Are You Using Substack, Or Is It Using You?

Beware. The Marketers Are Here.

Oct 21, 2024

Substack has officially arrived—the marketers are here.

How can you tell?

Check your feed. Is it overflowing with marketers peddling prescriptive, cookie-cutter approaches to Substack “success,” such as “How to Double Your Subscribers in 6 Months,” “How to Go Viral With Notes,” or “How to Make Your First $10K on Substack in 30 Days?”

Many of these marketers are Substack best sellers, and those who aren’t are selling similar stuff in the hope that it will help them become best sellers.

Lukas Resheske

has written more cogently about this dynamic than I ever could, so if you’re interested in learning more about platform evolution (or, more often, devolution), check out this Note.

To be clear, we’re all marketers on Substack at some level. We’re here to spread ideas and connect through the communities we’re building.

But here’s the thing. A growing number of Substackers are Substacking to Substackers about how to Substack on Substack.

These marketers offer quick-fix, technical solutions to deeper adaptive problems—problems that cannot be solved by following someone else’s prescriptive blueprint, formula, or roadmap.

Here’s the thing—I love Substack. Right now, it’s the tool I’m using to connect, communicate, and build community through blogging, podcasting, and email.

However, like any other digital content distribution platform, Substack can also be employed as a tool for growth hacking and digital marketing trickery.

The real challenge purpose-driven solopreneurs face isn’t how to game the system—it’s achieving preeminence by mastering your craft.

What do I mean by preeminence?1

Becoming the best in the world at helping those you seek to serve by leaning into and leveraging your unique perspective, abilities, and approach.

As an independent business owner, you can’t possibly invest the time, attention, and effort necessary to achieve preeminence if you’re wasting most of it chasing one-size-fits-all growth hacks.

My mission at Creative on Purpose is to help solopreneurs doing work that matters build the business only you can—one rooted in your unique strengths and values.

I want to help you become the kind of person who knows who you are, what you’re good at, and where you belong so you can play your game, not some marketer’s game.

Go Further: By becoming a paid subscriber now, you can unlock full access to the Solopreneur Success Circle content, community, and conversation.

I don’t have any magic formulas. I offer something even better—a proven approach to building a business on your terms without compromise rooted in time-tested philosophy and principles.

If what I’m sharing here resonates with you—even just a little—I invite you to join our small, vibrant community of difference-makers building fulfilling businesses that make a real impact.

Let’s work together to make a better living by making a bigger difference.

Spread the Goodness! Tap the ‘Like’ button, leave a comment, and restack this post to help other purpose-driven difference makers collide with this content.

Subscribe today for the complete content and community experience, and start building a fulfilling part-time business that funds and fits your ideal lifestyle today.

The Path to Preeminence