+ private clients and tens of thousands of subscribers and Mastermind members who’ve achieved real, measurable growth. Reach all your Substack goals by joining us today.