Substack Growth Without Growth Hacking

Substack Growth Without Growth Hacking

Based on the attached transcript. Most Substack growth advice starts with the wrong assumption: that more is always better. More subscribers. More impressions. More reach. More badges. More algorithmic approval. But growth for growth’s sake often creates the opposite of what purpose-driven solopreneurs actually want. It attracts the wrong people, dilutes the signal, burns energy, and pulls creators into a game they never wanted to play. In this episode of Creative on Purpose Live, Scott Perry [https://substack.com/profile/39971827-scott-perry] shares a better way to think about growing a publication, audience, or business. Instead of chasing vanity metrics, Scott introduces three foundational questions inspired by Seth Godin’s Marketing Trifecta: * What change are you trying to make? * Who are you trying to change? * What promise are you making? These questions help creators, coaches, freelancers, and solopreneurs build a permission asset rooted in resonance, trust, and service rather than growth hacks, funnels, and digital marketing BS. Scott also shares the story of leaving behind a financially successful but soul-draining funnel-based business and rebuilding around Substack, conversation, and a smallest viable audience. In This Episode Scott explores: * Why more subscribers are not always better * How chasing growth can move you further from the business you actually want * Why someone else’s playbook usually delivers diminishing returns * The difference between reach and resonance * How Substack can function as a permission asset * Why the smallest viable audience is more useful than a large disengaged audience * How to clarify the transformation your publication offers * Why worldview matters more than demographics * How to make promises you can actually keep * The role of generosity, boundaries, and paid proximity * How to transition from done-for-you work toward advisory or publication-based work * Why minimum effective dose matters for solopreneurs with finite time and energy Key Takeaway The question is not simply, “How do I get more people?” The better question is, “Who are the right people, what change am I helping them make, and what promise can I consistently keep?” When those answers are clear, growth becomes less about gaming the algorithm and more about earning trust, creating resonance, and helping the right people find their way closer. Notable Ideas * Growth for growth’s sake is a solution in search of a problem. * More of the wrong subscribers can do more harm than fewer of the right ones. * By the time a growth hack reaches your feed, it is probably already delivering diminished returns. * A purpose-driven publication should be built on philosophy and principles before tactics and tools. * Your audience is not just a demographic profile. It is a group of people who share a worldview, a problem, an aspiration, or a belief. * A real promise is specific, believable, achievable, and keepable. * Generosity does not mean unlimited access. Free content can create exposure, while paid community and coaching provide proximity and implementation support. Listener Reflection Before trying to grow your publication, list, audience, or business, answer these three questions: * What change am I trying to make? * Who am I trying to change? * What promise am I making? Then ask whether your current content, offers, and calls to action actually reinforce those answers. Subscribe and Learn More Subscribe to the Creative on Purpose Substack for essays, resources, live sessions, and coaching support for purpose-driven solopreneurs building a business without digital marketing BS: Subscribe to the Creative on Purpose YouTube channel for more videos on Substack growth, solopreneurship, permission marketing, audience building, and building a business that funds and fits your life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Grow Without Social Media

What if the best growth strategy is not posting more, hacking the algorithm, or building a better funnel? In this episode, Creative on Purpose [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com]’s Scott Perry [https://substack.com/profile/39971827-scott-perry] joins Social Media Escape Club [https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com]’s Seth Werkheiser [https://substack.com/profile/4922998-seth-werkheiser] to talk about a more human and sustainable way to build a business, creative practice, or body of work. Instead of chasing platform metrics and digital marketing tactics, they explore what happens when you return to the fundamentals: trust, craft, conversations, community, and doing good work with and for the right people. Scott shares how digital marketing once consumed 80% of his business life, even while producing impressive revenue, and why he eventually walked away from that game. The conversation moves through busking, local music scenes, social media fatigue, sales without pressure, the limits of vanity metrics, and the liberating possibility that you may not need a massive audience to build something that works. The core idea: you can’t win a game you don’t want to play. And you certainly can’t build a meaningful business by surrendering your time, attention, and integrity to someone else’s rules. In This Episode Scott and Seth discuss: * How digital marketing can quietly become the work instead of supporting the work * Why trust transferred from one person to another still beats most online tactics * The difference between vanity metrics and meaningful business momentum * Why doing excellent work for a few right people can outperform chasing thousands of strangers * How Scott left social media without hurting his business * Why sales can become easier when you make promises, keep them, and let people ask for more * What it means to build a business that funds and fits the life you actually want Essential Takeaways * You don’t need to become a full-time marketer to succeed as a solopreneur. * The work that built businesses before the internet still works: show up, do good work, earn trust, and let people talk. * Audience size matters less than audience quality, attention, and trust. * If a platform is not helping you and is draining your time, attention, money, or effort, it is hurting you. * A business worth building should give you more access to the work and life you want, not less. * The best growth strategy may be to get better at your craft, help the people already close enough to care, and do the work in community. Memorable Line “You can’t win a game you don’t want to play.” Subscribe For more conversations about building a purpose-driven business without digital marketing BS, subscribe to Creative on Purpose on YouTube. Join the Creative on Purpose Substack for essays, resources, and community support for solopreneurs building businesses rooted in trust, generosity, and meaningful work: Thank you Kato McNickle [https://substack.com/profile/32521304-kato-mcnickle], Edgar Huitema, PhD [https://substack.com/profile/8537028-edgar-huitema-phd], Claire Machado [https://substack.com/profile/168845660-claire-machado], Ryan Maxwell [https://substack.com/profile/173371684-ryan-maxwell], Kyra Faison-Gardner [https://substack.com/profile/242026776-kyra-faison-gardner], and many others for tuning into my live video with Seth Werkheiser [https://substack.com/profile/4922998-seth-werkheiser]! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Conversation Engine: How to Turn Trust Into Clients Without Funnels

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit creativeonpurpose.substack.com [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Most solopreneurs don’t need a better funnel. They need better conversations. In this episode, Creative on Purpose [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com/]’s Scott Perry [https://substack.com/profile/39971827-scott-perry] a preview from this month’s Circle Deep Dive Workshop on The Conversation Engine — the tactical layer of Be a Blessing Marketing. If the posture of Be a Blessing Marketing is preeminence and generosity, and the strategy is creating an ecosy…

Build a Business That Fits Your Life

What if building a successful business had less to do with chasing tactics and more to do with becoming clearer about who you are, what you’re good at, and who you’re here to serve? In this conversation, Scott Perry [https://substack.com/profile/39971827-scott-perry] joins Erin Gregory Creative [https://substack.com/profile/65107394-erin-gregory-creative] to talk about solopreneurship, Substack, personal branding, positioning, and the messy middle of building work that actually fits your life. They explore why so many creators and consultants get stuck chasing tools, credentials, niches, and growth hacks before doing the deeper work of self-knowledge, values alignment, and intentional action. This episode is for coaches, consultants, writers, freelancers, and purpose-driven solopreneurs who want to build a business that funds and fits the life they actually want to live. Essential Takeaways * Start with self-knowledge, not tactics.Before asking how to grow on Substack or build a brand, ask: Who am I? What am I good at? Where do I belong? * You do not need a perfect plan to begin.Clarity comes through action, conversations, feedback, and data — not endless preparation. * Your brand is not your logo.Your brand is the story people tell themselves about you based on what you consistently say and do. * Credentials can help, but they can also become a hiding place.People do not hire you because of credentials alone. They hire you because they trust you can help them close a meaningful gap. * Positioning matters more than niching.Niching is about fitting into a marketplace. Positioning is about standing up for what you value, how you work, and who you serve best. * Vanity metrics are not the same as success.Subscriber count, viral posts, and open rates only matter if they point toward deeper engagement, trust, and meaningful outcomes. * Build the business around your life, not the other way around.The goal is not to copy someone else’s system. It is to build a sustainable business around your values, strengths, preferences, and desired way of living. Mentioned Themes Substack growth, personal branding, solopreneurship, positioning vs. niching, business clarity, the messy middle, values-aligned work, intentional action, audience building, digital marketing BS, offer development, storytelling, and building a business that fits your life. Go Further For more principle-based guidance on building a business without digital marketing BS, subscribe to Creative on Purpose on Substack: And subscribe to the Creative on Purpose YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeOnPurpose] channel for more conversations, frameworks, and practical insights for purpose-driven solopreneurs. Thank you Chris B. Writes [https://substack.com/profile/114735890-chris-b-writes], Penny Harris ACC [https://substack.com/profile/32907226-penny-harris-acc], Duncan The Sage [https://substack.com/profile/254449706-duncan-the-sage], and many others for tuning into my live video with Erin Gregory Creative [https://substack.com/profile/65107394-erin-gregory-creative]! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

How to Build a Substack Audience That Actually Cares

In this Creative on Purpose [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com] conversation, Circle [https://open.substack.com/pub/creativeonpurpose/p/the-solopreneur-success-circle?r=nsqgj&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] member Seth Werkheiser [https://substack.com/@sethwerkheiser] from Social Media Escape [https://socialmediaescapeclub.substack.com] Club leads a candid discussion about audience growth, Substack, email lists, and why chasing followers is usually the wrong game. Instead of treating social media as the center of your business, Seth makes the case for building trust through email, Substack, conversations, collaborations, and consistent presence with the people already paying attention. The episode challenges creators, coaches, writers, and solopreneurs to stop obsessing over reach and start focusing on resonance. The conversation also explores better calls to action, the difference between casual followers and committed subscribers, the limits of YouTube and social media as growth engines, and why small, trusted audiences often create better business outcomes than large distracted ones. 7 Essential Takeaways 1. A subscriber is worth far more than a follower Followers are casual. Subscribers have raised their hand. Social platforms are built for scrolling, distraction, and passive attention, while email and Substack create a more direct relationship. The goal isn’t to drag every follower into your world. It’s to invite the right people into a deeper connection. 2. Big social media numbers can be misleading A large follower count doesn’t mean people are seeing, reading, trusting, or acting on your work. Seth points out that even if you gain a thousand followers, only a small fraction may ever see your next post. A smaller email list of people who actually open, read, and respond is often more valuable than a giant audience you can’t reliably reach. 3. Substack followers are closer to becoming subscribers A Substack follower has already entered an ecosystem where subscribing is natural. That makes them different from someone on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, where the platform actively discourages people from leaving. Substack followers may not all become subscribers, but they are often much closer to the next step. 4. Better CTAs are really better invitations “Click here,” “new article,” or “watch this” usually isn’t enough. Seth encourages creators to share the actual substance: a quote, story, excerpt, behind-the-scenes detail, or reason the work matters. The strongest calls to action don’t feel like tactics. They feel like invitations into something meaningful. 5. Repurpose what already works You don’t need a brand-new idea every week. Old social posts, article excerpts, reader comments, workshop clips, and quotable moments inside your own writing can all become fresh entry points. Most people didn’t see the original version anyway, and even those who did may benefit from seeing it again with new context. 6. Relationships beat algorithms Replies, thoughtful comments, DMs, collaborations, guest conversations, live calls, and sharing other people’s work can build trust in ways algorithmic posting rarely does. The conversation returns again and again to the value of being useful, generous, and visible inside a real creative orbit instead of trying to growth-hack strangers. 7. Do your best work for the people already paying attention The biggest strategic shift is to stop spending most of your energy chasing people elsewhere and start delighting the people already in your world. Scott makes the point plainly: every minute spent trying to game YouTube, Facebook, or Substack growth may be time taken away from becoming the best in the world at the work only you can do. Want to participate in conversations like this? Join the Solopreneur Success Circle on Substack for live calls, workshops, replays, and practical support from other purpose-driven solopreneurs. And subscribe to the Creative on Purpose YouTube channel for more conversations like this. Subscribe Subscribe to Creative on Purpose for more conversations and frameworks for building a values-aligned solo business. Join the Creative on Purpose Substack. Subscribe to the Creative on Purpose YouTube channel for more practical guidance, conversations, and principle-based business strategy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe [https://creativeonpurpose.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]