Phil PowisChief Wisdom Keeper @ Sacred Business Flow

Turn paid subs on Day One #substack #shorts

27 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this short video, the speaker advises creators on Substack to enable paid subscriptions from the very first day of publishing, rather than waiting until they have amassed a large audience. He reflects on his own experience of waiting until he had about 7,000 subscribers before turning on paid tiers, expressing regret that he missed early revenue opportunities. He emphasizes that the most impactful action on Substack is the initial email sent to subscribers, which can drive engagement and conversions. He also recommends following Matt Collier (Backstage Pass), whom he calls an "AI/Substack whisperer," for further guidance.

Chapters

Following people like yourself, like Matt Collier is a great person to follow. Backstage Pass, I call him AI whisperer, like, so the Substack whisperer, he's just really on it. And I think one piece of advice I would give unilaterally across the board is just to turn paid subscriptions on from day one. I really wish I'd done that because theoretically I didn't turn it on until I had like 7,000 subscribers or something. And that 7,000, I mean, getting into the weeds again, but The most impactful thing you will ever do on Substack is that initial email that gets sent out to people.