Once a DJ Company Owner, Now a Substack Bestseller…
is the creator of , a niche newsletter about wedding playlist inspiration and music guides for wedding pros and engaged couples. He currently reaches over 8,000 subscribers and more than 100 paid members with his newsletter.
But this wasn’t his first business. Back in the 90s, he was running a DJ company. Later, he moved into the online world and launched a website focused on wedding music. Things were going well until something disrupted his website traffic. That’s when he switched to Substack, out of necessity.
As a wedding music professional with years of experience, Matthew launched his Substack newsletter in May 2022. At first, the newsletter was just a new way to stay connected with readers. But soon, he realized he was sharing valuable resources that could easily be part of a paid subscription.
And so began his journey to becoming a Substack Bestseller.
Here are 3 key highlights from our live interview:
1- Choosing the right audience was key
His newsletter is highly niche, which means choosing the right audience was crucial.
If couples would subscribe, they’d eventually unsubscribe once their wedding was over. That’s why Matthew made a smart decision:
He decided to focus on wedding professionals, not couples. These readers could benefit from both his music ideas and his business experience and become long-term readers of his newsletter.
Now, instead of just offering music suggestions, Matthew also shares practical business tips for pros in the industry with his real-world background.
“I can't target wedding couples because even if they go paid, after the wedding, they don't care about their music.
So the one thing that I have learned is go after the wedding pros and then also give them not only song ideas, ideas to grow their business, to make more money, and all those things.”
Matthew Campbell
2- He focused outside of Substack to grow
Since his target audience isn’t active on Substack, Matthew doesn't rely heavily on Substack-native growth.
Instead, he focuses on:
Meta ads on Facebook and Instagram, where most wedding pros are already active
Offline events, like wedding trade shows, where he builds 1:1 connections with potential subscribers
To convert those in-person connections into readers, he writes articles that spark emotion or tension, something that hits a nerve and gets shared through word of mouth.
“I don't use Substack as a growth lever because my audience is not there. So I'm not taking time with Notes or cross-collaboration.
What I've been doing is that I've attended wedding trade shows, and built one-on-one connections.
And also growing it through Meta Ads has been very successful. I'm fortunate that a lot of wedding pros are on Facebook and Instagram.”
Matthew Campbell
3- He built lead magnets based on his audience’s interests
Matthew took his time to figure out what people wanted before creating a lead magnet. He didn’t rush it.
When showing up on podcasts or online platforms, he always presents himself as an insightful professional, offering valuable information first, not pitching products like a salesperson. This helped build trust with the right audience.
“Lead magnet has been excellent for me, just even with a small amount of traffic that we get now.
It took a long time testing, trying to figure out what people want because I wanted to bring in not only the pros, but the couples, something that I could offer both of them.
And for me, something that both of them are interested in is 100 Greatest Wedding Songs today and having that downloadable as a PDF.”
Matthew Campbell
In our conversation, Matthew also shared:
How he became a Substack Bestseller by offering valuable, relevant content to the right readers
His future plans to create an engaged community through separate live events for free readers and paid members
How he earns revenue beyond subscriptions through digital products
How he manages email flow and promotions for these products on Substack
The pros and cons of running a niche newsletter
His advice for new creators starting niche newsletters
And his biggest lessons and tips around paid subscriptions
If you'd like to learn more about Matthew's journey with Wedding MusicLetter on Substack, feel free to read our written interview below!
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