How to Grow on Substack Now That It’s Getting Crowded

And how to make yourself future-proof in a world of AI and rising competition

What’s happening on Substack right now?!

Substack is becoming more and more popular. You can feel it everywhere.

Big creators are joining. Some leave again, but my gut says that most come to stay. And when they do, they bring their audience with them. That means more readers are discovering new voices every day (including ours).

Just yesterday, I searched for a recipe I saved on TikTok. It brought me straight to her Substack. That is where the full post and recipe lived. So cool. And I didn’t expect that. Somehow I still think that Substack is this hidden coffee corner platform. But nah-ah. Not the case anymore.

This is where Substack is headed. It is becoming your online home. Everything else becomes a way to guide people back to your world.

And (!): You do not need an external funnel to grow. You can build everything right here. There are more than enough readers already on the platform.

Okay okay, this all sounds great. What’s the catch?

Well…Growth is not as effortless as it once was. More writers are showing up. More newsletters are launching. And with that comes more noise.

So the question is: how to stand out amongst all the competition?

Over the past year (and more so over the past months!) I’ve made a few discoveries and I want to share them with you.

Let’s dive in.

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What to build and what to offer right now

Right now, everything in the online world is shifting.
AI is changing how we create, how we show up, and how we stand out.

One thing to consider is that more and more people are using AI.
And not in a cool, supportive way — more like a “let it write everything for me” kind of way.

I’m not here to judge. I’ve done it too. Sigh.

But that experience made me realize something deeper.: The more we write ourselves and not only with AI the more we keep our edge.

How to navigate the changes on Substack

So here on Substack, we are navigating two big changes:

• Growing competition

• Growing AI usage

To grow, earn, and enjoy the work we do here, we need to understand the world we are creating in.

We are in the middle of a shift. And it is not slowing down.

It’s the era of the attention economy.

With AI, anyone can write and build whatever they need in minutes.

We are all competing for attention. And the ones who learn how to capture it will be the ones earning money and building a real living online through their words.

It’s not just about gaining subscribers. Even companies will struggle more and more to bring products to market.
Because now, it all comes down to one thing — attention.

So what does that mean for us?

How to stay sane and stable for the future

What will be more and more important in the future are these three things:

• Channel & Access: Build yourself channels to reach your audience and get direct access to them. This is why Substack is booming because more and more people realize that this is what is needed in the future. To own your audience. To be able to speak to them whenever you want. On Substack you can do that through DMs, group chats, emails and posts.

• Community (real humans!): Building and being part of communities will be one of the most essential edges you can have in the future. Because with more and more AI bots, voices and scams, we are craving human interaction. We want to be part of something real and surround ourselves with other human beings. Not AI.

• Being yourself and having a unique voice: Finally, instead of copying what everybody else is doing, find your own voice. Show up as you are in Notes, Posts, LIVEs, podcasts - just show people that you are real.

This is what I can help you with.

To build your community and find your voice. Because I had to do it, too.

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