Substack is YouTube in 2012 (And most creators are completely asleep!)
The Great Attention Shift: smart creators are abandoning the feed
Look, let’s take a step back for a second.
A few years ago, the content game was simple.
You’d start a blog.
You’d sit down and write about the things swirling in your head.
Slowly, people who resonated with your thoughts would show up.
You’d collect their emails, build a newsletter, and... well, that was it. That was the whole game.
In that system, you’d send an email once a week to warm up your audience.
Truth be told, it was the only tool you had to melt the ice.
The absolute peak of interaction was someone leaving a comment under your blog post so you could reply!
But here’s the crazy part.
That seemingly simple, restricted model built giants who are now completely untouchable.
The immense power of newsletter
People like James Clear, Mark Manson , and Ryan Holiday built their empires using exactly this formula:
A blog and an email list.
They built brands so terrifyingly powerful that if they decide to move to a new platform tomorrow, they don’t have to push, hustle, or hack the algorithm. People blindly follow them!
Think about this: these guys built their entire empires only with newsletters. Not with social media gimmicks.
We have countless “influencers” right now with millions of followers on Instagram or TikTok.
But none of them have the weight, the authority, or the staying power of a Mark Manson.
Why?
Because an Instagram follower taps a screen and scrolls away in half a second.
A newsletter subscriber reaches into their pocket, buys your book, and elevates you to a level of global authority!
In this game, all you need is one Bestseller with a 4.6 star average on Amazon.
The sheer credibility that one achievement brings you is worth more than 5 million followers on Instagram!
And where did that credibility come from?
The newsletter.
Newsletters are such a formidable tool that the sponsorship math will literally melt your brain.
Brands are willing to pay exponentially more for a spot in a good newsletter than for a YouTube integration.
Do you know how much it costs to sponsor Justin Welsh’s newsletter?
Right now, it’s about $3,000 to $3,500 per spot.
Think about that leverage..!
A brand pays $3,000 just so Justin can write two short sentences about their product at the top of an email and drop a link!
Now that you understand the sheer power of a newsletter, I want you to think about something new.
Welcome to the Digital Renaissance
Imagine having a tool that gives you that exact same power, but allows you to connect with your audience every single day.
Can you imagine how fast you can warm up an audience?
How tight of a community you can build?
Do you know how fiercely these readers will love you??
This level of intimacy cannot be compared to any other platform on earth!
And this is the exact new world you are sitting in while reading these words: Substack.
Substack unlocked the potential to gather your audience in a cozy, private living room.
You can chat with them every day in Notes, and drop your heavy hitting essays into their inbox once a week. (or everyday depending on your strategy)
Listen guys,
The DNA of this platform is built for people who aren’t looking for cheap dopamine!!
This is the key factor!
Substack audiences aren’t here to kill time.
They’re here to dive deep.
Their version of “entertainment” is intense, focused thinking about the things they love.
People go to TikTok to watch funny cats.
They come to Substack to engage their minds!
This is exactly why Substack creators eventually find their actual life’s purpose through writing here!
I firmly believe the next James Clears and Mark Mansons are going to emerge right here.
(Side note: I found DAN KOE on YouTube when he only had 70k subscribers. 4 months later, I called him a rising star. I have that exact same feeling about this ecosystem right now).
That’s why I call this space the Digital Renaissance.
It feels exactly like the historical Renaissance. After years of darkness (the darkness of shallow social media algorithms), the light is breaking through again.
It reminds me of:
The philosophical circles in ancient Athens around 400 BC.
The ancient circles of science and poetry in Persia, where minds like Saadi, Khayyam, and Zakariya Razi exchanged the heaviest human concepts.
The intellectual salons of Enlightenment Paris, where Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau reshaped the fabric of modern philosophy and human rights.
The Transcendentalist circles of 19th century New England, where thinkers like Emerson and Thoreau sought a deeper truth within nature and the human soul.
And so on…
Substack is doing the exact same thing right now, just on a digital canvas!
The Leverage of the 21st Century
This is a space where an entirely new generation of writers is building the future.
A path where you can leave the deepest possible impact on human beings. (Cognitive science backs this up, changing someone’s deep rooted beliefs happens through reading words, not watching fast paced videos).
And the part I love the most?
While you are building your own life, improving yourself, and making money doing what you love... you are making other people’s lives better!
With all that said, I genuinely want 10% of my revenue - the money you pay for a premium subscription - to go straight into Substack Team’s pockets.
A platform like this deserves to be financially backed.
It needs capital to grow and to keep this playground pure.
So, if you want to survive on Substack, buy your freedom, and build your own system: subscribe.
I write about the psychology of Substack and the strategies that actually work.
But before you go, let me paint a real picture of the opportunity sitting in front of you.
Because most people are still asleep..!
Wake Up: This is YouTube in 2012
We are entering a new era where the entire definition of a “job” is changing.
Imagine waking up, pouring yourself a coffee, and sitting down to work on something you genuinely care about.
No boss.
No traffic.
No hustling for someone else’s dream.
You just think, write, and connect with 1,000 like-minded humans.
People who like you for the quality of your mind, not for how well you point at floating text in a video.
Substack right now is what YouTube was in 2012. Or Bitcoin in 2015.
It’s the opportunity to build a personal media empire that you own 100%.
The algorithm can’t steal your audience overnight, because you own the email list.
By attracting just 1,000 True Fans who pay $10 to $15 a month, you can build a $100k to $150k a year business.
That is an incredible living, built on just 2 hours of deep work a day!
This isn’t a fantasy.
Thousands of people are doing it right now.
From gardening to art history to coding.
Whatever your niche is, there is a cozy corner waiting for you.
If you are still hesitating, ask yourself this:
5 years from now, when the whole world realizes what a goldmine this was and comes rushing in...
Do you want to be the guy starting from zero?
Or do you want to be the person who built their quiet empire 5 years ago and is now just enjoying the view?
The choice is yours!
Write your post. Even if you don’t feel ready, just start!
One final request:
If you’ve read this far and found value in this piece, please consider Restacking and sharing it to help this message reach the Substack Team.
Personally, I am incredibly grateful to them for nurturing this vision and building such a dedicated space for digital writers.
If you feel the same way, sharing this post is the best way to make sure our voice reaches them!
And… That’s it!
Thanks for reading, my friend :)
Have a graceful weekend,
Riza.
Hi Riza, Thank you for this amazing text. You could share your thoughts directly with Chris Best, Substack CEO, or Mills Baker, Substack Head of Design. The whole team is here. And I love the picture you are painting and fully agree with what you are realizing and envisioning. Happy Saturday! Claudia
Hi Riza, I like your point and appreciate the emotional appeal of the Digital Renaissance. I would love to believe it. However, this whole article and your main message are based on a feeling. Just a personal hunch. Do you have some hard facts to support your claim? Why is Substack the YouTube of 2012 and Bitcoin of 2015? As you said, Substack is where people come for a deep dive; they like to read well-thought-out articles. Give us some good arguments. Please. Convert us into believers.