5 Proven Ways to Grow Your Substack (From Outside The Substack Ecosystem)

How to bring readers in from beyond Substack’s borders—without relying on algorithms or luck

Substack’s built-in discovery tools like Notes, recommendations, Cross-promotions, Lives and Chat threads are great. But they only work inside the Substack bubble.

If you want to grow faster, or build an audience that doesn’t rely entirely on the platform, you need to start looking beyond it. That means putting your work in front of people who aren’t already using Substack.

People who don’t know what a Note is.
People who’ve never heard of Recommendations.
People who might love what you’re writing, if only they knew it existed.

This is about NOT relying on Substack, and building your own system. A steady, repeatable way to bring in new readers, no matter what changes Substack rolls out next.

In this article, I’ll share five proven ways to grow your Substack by reaching beyond the ecosystem, strategies that give you control, help you build real connections, and attract readers who stick around.

Let’s dive in.

Want growth levers that work?