You Could Be Getting Paid 4 Ways for Every Substack Post
Paid subscriptions are just one of them. Here's the whole system, plus how to get yours growing and monetizing in 30 days (we start 7/1!)
Before we get into the post I first want to thank Petivity for sponsoring today’s article!
As a pet owner there’s this weird gap where you think everything is fine… but you’re also kind of just guessing between vet visits?
Like, I obviously pay attention to Bijou, but I can’t exactly see what’s going on with things like her kidney function or oral health day-to-day.
So I started using these at-home tests from Petivity and I’m actually kind of obsessed.
They basically give you real data on what’s going on internally, which makes me feel so much more on top of her health instead of just hoping everything is fine.
I even found out that Bijou’s gums were inflamed - which I never would’ve known otherwise.
It’s super simple to use, and it just gives me this extra layer of peace of mind that I didn’t realize I needed.
(Petivity is sponsoring this part of today’s post, but I genuinely love having more insight into her health. You can check them out [HERE] if you want to feel like a slightly more on-top-of-it pet parent.)
So, everyone is obsessed with YAPPING on camera right now.
Including me. I LOVE a good yap, I’m chronically online, and yapping into my phone has helped me build an audience of 430k+ friends on Instagram.
But yapping doesn’t necessarily = getting paid…unless you have something to sell.
So here’s another idea:
What about TAPPING your way to an income stream instead on Substack? 👩🏻💻
Building something real just by writing, 2-4 times per month.
And the writing itself pays you directly (in addition to 3+ other ways to monetize EVERY single article you write, which i’ll get into in a second.)
Instagram could never.
This is for the girlies who don’t want to be on camera every single day. The ones who get a little cortisol spike every time they open Instagram (raises hand 🙋♀️). Because there’s a slower, calmer, lower-effort way to do this, and it’s become the most peaceful AND profitable corner of my business: Substack.
I write just 2 to 4 articles a month over there (versus the daily posting on IG + TT to stay relevant). And this year I added $370K in annual recurring revenue to my business JUST FROM PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS ALONE.
$370k in ARR. In 12 months.
And this number is not even taking into account the 3+ other ways I monetize every single article I write (like I seriously don’t understand how more people are not talking about this rn?!)
So that same post making me subscription money is also earning affiliate income, attracting brand sponsorships, and funneling readers into my other digital courses/offers.
One article. 2-4x a month. Four income streams. While I’m asleep, at brunch, or deep in a Summer House spiral.
So pour yourself a coconut water matcha americano (my new fave Summer drink) because I want you to see what I see: Substack isn’t a cute little blog hobby. Done right, it’s a whole business empire that runs on a couple of posts a month.
And before you talk yourself out of it (I see you), a few reasons I’m obsessed with this platform specifically, and why right now is the moment to jump in:
You don’t have to show your face. No daily reels, no dancing, no getting camera-ready to make money. You tap out your thoughts. People pay.
You don’t need a social media following. Substack grows you natively, right on the platform. I add 8,000+ free subscribers a month from Substack itself, not from my Instagram. (In other words, you don’t need a pre-existing audience to grow)
It’s a calmer pace for way less work. A couple of posts a month here can outearn someone posting to IG every single day. (Lazy = leverage, always.)
You don’t need to be a “real writer.” You need opinions and a willingness to hit publish. (Plus a little help from Claude….😉) That’s it.
1. Paid subscriptions (the obvious one)
This is the one everybody knows about, and the one that took me from $0 to $370K ARR in a year.
You write articles. You put your best stuff behind a paywall. Readers pay you monthly or annually to get in. It’s recurring, which means you’re not starting from zero every month. You’re stacking.
Quick math for funsies:
10 paid subscribers × $10/month = $100/month
100 paid subscribers × $10/month = $1,000/month
1,000 paid subscribers × $10/month = $10,000/month
And these numbers can REALLY snowball if you’re consistent.
But most people think paid subscriptions are the only way to make money on Substack, so they leave the other three streams completely off the table. And you guys know i’m allll about making the most $$ for the least amount of effort, so let’s fix that.
2. Affiliate links
Every time I mention a product I actually use and love inside a Substack post, I link to it with an affiliate link (I use ShopMy, but there are tons of platforms).
Reader clicks, reader buys, I get a cut. Costs them nothing extra.
This one’s a sleeper hit because it works in any niche.
Travel? Link your outfits, your luggage, your packing cubes. Food? Link your kitchen gear and pantry staples. Business? Link your favorite software and tools. Beauty, wellness, parenting, finance, whatever you talk about and use, you can be earning from it.
Side note: I just filmed a full breakdown of Morgan Stewart’s Substack income (watch below), and a huge chunk of what she pulls in every year comes primarily from affiliate links. She’s recommending things she’d recommend for free anyway, and getting paid for it. INCRED.
The best part? You can start doing both monetization avenues 1+ 2 from day one. No big audience required (although, duh, that helps). But you’re already telling your friends what to buy. Now you get a commission for it!
3. Brand sponsorships
Once your Substack hits a certain size, brands come to YOU. They’ll pay to sponsor an article, basically an ad placement inside a post your readers already trust.
Now, I won’t sugarcoat it, this one takes a little time to unlock. You need some momentum first. But just so you can see what’s possible: brands have offered me anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 for a single placement in one article. $6k to write a few sentences about a brand I would share about anyways? WIN/WIN.
PLUS Substack just rolled out brand kits for creators (you’ll find it under Creator Tools → Sponsorships), and I set mine up the second it dropped. It pulls all your stats together natively and shows them off to brands, so the right sponsors can find you and pair up without you cold-pitching anyone.
Even if sponsorships feel far away right now, every post you publish is getting you one step closer. And I find that holding the vision about what is possible for you in the future REALLY helps me stay motivated ✨
4. The funnel to my other digital offers
This is the one I’m most excited about, especially if you already have something to sell (a course, a service, coaching, a product) or you plan to someday.
Think of Substack as the top of your funnel. The platform grows your audience and puts you in front of exactly the right people. Then in the body of your free articles, you give them genuine, useful value (just like this one, hello lol). They get to know you, like you, trust you. And once that trust is built, you point them somewhere: your sales page, your webinar, your course, your offer.
That’s how I use my Substack to feed my other digital offers, and how you can use yours to launch or grow whatever you’re building. The articles do the relationship-building. The funnel does the selling. You just write.
Starting completely from scratch with no other offer yet? That’s fine, you build the audience on Substack first, growing your leads, and discovering what topic people actually WANT a digital course on
Already have something to sell? Great. Use Substack as the most effective lead source you’ve ever had » increasing sales into your digital courses, coaching, etc
Want me to walk you through ALL of it, step by step? 💌
How to actually START your Substack + what settings to turn on from day 1 for max growth
What the F to actually write about…and how to finally choose a niche
My promotional strategy + how I treat each article like it’s own “launch”
How to set up paid subscriptions and price them so people say yes
How to write articles people happily pay for (even if you don’t think you’re a writer).
My lazy process for turning every article into 3-5 viral reels
How to grow natively so you grow within the platform without needing a huge IG following first
How to use Substack as a “funnel” for the rest of your business
All of my Claude hacks + tips for
lazyefficient writing WITHOUT stealing your creativityDaily video lessons M-F + LIVE calls with me 1x a week
….SO MUCH MORE !!!
The Substack Side Hustle 30-Day Challenge is now OPEN. We start July 1st. 🎉
We’re all doing it together, over the course of 30 days. Starting July 1st.
It’s 30 days to go from zero (or stuck) to a Substack that’s set up, growing, and ready to monetize, in just 2 to 4 hours a week.
The Challenge is for you if...
You want a new income stream but the thought of yapping on camera every day makes you want to lie down
You’re starting at absolute zero (no Substack, no following, no skills, no clue) and want someone to hand you the exact steps
You’ve already started a Substack… but your mom is your only subscriber and you have no idea how to actually grow + get paid
You’ve got a business, a skill, or a passion and want a calmer, lower-effort way to turn it into money
You want to use AI to help you go faster, without it stealing your voice or making you sound like a robot
What you’ll walk away with in 30 days
A Substack that is set up, GROWING, and ready to monetize
4 articles posted 🎉 (and shared, liked, and commented on by the community!!)
An entire content plan for the next year so you know exactly what to write
A real monetization plan: what to charge, what goes behind the paywall, and the other income streams beyond paid subs
The confidence + support you need to ACTUALLY make your Substack side hustle happen !!!
+ My full Claude hack system (the part I’m most hyped about)
Inside the challenge I hand you my exact Claude prompts + workflow for lazy writing: brainstorming, drafting, sharpening, and writing scroll-stopping titles in seconds. The whole system is built so AI makes you FASTER without stealing your creativity or making your writing sound like AI slop (we can all smell that from a mile away lol). Your personality stays 100% yours. You just get to be lazy about the boring parts.
What we cover over the 30 days
Week 1: Set up your Substack, choose your niche + content pillars, get your Claude templates, and publish your first post
Week 2: Write posts people actually pay for, make ordinary topics magnetic, and use SEO to grow inside the platform (even if you’re not big on social)
Week 3: Turn every article into a mini “product launch” that grows your audience + income for years, plus my system for turning one article into 3 to 5 reels
Week 4: Switch on paid subscriptions, use Substack as a funnel for your business, my secret growth hacks you won’t get from ChatGPT, and how to make the whole thing as lazy (efficient) as humanly possible
You also get daily lessons + prompts from me Monday through Friday (weekends off, because rest is part of the method 🙌🏼), weekly live Q&As, and a community to keep you accountable.
One thing about July 1st: once we kick off, the doors close and you’re waiting for the next round.
And i’m genuinely not sure if/when the next challenge will be! (« Not a marketing tactic, my Euro Summer break just starts Aug. 1). So now’s your chance.
If you’ve been telling yourself “someday” about an income stream that doesn’t require you to perform on camera, babe, this is your someday. 💸
👉 Join the Substack Side Hustle Challenge here
I added $370K in recurring revenue from paid subs alone in twelve months, plus everything else I just walked you through. I’m handing you the entire system. The only part that’s on you is hitting publish.
See you inside. Let’s fkn go. 💌
xx, Amie
P.S. The group is ALREADY popping off !!! See you inside before 7/1 👀
