I Watched 10 Substack Videos. Here's Why Everyone Says Now Is the Time.

Hi, it's Jennie.

I kept seeing the word "Substack" pop up on YouTube lately, so I binge-watched 10 videos about it. Sinem Günel, Megan Moran, Shine With Natasha, Erin On Demand, Rachel Moss, Speak About Digital — creators with tens of thousands of subscribers were all saying the same thing:

"Substack is having its early YouTube moment right now."

Honestly, I thought it was just a newsletter tool. But after watching all 10 videos, my perspective completely flipped.

So What Is Substack?

In one line: a platform that combines newsletters + blogs + social media into one.

When you publish a post, all of this happens simultaneously:

• Delivered straight to subscribers' email inboxes
• Shows up in the Substack app feed + push notification
• Published on your website (yourname.substack.com) like a blog
• Attach audio → auto-distributed via podcast RSS
• Link YouTube → video auto-uploads too

One publish button → 5 channels simultaneously. What used to require Mailchimp (email) + WordPress (blog) + Anchor (podcast) separately — Substack merged it all into one.

And here's the key: you own your subscriber email list. Even if Instagram dies or TikTok gets banned, your subscriber data stays with you.

Who's on Substack?

It's not big brands — it's a personal creator-first platform. Even celebrities operate under their personal names, not brand accounts.

The case studies from Natasha's video were particularly impressive:

• Lazy Millionaire — Short content on Instagram, in-depth workbooks and guides on Substack. 93,000+ subscribers.

• Liz Moody — Posts key episode summaries from her podcast on Substack to drive podcast listens.
• Gut Feelings / On the Rocks — Recipe roundups + recurring series, steady and consistent.

Jari Roomer, another creator, said his mini-course revenue kept flowing automatically even while training for an Ironman triathlon. He'd be on a long bike ride and get Stripe payment notifications. Three days of overseas training and $500+ in sales rolled in.

Sinem Günel put it this way: "The creators actually building sustainable businesses? They stopped chasing content volume and started building offers that convert."

How Do You Write on Substack?

Substack has two content formats:

1. Posts (long-form) — The main content published as your newsletter. Essays, tutorials, case studies. Published simultaneously to email + app + web.

2. Notes (short-form) — A social feed like Twitter. The fastest way for people who don't know you yet to discover you.

Sinem shared her 3-2-1 formula: 3 value notes + 2 engagement posts + 1 soft promo per week.

The sustainable publishing combo is 1 long-form post per week + 1-3 Notes daily. Multiple creators warned that writing long-form daily leads to burnout within 2 weeks.

Rachel Moss published just biweekly and still self-published an essay collection that nearly sold out its first print run. The key isn't frequency — it's setting a schedule you can actually keep and sticking to it. Rachel put "every other Wednesday at 5 PM" in her Google Calendar and just stuck with that.

And every single creator emphasized: write like you're talking to a friend. Corporate blog-style writing slows growth. Writing with personality attracts subscribers way faster.

How Does Monetization Work?

You can mix three models:

Add sponsorships, affiliates, and product sales on top and you get 7 total revenue streams.

In concrete numbers: to make your first $1,000, you need 100 subscribers at $10/month or 200 at $5/month. Sinem built this into a $50,000/month business, and gained 7,000 subscribers just through the Recommendations feature alone.

Erin On Demand is getting brand sponsorships with just 10,000 subscribers. There are still so few active newsletter operators that brands are actively looking for Substack-specific campaigns.

Why Is This the "Early YouTube" Moment?

One keyword kept repeating across all 10 videos:

"Substack is having its early YouTube moment."

The reasons were clear:

1. The algorithm favors new writers. On existing platforms, you need followers for reach. On Substack Notes, even brand new writers can get exposed to thousands.
2. Competition is still low. Topics that are red oceans on YouTube or Instagram are still wide open on Substack.
3. The dopamine short-form era is fading. People are getting tired of 90-second Reels/Shorts. Demand for deep, long-form content is surging.
4. The platform is evolving rapidly. Started as a newsletter tool in 2017, it's now an integrated creator platform with video, podcasts, live streaming, chat, and even a TV app.

What Sinem said at the end stuck with me:

"The writers earning six figures right now aren't necessarily more talented. They just started earlier and figured out the system. This window of opportunity won't stay open forever."

My Takeaway

Honestly, before watching these 10 videos, I thought "Newsletters? Who even reads email?"

But Substack isn't just email — it's a channel where you own your audience. Instagram's algorithm can change, TikTok can get banned, but your subscriber list stays intact.

So I'm starting. 100 subscribers in one week — that's the challenge. I'll share how it goes next time.

Jennie