💸 How to Get Paid on Substack — Without Feeling Sleazy

Jun 29, 2025

∙ Paid

Upgrade to paid to play voiceover

So you’ve been writing. Showing up. Hitting publish.
Maybe you’ve got a handful of subscribers or even a few hundred.
But that magical paid tier? Still a blinking cursor in your dreams.

Let me guess.
You keep saying:
“I’ll figure out my offer later.”

Except later turns into... months of free content and no revenue.

Here’s the truth:
Most creators wait way too long to start thinking about getting paid.
And when they finally do? They’re tired, overwhelmed, and too deep into a content treadmill that was never designed to make money.

That’s not gonna be your story.

We’re doing it smarter — right from the start.
Well, almost.

✨ Why This Matters

If you’re serious about making your Substack sustainable and profitable, this isn’t optional.
You need to think like a builder, not just a writer.

That means positioning your work in a way that:

Solves a real problem
Offers a clear transformation
Feels so obvious that people want to buy

This post walks you through exactly how to do that.
The free section gives you the why.
The paid section gives you the how — including the full step-by-step strategy to design your paid ecosystem from day one.

🚫 The Problem With “I’ll Monetize Later”

You pour effort into free content.
You build a small, loyal list.
You start to burn out because there’s no return.
You stall — and wonder if you were ever cut out for this.

Sound familiar?

Now flip it.
Imagine starting your content with your paid offer in mind.
Not in a spammy way — in a smart, strategic way that makes everything you write build toward something tangible and profitable.

That’s what we’re doing here.
No hustle-bro funnels. No creepy scarcity tactics.

Just a system that helps you figure out:

What your audience actually wants
How to give it to them in a way that feels easy and fun
How to make money doing work you love

🧠 You Don’t Need to “Sell” — You Need to Solve

Here’s a mindset shift that changes everything:
You're not “selling.” You're solving a painful problem, using a different solution, and helping people get a result they deeply want.

You’re saying:
“Hey, I see what you’re struggling with. I’ve figured something out. Let me help.”

That’s it. That’s the whole game.

But to do that well, you need to understand your audience’s pain — and your own strengths.

🚀 Alright, Let’s Get to the Good Stuff

You’ve got the why. You’re clear on the mindset.
Now it’s time to build.

In the paid section, you’ll learn:

How to collect intel on what your audience wants
How to craft a “solve, don’t sell” positioning statement
How to design a simple, scalable offer ecosystem — with low, medium, and high-ticket options
How to set your Substack up for conversion from early in your journey

If you’re a paid subscriber — scroll down and dive in.
If you’re not yet? Now’s the perfect time to upgrade and start building a Substack that gets paid to serve.

🧪 Let’s build a system that pays you back.