I get it. But I want to share what changed my mind, and why I keep coming back to this one.

You Actually Own What You Build

Every platform you’re on right now, the followers belong to the platform. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. They can ban your account, change the algorithm, or shut down tomorrow. Your audience disappears with them.

On Substack, every subscriber hands you their email address. That list is yours. You can take it anywhere. Nobody can touch it.

That’s not a small thing. I’ve spent years watching creators pour everything into platforms they don’t own. Substack is the first place I’ve felt like I’m building something that actually belongs to me.

It’s Not Just for Writers

This is the part people get wrong most often. If you hear “newsletter platform” and think “not for me,” stay with me for a second.

Podcasters can host their show directly on Substack. Video creators can embed their content there. Coaches, analysts, journalists, people documenting their lives for their kids. It works for all of them.

Substack also has native integration with YouTube and LinkedIn. Your content from those platforms can live there too. It’s becoming a real hub for multimedia work, and most people still haven’t figured that out.

Free vs. Paid and Why Annual Matters

You set the rules on Substack. Free content builds your list. Paid content builds your income. Some writers keep their newsletter free and put their podcast behind a paywall. Some flip it. It’s your call.

Monthly subscriptions get a lot of the attention, at $5, $10, $20 a month. But I’d encourage you to think about annual recurring revenue instead.

Here’s a real example. If your monthly rate is $20, and you offer annual access at $45 or $50 total, that’s a deal that’s hard to pass up. Twelve months for less than three months at full price. People take that offer.

Stacking value matters too. We give our paid members 555 notes templates from The Creator’s Vault, plus a free entry into The Draftys, our sports writing awards. When someone looks at what they get, the price stops feeling like a decision.

Notes Are Where Growth Actually Happens

This is the part of Substack most people underestimate.

Notes is the built-in social feed. Short posts, reactions, ideas. It runs on its own algorithm and it’s how new readers find you. Not through your newsletter. Through notes.

Restacking is a huge part of this. When you restack someone else’s note, you’re sending their work to your audience. When they restack yours, their readers see your name. That’s real growth and it costs nothing.

The Money Isn’t Based on Views

This one matters more than people realize.

On YouTube and TikTok, a bad month means a bad check. Your income moves with your view count. On Substack, your income moves with your subscriber count. Those are very different things.

A hundred paying subscribers at $10 a month is $1,000 every single month, whether you went viral or not.

Brands are also starting to take Substack seriously. PR agencies are actively looking for newsletter-specific campaigns right now. There aren’t many engaged Substack creators yet. That gap is your opening. A small, loyal list can bring in real sponsorship money, and engaged subscribers are worth more to a brand than passive social media followers.

The Timing Is Still Right

The best time to start was probably two years ago. The second-best time is right now.

Most niches on Substack still have low competition. The people following you on other platforms are already looking for a reason to migrate. They want something more personal, more direct, less noisy.

The community energy on Substack is also different from most platforms. People actually support each other. Writers recommend each other’s publications. Lists grow together. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I’ve been in this space for a while.

What This Means for You

Pick one topic. Set up your profile. Write your first post and make it free. Show up at least once a week. That’s it to start.

The first post doesn’t have to be great. It just has to exist.

Every week you wait is a week someone else in your niche gets further down the road. That’s not meant to scare you. It’s just true.

Start small. Stay consistent. Build the thing you actually own.

-Robbin Marx

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Join us 👉https://SportStackers.com

I am writing this from Atlanta right after a live Sport Stackers session with our community of writers, podcasters, and sports creatives. We spent the night breaking down a 2025 newsletter report and pulling out what actually matters for us on Substack.

There was a lot of data, but the message for sports creators is simple. Think like a sophisticated operator, even if you are just getting started.

Own the audience, do not rent it

One of the core ideas we discussed is that sophisticated creators diversify where they show up and collect email addresses, while newer creators stay stuck on free platforms where they do not truly own their audience.

When I say free platforms, I mean Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Those platforms are powerful, and I have worked inside that world at NBC Sports, VidIQ, and now through Bleav in Fantasy Basketball and Sport Stackers. But if your entire audience lives on someone else’s app, you are always one algorithm change away from disappearing.

Substack is different because you actually own your list. That should change how you behave, even on day one.

Engagement is moving inside the email

We looked at data from tens of billions of emails sent last year and saw three things that stood out: extremely high delivery, strong open rates around the low forties, and modest but meaningful click through rates.

In many email marketing spaces, 30 percent is considered solid. Seeing averages above 40 percent shows how strong the newsletter ecosystem is right now. The next phase of this space will not just be about opens and clicks. It is about interaction inside the email.

That means using embedded polls, simple quizzes, and real time content so readers can engage without leaving their inbox. On Bleav in Fantasy Basketball, where we are well past 5,000 subscribers, simple surveys and polls have helped us understand what is valuable and what is not. If you have not tried this yet, start with one clear question in your next send.

Why pruning your list matters more than growing it

One of the most important ideas from the session was something most creators avoid. Pruning your list.

High performing email teams know that removing dead weight is essential to strong deliverability and accurate numbers. When people stop opening your emails for 90 to 120 days or never open anything at all, they become low quality subscribers.

Here is what pruning looks like in practice:

* Identify subscribers who have not opened in at least 90 days or ever.

* For smaller lists around 100 to 500 subscribers, send a simple check in email: “Hey, I noticed you have not opened in a while. Still want content on this topic.”

* If they do not respond or re engage, remove them.

It feels brutal when you are chasing milestones like 100, 500, or 1,000 subscribers. If 50 out of 500 never open, I would rather have 450 engaged people than a vanity number that drags my open rate down to 15 percent.

Do not chase metrics. Chase quality.

Sports is a top tier newsletter niche

We also looked at which industries had the highest open rates. Podcasts were at the top of the list, followed by categories like history, parenting, music, healthcare, deals, psychology, entertainment, and space.

Sports landed in the top ten.

That means we are building in an industry where people actually open and read. The attention is already here. The opportunity is in how specific you are willing to get.

Go deeper on your niche, then remix

Another big theme was that the best content does not have to be mass market. There are niche audiences for almost everything, and more creators are doubling down on specific lanes instead of trying to serve everyone.

In sports, too many creators stop at “I cover basketball” or “I cover soccer.” Every sport has layers such as league, format, team, playing style, and geography.

Bleav in Fantasy Basketball is a good example of going deeper. The broad niche is basketball, then NBA, then fantasy basketball, then points leagues. I even started narrower with content around one specific fantasy platform and then moved up one level when I realized the audience was bigger around points leagues in general.

This is also where you can remix your experience into something no one else can copy. I combined my background as an NBA writer with my work as a creator coach and built a lane helping sports creators grow on Substack through Sport Stackers. That blend of sports media and social strategy is what makes the offer feel one of one.

Ask yourself where you can go at least two or three layers deep and what unique mix of skills you bring that others do not.

Simplicity as an advantage in the AI era

We also talked about how AI has made every lane noisier. You can feel the AI slop in your feeds. Everything is more saturated, more repetitive, and more automated.

That is exactly why I am betting on simplicity and human connection. When I wrote Social Media SYNC, I framed it around intentional human connection in the AI era, and that idea shapes how I show up here. I want our interactions to feel less like a polished broadcast and more like a FaceTime call with a friend who cares about your work.

I am even restructuring our offers to reflect that. We used to have an MVP resource library packed with ebooks, checklists, and prompt packs, plus a mini free bundle for new members. The data told the truth. Clicks were low, and people with jobs, families, and teams do not have time to read 25 PDFs.

So I am sunsetting the big resource library and the bundle. Instead, new community members get a free preview of my book, and MVP members are getting a full copy. That feels like a real, human way to help you, not just another folder of downloads.

Less clutter. More connection.

Trends driving newsletter growth in 2025

Here are the main trends we walked through and how they show up in our world.

* Rise of creator led mediaCreators with loyal social audiences are realizing the power of owning distribution through newsletters. If you already have momentum on another platform, invite those people to your list. If you do not, I would not recommend starting a new social account just to feed your newsletter. Use Substack to grow Substack.

* The power of communityCommunity building is a long slog. There is no secret sauce, no shortcut, and no hack that replaces consistency and care. Our own Triple Five Fridays ritual, where we post five Notes, restack five, and comment on five, has become a weekly anchor for Sport Stackers and one of the main reasons the community feels real.

* Podcasts gain new steamMore creators are waking up to the fact that newsletter content and podcast content can feed each other. This very session is a good example. One live recording turns into a podcast episode, a YouTube video, and a newsletter article, plus a handful of Notes. Same effort, multiple formats.

* Local newsletters are soaringWe are already leaning into this with the Your Knicks, Your Nuggets, Your Mavs, and Your Cavs projects under the Your Sports Media Network. Our Knicks channel passed 1,000 subscribers in about three months with multiple videos crossing thousands of views, all by focusing intensely on one fan base.

If you are stuck on what to build, going local or going specific is almost always a good move.

Use data to time your drops

A practical question that came up was “When is the best time to drop new episodes or articles.” General advice can get you started, but your best times are specific to your audience.

One thing that changed our growth curve was paying attention to when our readers and listeners actually showed up. Once we identified our golden hour for publishing, we saw significantly better performance. For me, that window is around mid afternoon, so I like to be active an hour on each side and drop major posts right in that sweet spot.

If you are serious about growing, take a week to experiment. Publish at different times, track opens and responses, then lock in your own golden hour.

What this means for you this week

If you are building a sports newsletter or podcast and wondering what to actually do with all of this, keep it simple and concrete.

Here is a quick action checklist:

* Claim your lane. Go at least two levels deeper than “I cover sports” and pick a sub niche you are willing to own.

* Prune your list. Remove subscribers who have not opened in 90 to 120 days after one human check in email if your list is small.

* Add interaction. Include one poll, quiz, or simple question in your next send.

* Repurpose once. Take your next live stream or article and convert it into at least one other format such as a podcast, YouTube video, or newsletter.

* Protect your focus. If you are a one person operation, commit to Substack and maybe one other platform instead of trying to be everywhere.

Treat your current list, even if it is tiny, with the respect and intention most people reserve for 100,000 subscribers. That mindset shift is what separates sophisticated creators from everyone else.

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Hooks that stop the scroll

Your hook decides if people stop scrolling. We look at proven openers like “Dear Substack” and “Hello, Substack verse” that connect you to the right audience fast. One spicy example, “Don’t become a ‘content creator’,” creates instant tension and curiosity to pull readers in.

Formatting that makes people read

Formatting turns good writing into something people actually finish. Creators swap basic bullets for clean text arrows to make Notes feel modern and easy to scan. Repetition works magic too, like Nicholas Cole’s “and write and write and write and write” that reads like poetry and keeps eyes moving down the page.

Keep everything above the fold. No dense text blocks that scare readers off. Short lines and smart spacing mean they get your full point without tapping “more.”

Images, GIFs, and screenshots that pop

Visuals seal the deal. Test GIFs from Giphy for energy without clutter. Screenshots of stats, graphs, or quotes that make you think “huh, interesting” spark the best Notes. Pair one with a quick reaction, and you’ve got shareable gold.

Your invite to the 31-Day Sprint

The real fun starts TODAY March 1, 2026. Sports Stackers kicks off a 31-day sprint where writers, creators, journalists, and students post daily Notes. The community restacks, comments, and cheers everyone on. It’s accountability with zero judgment.

Watch the full episode for step-by-step examples you can steal today. Then join us and put these tactics to work in the sprint. Watch your Notes take off with real support behind you.

The 12 Plays You Need on Substack Notes

You do not need to master every feature. You need a small set of repeatable plays that turn Notes into a discovery engine for your newsletter and community.

Play 1: The 5 5 5 strategy

Use this as your daily base routine:

* Five original Notes

* Five restacks

* Five comments

You can batch these in one work block or spread them across the day. Avoid firing off five original Notes back to back like you are on X or Twitter. Spread them out so the platform sees you as consistently active instead of briefly noisy.

Play 2: Write like a fan in a group chat

Notes should feel more like texts to your friends than polished essays.

If you have a group chat about your niche, scroll through it and study it. Look at what lines got the most reactions, emojis, or replies. Notice the slang, the running jokes, and the way people actually talk. If you do not have your own group chat, look at thriving communities in your niche and pay attention to their language. Capture those phrases and vibes, then bring that same energy into your Notes.

Play 3: Stop the scroll

People are still scrolling fast. Your job is to make them pause.

A few simple tools help:

* Use GIFs or memes that match your message and grab attention.

* Share screenshots of charts, graphs, threads, or your screen, and mark them up with circles, arrows, or simple doodles.

* Lead with specific numbers. Instead of writing 15K, try 15,397. Specific numbers feel real and make people curious.

Combine one strong visual with one sharp line and your Notes become much harder to ignore.

Play 4: One note, one play

Each Note should do exactly one job.

Avoid stuffing multiple topics into a single post. Do not jump from one team to another to another in the same Note. Pick a single idea, opinion, or story and stay with it. Clear, focused Notes are easier to read, easier to remember, and easier for the platform to understand.

Play 5: Repost your best takes

You do not need to leave great Notes in the past.

First, define what an outlier looks like for you. If you usually get two likes and one Note gets five, that is an outlier. When you spot one, you can:

* Rewrite it with a tighter hook or slightly different angle.

* Restack the original so it resurfaces for people who missed it.

* Copy and repost it as a fresh Note after a few weeks.

Judge performance against your own baseline, not against viral accounts. If it did better than your normal, it deserves another run.

Play 6: Rotate six content styles

Instead of waking up and guessing what to post, decide on a small set of styles you rotate through. For example:

* Tips and inspiration related to your niche.

* Engagement prompts such as Dear Substack, please connect me with people who write about and then your topic.

* Personal posts about your life, your family, or your struggles to build intimacy.

* Self care posts that speak to the wellbeing of your readers.

* Evergreen niche content that is not tied to last night’s news but to bigger stories and history.

* Hard calls to action where you clearly ask people to subscribe, sign up, or support your work.

Your exact six may be different, but the point is to choose them on purpose so you are never staring at a blank box with no direction.

Play 7: Turn comments into content

Comments are one of your best idea sources.

When a comment hits you emotionally or intellectually, turn it into a Note by:

* Screenshotting the comment and using it as the starting point for a new post.

* Taking the topic further, expanding your reply into a full thought.

* Mentioning or tagging the person who wrote it so they feel seen and invited back into the conversation.

If something in the comments moved you, it will probably move your readers too.

Play 8: Show behind the scenes

People want to see how you actually work, not just the finished product.

You can:

* Post selfies while you are recording, writing, or planning.

* Share photos of your workspace, even if it is messy or basic.

* Post photos of paper notes, Post its, mind maps, and scribbles that show your thinking process.

Handwritten and low tech visuals often feel more human, which builds stronger connection over time.

Play 9: Use Notes as a practice field

Treat Notes as a place to test ideas before turning them into full articles, podcast segments, or videos.

If a Note gets more engagement than usual, that is a signal. Turn that idea into a longer newsletter piece, a script, or a segment. Let your audience tell you, through their reactions, what is worth expanding.

Play 10: Ask sharp questions

Weak questions get weak responses. Strong questions pull out genuine emotion.

When you write a question Note:

* Be specific and avoid vague prompts.

* Ask about real choices, opinions, and pain points in your niche.

* Be willing to share your own honest answer, including the good, the bad, and the ugly.

If a question makes you a little nervous to post, it often means it is real enough to matter. Just keep it aligned with your values and with the kind of community you want to build.

Play 11: Batch your Notes

You probably do not have time to hop on all day and post in real time.

Instead, set aside a block of time to:

* Draft multiple Notes in one sitting.

* Mix in your different styles so you are not repeating the same pattern.

* Plan when each one will go live, even if you are posting manually.

Batching helps you stay consistent even when life gets busy.

Play 12: Choose consistency over perfection

The biggest trap on Notes is overediting and overthinking.

Typos are fine. Slightly messy phrasing is fine. You can always edit later if something really bothers you. What matters most is that you show up often, experiment publicly, and keep talking to your people.

Let Notes be the place where you practice and connect, not the place where you pretend to be flawless.

How to use this playbook this week

To keep it simple, try this for the next seven days:

* Run the 5 5 5 strategy at least once per day.

* Define your six content styles and write at least one Note in each.

* Turn one meaningful comment into a Note.

* Share at least one behind the scenes photo or handwritten note.

* Repost one outlier Note that outperformed your usual numbers.

Follow these plays and Notes will stop feeling confusing and start feeling like a real practice floor for your Substack community.

What Substack Really Is (And Why It Matters)

Substack is often described as a newsletter platform, but that only scratches the surface. At its core, it is a new media platform that connects readers with creators through writing, podcasts, and video. It is built to help you form direct, meaningful relationships with your audience and to support independent voices.

On Substack, you can offer free or paid subscriptions and manage your content and community from a single place. Think of it as an omnichannel media platform:

* A blog

* A website

* An email newsletter

* A social media platform

* A podcast hosting platform

* And next they're rolling out Substack TV!

Substack lets you publish and monetize content while keeping most of your revenue; the platform takes a 10 percent cut. For someone who has lived through the eras of MySpace, Facebook, and TikTok and even built an audience of over 127,000 followers on TikTok, Substack is compelling enough to make you want to spend your time here instead.

From Sign-Up to Publication: Setting Your Foundation

To start, go to substack.com and create an account. Once you are in, the real work begins in the back end of your Substack, where you set up your publication and profile.

You will first operate inside Substack’s social media branch, called Notes, which is a feed of posts and updates from across the platform. You will see:

* Short Notes

* Videos

* Written posts

* Links to new publications and articles

This Notes feed is the central hub where discovery and interaction happen, and it is one of the most innovative social features on the internet right now.

To create your publication:

* Click the three-line menu at the bottom left of the interface.

* Select “Settings.”

* In the publication area (which will be blank when you start), click “Create publication” or “Create another publication” if you already have one.

* Follow the prompts: name your publication, upload a publication image, and add your profile picture for the publication.

As you do this, it is important to understand the difference between your profile and your publication:

* Your profile is you: your name, your face, your identity as the writer.

* Your publication is the “show” or “brand” that you are producing, such as a sports newsletter or a news-focused digest.

If your name is Robbin Marx, use that name on your profile and reserve the “@robbinmarx” handle. If your publication is called “Sports and News,” that is the title of the publication, not your personal identity. Use a real profile photo of your face and your actual name so readers can connect with you as the creator behind the work.

Navigating the Dashboard: Your Control Center

Once your publication is created, click “Dashboard” in the left-hand menu to see the main control panel for your newsletter. Here you will find:

* Home

* Website

* Posts

* Podcast

* Chat

* Subscribers

* Growth

* Stats

* Payments

* Recommendations

* Branding

You will likely spend most of your time in the Posts section. Inside Posts, you can see:

* All published articles

* Scheduled posts

* Drafts in progress

A practical workflow many creators use is:

* Draft a batch of posts and save them as drafts.

* When ready, move those drafts into scheduled posts with dates and times.

* Let Substack send them out automatically.

Remember that you also get a public-facing website for your publication. Clicking “Website” shows you how your newsletter appears to visitors, acting as a home base for archives, signups, and discovery.

Writing Your First Substack Article

To draft a new article:

* Click “Create new.”

* Choose “Text post” (this is your standard article). You can also choose video post, audio post, new Note, new chat thread, or live video for other formats.

Inside the editor, Substack gives you a basic structure:

* Title

* Subtitle

* Body

A few key points to keep in mind:

* Your title and subtitle are critical for SEO. They should include the core keywords related to your niche or topic.

* Use clear, benefit-driven language that tells readers what they will get from the piece.

Headings and Structure

Strong formatting makes your article more readable and skimmable. Substack’s editor lets you format headings easily:

* Highlight a line of text.

* Choose “Header 1” for a main section heading.

* Use smaller headers (Header 2, Header 3) for subtopics.

Each level is slightly smaller than the last and helps organize longer pieces into logical sections that guide readers.

Quotes, Dividers, and Visual Flow

Many writers underuse Substack’s quote features, which can dramatically improve your article’s visual rhythm. To add a quote:

* Highlight a sentence or paragraph.

* Click the quote icon in the toolbar.

* Choose either a block quote or a pull quote.

Block quotes are especially useful for:

* Key phrases you want to emphasize.

* Pulling out a line as a standalone moment in your article.

* Highlighting testimonials or statistics.

Other useful formatting tools in the editor include:

* Bold and italics for emphasis.

* Strikethrough for edits or stylistic effects.

* Code formatting for technical snippets.

* Links for references or external resources.

* Image, audio, and video insertion to make the post more dynamic.

* Bullet and numbered lists for steps or grouped ideas.

* Buttons for actions like “share this post” or “share publication,” which should be used sparingly.

Dividers are another powerful tool. Adding a divider at the end of a section creates a subtle gray line that visually separates ideas and improves flow. For example:

* Write a short section.

* Insert a divider.

* Begin the next topic below that line.

This simple move makes long newsletters far easier to navigate on both desktop and mobile.

Using Paywalls, Drafts, and Scheduling

Substack’s paywall is central to monetization. If you want to place part of your article behind a paywall:

* Write your full piece.

* Click the paywall button where you want the free portion to end.

* Everything below that line will be reserved for paid subscribers.

This is a powerful way to:

* Offer valuable free content to attract new readers.

* Reserve deeper analysis, premium resources, or exclusive insights for paid subscribers.

As you write, Substack automatically saves your work. Many creators prefer to:

* Keep posts in Draft until they are confident in the content and formatting.

* Then choose whether to send to everyone or to paid subscribers only.

To schedule:

* Click the dropdown next to the publish button.

* Choose your audience (everyone or paid only).

* Set your date and time.

* Adjust options like:

* Allowing comments from everyone.

* Adding relevant tags for discovery.

* Choosing the social preview image and text.

When everything is set, select the date and time and confirm “Send to everyone” or the appropriate audience. Substack will handle the delivery at the scheduled moment.

Where to Go Next: Growing Your Substack

By this point, you have:

* Created your Substack account.

* Set up your profile and publication correctly.

* Learned how to navigate your dashboard.

* Written and formatted your first article.

* Understood the basics of paywalls, drafts, and scheduling.

The natural next question is how to grow your Substack. Audience building, subscriber conversion, Notes strategy, and external promotion are the next layers of the journey. Once you are comfortable in the editor and backend, it is time to focus on getting more people to see your work and turning casual readers into loyal subscribers.

To go deeper into growth strategies, check out this article:

It breaks down how to use Notes, SEO, social sharing, and collaboration to grow your Substack!

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WriteStack.io is the tool that helped me gain over 5000 subscribers and land on Substack’s Rising in Sports Top 10! It also helped me to scale my Notes output. It’s totally FREE to try it for 7 Days, but if you’re serious about growing on Substack, I’m confident you will subscribe long term. The first 10 people to sign up using the code: ROBBIN10 get a 10% discount. Tell’em the Sport Stackers sent ya!

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Why Substack Is “Rented Land Insurance”

Substack combines the reach of social media with the ownership of an email list, giving creators the benefits of a feed-driven platform without the fragility of followers they cannot take with them. When someone subscribes on Substack, you get their email, which means that even if the platform bans you or changes direction, you still own the direct relationship with your readers. For creators burned by account bans or algorithm swings on TikTok, X, or other platforms, this ability to build a portable audience is a major shift.

Substack also forces you to develop a long-form writing muscle while still operating inside a social discovery ecosystem. That mix of depth plus distribution makes it one of the strongest opportunities in the current early adopter phase of the platform, before it matures and growth inevitably slows or becomes more competitive.

Substack Notes: The Underrated Growth Channel

When Orel first joined Substack almost two years ago, he treated it like a traditional blog: long-form pieces, organic discovery, and recommendations from other writers. It worked, but slowly. Over time, he realized that the number one driver of new subscribers was not the essays at all. It was Notes.

Across thousands of creators he has spoken with, roughly 30–70 percent of their subscribers come directly or indirectly from Notes activity. In many cases, that means tens of thousands of subscribers attributable to short posts that travel through the feed and get surfaced to new readers.

The most effective Notes on Substack are not generic tips or faceless promo posts. They are personal updates and “building in public” moments. Creators share milestones, failures, wins, and real numbers, such as revenue snapshots. Each transparent update sparks fresh engagement and new subscribers. Many people hesitate to share income or goals publicly out of fear of judgment, privacy concerns, or “jinxing” themselves, but the response pattern is often the opposite. Readers root for you, follow the journey, and want to be part of your next milestone.

Inside WriteStack: Built for Substack Growth

WriteStack was born out of Orel’s own Substack workflow. He needed a way to generate more Notes, schedule them intelligently, and double down on what was actually working. Once you connect, the first screen you see is a Notes hub where you can write, generate, and schedule Notes in batches. A built-in Notes generator can create new posts based on your existing Substack articles or even files you upload, using your own writing style and voice rather than generic AI language.

Scheduling is designed to be as simple as dropping content into a queue and letting it dispatch to the next available slot. You can visualize your entire schedule in one view and rearrange Notes via drag-and-drop to cover your week or month with consistent, high-performing content. For creators who prefer to repurpose, a single Note format that performs well can be duplicated, lightly tweaked, and re-queued, preserving the structure while updating the specifics.

The feature that Orel calls the most valuable is Notes Performance, a sortable dashboard of your full Notes history with metrics like clicks, likes, and subscribers. He routinely filters by likes to identify his highest-engagement Notes, then saves those back to drafts and re-adds them to his queue, so he is constantly resurfacing proven winners. If posting the exact same text feels repetitive, built-in AI tools can generate alternate versions that are more sarcastic, shorter, or differently phrased while keeping the underlying concept intact.

Community, Conversions, and the Activity Center

WriteStack is not just about pushing content out. It also makes creator–reader interaction far less painful. On Substack itself, comments and replies are buried in a noisy notifications tab, difficult to track, and awkward to manage, especially if you navigate away and lose your place. In contrast, WriteStack’s Activity Center pulls everything into a single view, allowing you to respond to comments rapidly with keyboard shortcuts and automatically like comments as you reply. That makes it realistic to handle a large volume of engagement in 15–20 minutes rather than feeling overwhelmed or guilty about unanswered readers.

These interaction patterns matter because Orel has data showing a strong correlation between the Notes he posts, the engagement they receive, and the number of signups WriteStack gets as a business. By optimizing for likes and overall engagement rather than just free subscriber count, he funnels more people to his Substack profile, where a simple, goal-driven tagline invites readers to “join” him as he builds WriteStack to 100K rather than just “buy” a tool. Analytics from an external dashboard confirm that much of his revenue originates from visitors who land via that profile link after discovering him through Notes.

For creators thinking about paid tiers or selling services off-platform, this same model applies. Use Notes to generate engagement, send people to an intentional profile or landing page, and let that page invite them into a larger story or journey rather than a one-off transaction. Transparency, consistent updates, and smart reuse of formats become the engine that powers both audience and revenue growth.

Power Features, Limitations, and What’s Next

Beyond its core tools, WriteStack includes an Inspirations feature that lets users see which types of Notes are performing well across the platform, down to specific formatting tricks like repeated letter patterns or year-stamped lists. WriteStack can even filter the broader database by phrases or engagement thresholds, such as Notes with more than 100 likes, to reverse-engineer what resonates before adapting those formats to their own voice.

On the distribution side, he is actively testing a collaboration with Buffer so creators can compose and schedule Notes in WriteStack and then syndicate that content automatically to other platforms like LinkedIn and X. For creators juggling multiple channels, especially those managing social for organizations or municipalities, this would help connect Substack’s email plus social ecosystem with the rest of their content stack. WriteStack currently offers a seven-day free trial, making it easy for curious Substack writers to test the workflow and see whether they also become “addicted” to the efficiency gains and growth it unlocks.

Try WriteStack!

WriteStack.io is the tool that helped me gain over 5000 subscribers and land on Substack’s Rising in Sports Top 10! It also helped me to scale my Notes output. It’s totally FREE to try it for 7 Days, but if you’re serious about growing on Substack, I’m confident you will subscribe long term. The first 10 people to sign up using the code: ROBBIN10 get a 10% discount. Tell’em the Sport Stackers sent ya!

Final Thoughts and Next Steps

For creators serious about Substack, the playbook emerging from Orel’s experience is clear. Treat Substack as both a social feed and an email list, lean hard into Notes as your primary discovery engine, and share your journey in public through honest, repeatable formats. Add in visual scroll stoppers, prioritize clicks in your analytics, and invest in fast, thoughtful replies to build a loyal audience that follows you beyond any single platform. Tools like WriteStack can compress the time it takes to execute this strategy, turning scattered experimentation into a deliberate, data-backed growth system that supports both your newsletter and your broader creative business.

Robin Nathaniel AKA Robbin Marx

TEDx Speaker | Award Winning Author & Social Media Strategist | Gold Telly Award Winner | Davey Award Winner | Two-Time W3 Award Winner

Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, Hashtag Basketball, vidIQ, Fantasy Sports Writers Association

FOLLOW ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: @robbinmarx @bleavinfantasy

Substack recommendations might be the most slept on growth tool on the platform. Most writers know the tab exists, turn it on once, then forget about it and go back to grinding Notes and posts.

That is a missed opportunity. Substack has shared that a huge share of new subscribers across the platform arrive through recommendations, not social media links or search. When another writer recommends you, your publication gets surfaced right after someone hits “subscribe” on theirs, inside onboarding flows, and in follow suggestions. That is warm traffic from people already in “yes, I want to read more” mode.

This newsletter walks you through a clear, sports creator friendly recommendation system you can start running this week.

Step 1: Research Your “Neighbor” Publications

You do not want random recommendations. You want neighbors. These are publications that

* Cover a similar topic or niche

* Share overlapping audiences

* Operate at a quality level you are proud to stand next to

Substack’s recommendation feature works best when the reader moving from one publication to the next feels like they are exploring a “scene” rather than jumping into a totally new universe.

Practical moves

* List your main topics. For example

* NBA, fantasy basketball, sports media careers, women in sports, college prospects

* Search Substack and your own Notes feed for creators in those lanes

* Pay attention to “Suggested to follow” and “Recommended by others” sections, since Substack already surfaces likely fits based on categories and reader behavior

If you can, build a simple directory for your own scene like we did with Sport Stackers. Group creators by sport, subtopic, and angle so it is easy to spot overlap.

Step 2: Make Your Publication Easy To Recommend

Before you worry about getting recommended, make sure you are recommendable. Another writer should be able to glance at your publication page and instantly answer

* Who is this for

* What do they write about most of the time

* Why would my readers care

Recommendations work best when writers are confident their readers will genuinely like the other publication. That means your brand has to be clear.

Do this audit

* Is your title and tagline specific

* Does your About page explain who you serve and what they get

* Do your last five posts all feel roughly aligned with that promise

You can and should inject your personality. You might be “NBA fantasy points league sicko, girl dad, snapback collector, and health journey guy” all in one. That is the charm. Just do not bury the core promise under endless side quests.

Step 3: Use The Recommendations Tab With Intention

The Recommendations dashboard on Substack lets you

* Choose who you recommend

* See who has recommended you

This is not about chasing big subscriber counts. Some creators get a meaningful share of their subs through recommendations even when they are still “small.” The real filter should be

* Does this publication consistently deliver value

* Would my readers feel like I put them on to something good

Start by recommending at least five publications you truly enjoy and that align with your audience. That is usually enough to make the network effects start working in your favor.

Step 4: Write Real Blurbs, Not Fluff

Most writers skip the blurb or write “Great newsletter, highly recommend.” That is a wasted chance. Blurbs are part of how recommendations stand out in onboarding screens and in the sidebar.

Better blurbs

* Name the reader

* “If you are a fantasy hoops nerd who lives in your league’s group chat, this is for you.”

* Name the value

* “Breaks down game film in a way that makes you smarter without needing Synergy access.”

* Name the reason

* “This is where I go when I want to feel like I am in the press box, not on the couch.”

Two or three specific sentences beat a vague compliment every time.

Step 5: Lead With Reciprocity, Not Transactions

The temptation is to treat recommendations like a trade. “I will recommend you if you recommend me.” That energy turns a trust based feature into a weird cold DM exchange and it usually backfires.

A better approach

* Recommend people whose work you love with zero expectation

* Assume most will never recommend you back

* Treat any return recommendation as a bonus, not a condition

This keeps your recommendations page honest and protects your readers. It also quietly builds goodwill. Other writers see that you send them real subscribers, not just ask for favors, and that makes them much more open to collaborating later.

Step 6: Turn Kind Words Into Social Proof

When someone recommends your publication, they often write a short note about why. Those blurbs are marketing gold.

Use them by

* Taking screenshots of the best blurbs and sharing them in your newsletter, About page, or Notes

* Pulling one or two key phrases into your bio

* Mentioning “recommended by X, Y, Z” when you introduce your publication to new readers

This is not about proving you are “real.” You already are. It is about reducing friction for someone who has just discovered you and is deciding if they should trust you with their inbox.

Step 7: Treat Recommenders Like Colleagues

Recommendations are not a one off transaction. They are the start of a relationship. Writers who get the most from the recommendation network often behave like they are building a roster, not chasing shoutouts.

Support your recommenders by

* Reading and engaging with their new posts

* Restacking their best work, especially when it helps your audience

* Mentioning them in your own pieces when their ideas help shape yours

Push their content like it is yours. Over time, that creates a little “scene” where readers bounce between your publications and everyone’s lists grow together.

Step 8: Build A Weekly Recommendation Ritual

The writers who win with recommendations do not treat it as a once a year task. They treat it as a rhythm. Some growth case studies show creators adding hundreds of subs by deliberately cultivating just a handful of strong recommendation relationships and guest posts.

Here is a simple weekly ritual

* Block 20 to 30 minutes on your calendar

* During that window

* Look for one or two new potential neighbor publications

* Check if any existing recommenders have new work you can highlight

* Refresh blurbs if needed so they still reflect what you love about a publication

This keeps your recommendation network alive instead of static. It also ensures you are not only hunting for new names but nurturing the relationships that already send you subscribers.

The Ninja Move: Show Your Impact, Then Ask

If you have been recommending someone for a while and notice they have not recommended you back, it might be because they do not realize how much you have helped. Substack’s stats let writers see how many subs arrived via a specific recommendation source.

After you have sent them a meaningful number of subscribers

* Send a short, respectful DM

* Let them know exactly how many people subscribed to them through your recommendation

* Make a low pressure ask

Example

“Hey, just wanted to share something cool. We have had about 40 readers subscribe to your newsletter through our recommendation over the last few months. Our audiences seem to overlap a lot. No pressure at all, but if you ever feel like recommending Sport Stackers in return, it would mean a lot. Either way, big fan of what you are doing, and let me know if I can support you in any other way.”

This works because you are leading with value, you are showing data, and you are explicitly removing pressure. Many larger publications simply have not noticed where their subscribers are coming from until someone points it out.

Your Recommendation Game Plan For This Week

To make this actionable, here is a simple one week challenge you can run right now

* Day 1

* Make a list of 10 neighbor publications in your niche

* Day 2

* Add at least 5 genuine recs with real blurbs

* Day 3

* DM one os the writers you rec’d simply to say you appreciate their work, with no ask

* Day 4

* Audit your About page and homepage so they clearly show what new readers get

* Day 5

* Share one screenshot or quote from someone who recommended you as social proof

* Day 6

* Read a recommended publication and restack one of their best posts with a thoughtful Note

* Day 7

* Look at your stats and set a simple goal, for example

* “I want a healthy chunk of new subs to come from recommendations over the next 90 days.”

Recommendations work in the background once they are set up. The more intentionally you curate them, the more they quietly send you the exact kind of readers you want: people who already love the kind of work you do.

-Robbin Marx

Most social platforms treat your content like fast food. You post, the algorithm chews it up in a few hours, and then it is gone. You are constantly feeding the machine and getting very little long term value back.

Substack plays a different game. With Substack TV rolling out on smart TV platforms, sports creators can turn one idea into a newsletter, a Note, a podcast, and a TV ready video that all live inside the same ecosystem. Substack already gives you newsletters, a social style feed with Notes, podcasts, and now a TV app where subscribers can watch videos and live streams from creators they follow.

The “Infinity Stones” Of Substack For Sports Creators

Think of Substack like a creator version of the Infinity Gauntlet. Every feature is a stone that makes you more powerful when you combine them.

* NewsletterYou own your list and talk directly to inboxes.

* NotesYour short form takes and mini posts live in a discoverable feed that can bring in new readers through likes, comments, and restacks.

* PodcastYou can host audio right on Substack and send episodes straight to your audience.

* Publication siteYour Substack doubles as your website and archive so you do not need a separate site just to look “official.”

* TV appWith Substack TV, your videos now show up on big screens for subscribers through a dedicated TV experience.

The point is not to use everything on day one. The point is to realize you finally have a place where all your sports content can live and compound instead of being scattered across five different platforms you do not own.

How To Use Substack TV Without Burning Out

You do not need to become a full time YouTuber overnight to benefit from Substack TV. The TV app lets subscribers watch video posts and live streams from creators they already follow, and it surfaces videos in rows and per publication pages.

Here is a simple way to plug into that as a sports creator.

* If you already create video

* Upload your best existing interviews, breakdowns, and show segments as video posts on Substack.

* Treat Substack as an additional distribution channel, not a replacement. Your videos can live on YouTube and Substack at the same time.

* If you do not want to be on camera

* Consider audio first content that still exports as a “video” with a static image or simple visuals.

* Use screen share, slides, or highlight clips so the attention is on the game, the data, or the story more than your face.

* If you are brand new to video

* Start with short, simple segments. One take. One topic. One clear takeaway for sports fans or sports writers.

* Remember that Substack’s core is still writing and connection. Video is an amplifier, not a requirement.

The opportunity here is that as Substack leans harder into video, early sports creators who show up with TV ready content first will look bigger than they are and will be better positioned when TV discovery expands.

When To Post: Notes And Articles Timing

Timing is not everything, but it matters. Substack gives you basic stats, and third party analytics tools can show you exactly when your audience is most active.

For Sport Stackers style creators, a common pattern is

* Peak activity in the early to late afternoon local time.

* Strong performance around lunchtime and early evening when people are scrolling between work and games.

You can test this by

* Picking two consistent publish times for your articles each week, for example

* One early afternoon send.

* One late afternoon or early evening send.

* Running that schedule for at least a month or two before you change it, then checking open rates and click rates.

For Notes, you can post more frequently during your peak window and then let the algorithm continue to surface them over time. Daily Notes at those peak hours can contribute a big share of your subscriber growth through Substack’s internal ecosystem.

Durability Over “Consistency”

People love to say “just be consistent,” but the real word here is durability. Can you keep showing up when your Notes get ten likes for months. Can you keep posting when your podcast downloads look small.

Growth on Substack often looks flat for a while, then suddenly spikes once the algorithm and your audience catch up to your effort. The graph usually looks like a hockey stick. Long, quiet base. Then a sharp climb.

So instead of asking “Can I do this every day for a week,” ask “Would I still do this if no one noticed for three months.” That is durability. That is what pays off when Notes suddenly start getting hundreds of likes and restacks after a long, quiet stretch.

The Restack HACK (I hate that word)

Substack heavily rewards restacks in the Notes feed because they act like built in recommendations. When someone restacks your Note, it shows up for their followers with context.

Most people only restack other people’s content. They post a Note, interact for a day, then abandon it forever. That is old social media conditioning. On Substack, you can and should restack your own best Notes to give them a second and third life.

Here is a simple daily Restack Routine

* Once a day, open the Notes you posted yesterday.

* Pick the ones that still feel relevant and sharp.

* Restack them to your own feed, optionally adding a short new comment or update.

* Mix in a few restacks of other creators’ work that your audience would love.

In five minutes, you have told the system that your older ideas still matter. That increases the chance new readers see them in their feeds. There is no penalty for restacking your own work, and it is one of the easiest ways to get more reach without creating anything new.

How To Think About Shelf Life

On platforms like Instagram or TikTok, most posts spike quickly and then flatline. You either win in a few hours or you are done.

Substack Notes behave differently. Because the feed is personalized and because restacks and recommendations push older content back into circulation, a Note can keep attracting engagement long after you write it. A Note from last week, or even last month, can still show up in someone’s notifications today.

So when you are deciding where to put your limited energy as a sports creator, you have a choice.

* You can keep feeding platforms that treat your posts as disposable.

* Or you can invest in a system where your notes, newsletters, podcasts, and videos all live together, build your email list, and stay discoverable over time.

That is why focusing on one or two platforms, like Substack and YouTube, usually beats scattering yourself across five channels at once. You are working where your content can compound instead of disappear.

A Simple Game Plan For Sport Stackers

If you want a practical starting point, here is a step by step plan.

* Pick Substack as your home base and one other platform, like YouTube, as your secondary channel.

* Post at least one newsletter per week with clear value for your audience.

* Post Notes daily!

* Quick takes on games or storylines.

* Behind the scenes creator lessons.

* Calls to action that invite people into the Sport Stackers community or onto your list.

* Run your Restack Routine daily for yesterday’s Notes.

* If you already have video, start uploading your best sports content to Substack so it is ready for Substack TV viewers.

* Use tools like WrireStack.io to find your peak times and your best-performing ideas, then double down on those formats and topics.

You do not need to do everything perfectly from day one. You just need to show up, experiment, restack your wins, and let time work for you.

Thank you Kwame Twumasi-Ankrah, Dominic Butler, The SafeSport Illusion, The Jag Roar Podcast, and many others for tuning in to watch this live!

Robin Nathaniel AKA Robbin Marx

TEDx Speaker | Award Winning Author & Social Media Strategist | Gold Telly Award Winner | Davey Award Winner | Two-Time W3 Award Winner

Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, Hashtag Basketball, vidIQ, Fantasy Sports Writers Association

FOLLOW ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: @robbinmarx @bleavinfantasy

But there is another way. A place where your work keeps working long after you hit publish. Where a single post can quietly resurface weeks or even months later. That place is Substack.

Unlike Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, where survival depends on feeding algorithmic hunger, Substack gives your work time to breathe. It values relationships over reach. Posts and Notes have a life far beyond their upload day. And that changes how you play the game.

Step 1: Understand why patience pays on Substack

On most platforms, content lives for only a few hours. If it does not hit fast, it vanishes. On Substack, posts and Notes can still be discovered long after they go live. When you scroll your Substack feed, you see fresh pieces from the last few minutes sitting beside older ones from last week or even last year.

That long tail means every post remains in circulation, ready to be found by a new reader tomorrow, next week, or three months from now. Your work compounds. You publish once, and it keeps delivering value again and again.

Step 2: Create evergreen content

Evergreen content is built to last. It is not tied to a single trend or short window of time. It offers insight or perspective that stays relevant whenever a person finds it.

Picture the difference. A tweet about last night’s game fades by breakfast. A post breaking down why certain teams thrive under pressure stays useful next season, too. Focus on ideas and stories people will still care about long after the latest trends fade.

Your archived posts become a personal library that keeps attracting readers slowly but consistently.

Step 3: Stop treating topics like they expire

One of the biggest mistakes creators make is believing they can only cover an idea once. If something connects, that is your signal to go deeper, not move on.

If a post about LeBron versus Jordan sparks engagement, build a series. Update your analysis. Turn it into a weekly conversation. Revisit it when new players or stats shift the context. Recurring themes create recognition and anticipation.

Readers do not get tired of a good discussion that evolves. Think of sports talk shows. They revisit favorite debates because audiences want to keep exploring them, not because they are out of ideas.

Step 4: Use data to remix what performs

Check your Substack analytics every few weeks. Find which headlines brought the most subscribers or which posts keep getting opened. Treat those as clues.

Once you find a format or theme that works, remix it. Keep the core structure but change the details. Add a new example, expand the argument, or shift the focus slightly. The goal is not to repeat yourself but to refine your message through variation.

Successful creators build identifiable patterns. Your readers come to know your rhythm and appreciate familiar entry points into fresh ideas.

Step 5: Use Notes as a discovery engine

Notes are your ticket to visibility. They may look casual, but each one can bring new readers to your publication long after it is written.

Use Notes to publish quick insights, short updates, or quick takes on trending topics within your niche. When people restack or comment on your Notes, that interaction boosts your reach. Even old Notes can return to circulation when someone engages with them again.

Each Note is a small door leading back to your bigger work. The more thoughtful Notes you post, the more chances people have to discover you and subscribe.

Step 6: Think long term instead of chasing viral moments

The internet rewards consistency more than perfection. If you stop obsessing over first-day numbers and focus on creating durable content, your work will grow naturally.

Substack’s design encourages sustained growth. Recommendations, Notes, and search make your content discoverable for months at a time. You will see slower but steadier traction that compounds with each post.

Adopt the mindset of a long season, not a single game. Play for legacy, not quick wins. When you produce with time in mind, you remove the pressure to go viral and free yourself to focus on value.

Step 7: Build a patient growth loop

If you want a framework you can follow weekly, try this formula.

* Create evergreen content that can stand the test of time.

* Restack and resurface past posts so new readers see your strongest work.

* Track what brings in the most subscribers and repeat what works.

* Turn high-performing ideas into short series or expanded versions.

* Use Notes daily to stay visible between longer newsletters.

* Collect email addresses with a clear call to action inside every post.

* Review your analytics once a quarter to refine your strategy.

Growth on Substack comes from rhythm, not randomness. Keep showing up. Keep refining. Let your older posts continue working while you write new ones.

The takeaway

Substack rewards patience. Posts that are months old can still surface and earn subscribers today. Notes from last week can still catch fire tomorrow.

That is what makes Substack different. When you focus on connection, trust, and long-term storytelling, your work becomes an asset that keeps growing even when you are offline.

Plant your posts like seeds. Give them time and care. Then watch how they keep growing long after everyone else’s content has disappeared.

by Robbin Marx

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