Substack Writers at Work | Sarah Fay

Substack Writers at Work | Sarah Fay

How To Tell If Your Substack Has the Foundation You Need to Grow

Jan 20, 2026
∙ Paid

Having worked 1:1 with thousands of Substack writers, I can tell pretty quickly if someone’s Substack has the foundation needed for real, long-term growth.

The reddest of red flags is that their Substack feels vague or generic.

The person behind the Substack isn’t vague or generic at all. (You’re far more interesting than you think you are.)

Their Substack may be designed beautifully (they had some sort of “audit”), but there’s no substance. There’s the sense that nobody’s home.

Below:

  • How to tell if you have the foundation you need to grow on Substack

  • My wordmark template for you (and what a wordmark is and if you need it)

Housekeeping:

  • Join this week’s Notes Boost Challenge here. Notes is fun again! And the growth is happening!

  • Lives: Today, 1/20 at noon CST—what’s slowing your Substack growth. Next Tuesday, 1/27 at 2 PM CST with Simon Haisell to talk about the little paid strategy that could.

  • Build a Substack designed for long-term growth in 4 weeks. Enroll in the Substack Growth Foundations Course here. Enrollment closes in 2 days. Paid subscribers get 10% off with the code below.

What most people get wrong

Come grow with us! Paid subscribers and Premier members get my expert guidance in posts like these. Devote one year to your Substack with me and see the difference.

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