Became a Substack bestseller within 6 weeks (+4 years of hardwork)!
Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner
Newsletter Circle is your go-to source for building a successful newsletter business through a paid subscription.
đ MEET THE CREATOR
Lucy Werner calls herself "the cheerleader for solopreneurs," and for good reason. Since 2014, she has been running a consulting agency that evolved from a traditional model into a more flexible structure, collaborating with freelancers. Through her courses and workshops, she helps solopreneurs build their brand and gain visibility.
As part of her journey, she launched a newsletter initially on Mailchimp, then transitioned to Substack in late 2023.
At the time, she had around 5,000 subscribers. But within 16 months, she doubled that number, reaching 11,000 subscribers. It turns out, making the switch was a smart move.
Sheâs now a bestseller with 450+ paid members and earned her bestseller badge in just six weeks. But thereâs no shortcut to successâLucy dedicated four years of hard work to reach this point.
In this interview we'll talk about:
Why she started a newsletter alongside her consulting business
How she achieved her bestseller status
How 30% of her paid subscribers come from off-platform sources
Impact of her newsletter on her business life
Enjoy!
đˇ NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
âď¸ TOOL STACK
ESP: Substack
Writing: Grammarly
Curation & Note taking: iPhone Note, Excel
Design of visuals design: Adobe Express
Digital Products: Squarespace
Payments: Stripe
đĽ START
You already run a business on your own called âHype Yourselfâ. How and why did you start a newsletter with the same name in the first place? What is the role of your newsletter in your professional life?
I started my own PR and branding consultancy in 2014 called The Wern. It evolved from the traditional agency model of retained clients with salaried staff, to project work with freelancers.
The name Hype Yourself first came with my book and then evolved into a DIY platform where I taught courses and workshops to help solopreneurs build their brand and get themselves out there.
In 2022, I relocated from east London to rural France and had my third baby.
I started the move to Substack in maternity leave as a cost-cutting exercise to reduce Mailchimp costs when I wasnât making an income.
I stopped running my consultancy with the co-founder of my children and co-parenting 50/50 as he took a full-time job in France. So I am a primary carer to the children, taking French lessons two mornings a week and growing my newsletter in two afternoons to work and any early mornings / after bed-time moments I can snaffle.
I turned on paid October 2023 and Iâm making it my primary focus until September 2026 (when my youngest will start school) to see if I can make it work to replace my agency income.
đ GROWTH
Which strategies did you use to grow over 12,000 subscribers?
Actually, Iâm really transparent about how long growth takes.
Iâm not huge on any platform. Iâm unreasonably consistent in promotion and I celebrate the beauty in the boring and the long haul. I had started my newsletter in 2019 and grew it to 5,000 before I arrived on Substack, so the truth is actually an additional 7,000 in 16 months.
1,000 â 2,500 Subscribers
Created free tools & assets to go with my downloadable books, but you had to give your email.
2,500 â 5,000 Subscribers
I had an annual free download that worked as a great lead magnet. It was a resource of calendar dates for the whole year that you could use for promotion.
It cost me hundreds to make in research and design time, but I saw it as a marketing cost.
5,000 â 12,000+ Subscribers
Joined Substack, switched from monthly to weekly newsletters and one-hour live session with me or a guest expert per month.
In the first three months I shared a link to my newsletter to upsell it on my Instagram stories almost every single day. It was like brushing my teeth. Talking about the newsletter with a link became my habit.
I contributed to several articles that were linked to my newsletter.
Youâre really active on Substack Notes where you sometimes post more than 2 Notes a day. How does it contribute to your newsletter growth? Based on your experience so far, what types of posts work the best on Notes?
Actually, this is a really recent thing for me that Iâm testing out. Iâve historically been really mean about them because I think it can be a real swamp for comparisonitus.
My preference is to promote off platform e.g. podcasts, social media posts on LinkedIn & Instgram, sharing a link when Iâm teaching for other places.
31% of my paid subscribers come from off platform.
When you ask which notes perform best, I guess it is what your definition is:
The posts with my lowest engagement generate paid subscriptions. Typically promoting a post.
The posts with the most engagement drive free subscribers but not necessarily overnight income generators.
đ¸ MONETIZATION
Your newsletter is a Substack Bestseller with over 450 paid subscribers. How long did it take for you to become a Bestseller?
I became a bestseller in six weeks, but I always like to caveat that this was four years of building a newsletter before that six weeks.
When did you launch your paid subscription and how did you decide that it was the right time for you to activate it?
I was on a social media break on my self-employed maternity leave. I didnât want to keep paying the huge costs for Mailchimp when I wasnât using the functionalities and I had been experimenting with writing on Medium. I decided to stop writing on Medium, stop paying for Mailchimp and try writing over here.
I attended a Substack workshop with Farrah Storr who recommended turning on paid immediately, so I did. I told my existing audience I was trying something new, there was a pilot price, and if they wanted to get in at the low rate, to come now.
What are your strategies to convert free subscribers into paid ones or gain new paid subscribers? Among various strategies youâve tried so far, which ones work best to grow your paid subscribers list?
Starting on a pilot price whilst I tested things out works really well. I call all the people who joined me at the start my Power 100.
Price hikes got people through the door but I donât want to keep increasing as I want to make big agency thinking accessible to all.
Iâm experimenting with sign-on bonuses such as receiving a copy of my book or winning a 1:1 power hour with me.
Iâm always surprised by what converts paid versus what doesnât. Itâs never the content I expect and something that worked 6-months ago doesnât necessarily work now so Iâm always experimenting.
Recently, I was planning to wear a dress I had commissioned with a drag seamstress to promote my newsletter at an inperson event.
The idea was that you could pick a PR tip from my dress and I would give you a personalised reading to help you promote yourself. Then give you a 30% off sticker to join my newsletter paid.
Unfortunately, I was too ill to attend the event, so I did a week-long virtual tour which included a dedicated post, Substack livestream and daily posting on notes, Instagram and LinkedIn and generated a boost of 37 people using the coupon.
But more importantly, based on my DMs, it has inspired lots of my audience to think about how they can amplify their in-person events.
How did you decide what to offer differently to paid subscribers to make it compelling for them to join as paid members?
When my audience joins I ask them what their struggles and challenges are and I have a spreadsheet of all the topics they need me to cover.
I still write the historical monthly newsletter for free, and I do a quarterly free read of everything I know on a subject as a gift.
What are the biggest lessons youâve learned from running a successful paid subscription?
Donât judge yourself by a bad month - things ebb and flow. I try to look quarter by quarter / YoY.
People who talk about how to grow on Substack or people who already have a big audience off platform will grow faster than you. This is ok. You have a different journey.
Take a birdâs eye view and lean into what is uniquely you.
đ IMPACT & LEARNINGS
How did building Hype Yourself newsletter contribute to your life professionally and personally?
Iâm now a full-time writer, French student and adjusting to Mum of 3 in a new country. Pro-rata, Iâm earning more from writing in two afternoons a week than I was running a consultancy five days a week.
I wanted to have flexible work that I could switch off from. When I was running the agency, I could never turn off my brain and was always thinking about how I can get that next better piece of coverage for a client.
I have far less overwhelm and more time to be the parent I would like to be. I have space to dare to dream and the newsletter is a portal to me exploring different future income streams where I live in France.
What would you do differently if you had a chance to start over Hype Yourself?
Be careful who I partnered with. We do this thing where we see people who have a bigger audience and get flattered if they want to collaborate with us, but we really need to make sure our values and integrity are aligned.
I see promotion as everything you do in public, so if you support writers just because they have a big following, it can burn you later.
What would it be if you had the right to give one piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators?
Pace yourself. I see a lot of people coming out of the gate posting regularly and then being disappointed and unable to sustain that cadence.
Find a way to promote your newsletter that feels good to you and keep your cadence up where you can. Consider banking a few posts for later!
3 Popular Hype Yourself Issues
Where to find Lucy Werner
"Hype Yourself" Newsletter
ICYMI: The Latest Newsletter Circle Issues
Thanks for reading, and feel free to reply if youâd like to connect!
See you next Sunday.
Ciler
Find me on Substack Notes & LinkedIn
Thank you for the opportunity! I know my story isnât as fast and furious as many bestsellers so I love that you have helped me to show a genuine hard work journey rather than just overnight viral success. I think there is a beauty in the boring that isnât always celebrated.
Brilliant post! đ