How I Made $661 From One Substack Post

100% Paid Subscriptions. No ads, sponsors, or affiliates. Here’s the breakdown of what worked and why.

Access your FREE Solopreneur Success Hub - your subscribers-only comprehensive command center for building and scaling a successful one-person business.

I created this all-in-one toolkit for building a profitable one-person business, something I wish existed when I first started, and it saves me 20+ hours a week.

Now, it’s yours… FREE!

More information about the Hub here.

---

No ads. No sponsors. No affiliates.

Every dollar of that $661 came from paid subscribers.

Sure I made more from a post through sales of my digital products, but purely from paid subscription?

This is a first.

And I hope many more record-breaking cases to come.

This post unpacks the exact approach that made one Substack post convert like crazy.

---

And if you’re wondering which post, here it is:

How I create a 5-day email course using a mega prompt and doubled my conversions (and how you can too)

---

So here’s what happened…

I wrote a single Substack post, hit publish, and by the end of the week, it had generated $661 in paid subscriptions.

Not affiliate commissions.

Not sponsorship deals.

Every dollar came directly from readers upgrading to paid.

No gimmicks.

No hard sell.

Just value that did the heavy lifting.

This post is all about delivering so much real, useful content that readers want to pay because they trust there’s even more gold behind the paywall.

---

The “Secret Sauce”

Let’s get this out of the way first:

There’s no secret.

Just a repeatable system:

• Deliver helpful, real-world content.

• Make the upgrade feel like a no-brainer.

• Respect your reader’s time and attention.

• Use AI prompts, templates, or systems that save them hours.

That’s it.

Let’s break down how it worked.

---

Tactic #1: Deliver 100% Useful, Actionable Content (Even For Free)

Here’s my rule:

If someone never pays me a cent, my free content still needs to help them win.

In the post that made $661, I shared:

• A simple strategy someone could use that same day

• Screenshots

• Links to useful resources

A simple plug-and-play insight.

What happened next?

I got DMs that week from readers saying:

• “I used your system. It worked.”

• “I made my own email course just from your tip. Thanks.”

That’s when it clicked: giving away real results builds real loyalty.

---

Tactic #2: Create the “If the Free is This Good…” Effect

People don’t pay because your free stuff is “decent.”

They pay when your free stuff is better than most paid content.

That’s the trust bridge.

By the time they reach the end of the post, readers feel:

• Helped

• Respected

• Curious

They ask themselves, “If this is free…what’s inside the Premium Vault?”

You’re pulling… with value.

---

---

Tactic #3: Lead With “Paywalled” AI Prompts or Premium Systems

AI prompts are some of the most functional content.

This is because generic content is valuable but it’s static. It doesn’t know you.

But AI-ready prompts are completely different. You can interact with the prompts to personalize the advice and turn it into real action based on your unique needs.

When designed well, they:

• Save hours of manual work

• Give instant clarity based on personalised circumstances

• Turn abstract advice into execution

In this Substack post, I added the following lines:

Ready to Build Your Own?

If you’re tired of email sequences that go nowhere and you’re ready to build real trust and real revenue, this 5-day course prompt is your new best friend.

It’s the structure I wish I had years ago.

And now?

You’ve got it at your fingertips.

Here’s The Prompt:

Boom.

That line alone accounted for most of the conversions.

The key here:

• Don’t sell info.

• Sell outcomes or transformation.

• Paid subscribers want done-for-you results they can tweak, not just ideas.

---

Tactic #4: The Frictionless Transition (“Premium Vault” Soft-Sell)

There was no bold CTA.

No popups.

No “subscribe now or miss out forever” drama.

I usually add something like:

Not a paid member yet?

Upgrade to paid access now to unlock the Premium Vault, join monthly live trainings, and get access to the AI Toolbox and Action Lab.

Want to read more about the FULL benefits of being a Paid Subscriber?

⭐️ What You Get as a Paid Subscriber

🔒 Premium Vault

No pressure.

But if this sounds like the kind of support that fits where you’re headed, you’re invited to this amazing community.

That was it.

The tone was:

• Friendly

• Low-pressure

• Helpful

This soft-sell style converts because it respects the reader’s intelligence.

They know what a subscription is.

You don’t need to shove it down their throat.

---

Mindset: It’s Never About Tricks, Always About Trust

The best feedback I get?

Readers say they feel the difference.

They sense that I’m not out to extract.

I’m here to share what’s worked for me, nothing else.

And that trust compounds:

• Every honest post builds credibility

• Every useful prompt builds loyalty

• Every win they get from your free stuff makes the premium feel safe

Trust > Tactics. Every time.

---

---

Behind The Scenes: How I Set This Up

Here’s how I prep posts that convert:

• I use Notion to draft outlines, store prompt libraries, and track reader feedback.

• I keep a living document of prompt systems and templates I’ve personally tested.

• I write every Substack post like a mini-course, not a newsletter.

This takes time. But when prep is done, the upside looks like this:

$661 from one post. All from paid subs.

No “luck.”

Just prep + real value.

---

Want My Premium Vault?

Inside the Premium Vault right now:

• AI Prompts and Automation Blueprints

  • AI-powered prompts and automation workflows that personalize strategies to your specific business context. Turn knowledge into action faster.

• Courses and Workshops

  • Step-by-step training programs that guide you through launch, growth, and monetization milestones. Learn the exact systems that work.

• Ultimate Guides, eBooks and Detailed Playbooks

  • Comprehensive frameworks and actionable written content covering every stage of your solopreneur journey.

• Digital Downloads and Tools

  • Ready-to-use resources, checklists, and tools you can implement immediately.

• Detailed Templates

  • Professionally-crafted templates for emails, landing pages, sales sequences, and everything you need to manage a one-person business.

  • Substack Accelerator Kit

    Substack Accelerator Kit

And coming up next in the Premium Vault: The Email Marketing Accelerator Kit

It’s a subscriber-only drop with:

• Exact email sequence templates

• Stats

• Campaign planning and KPI

If you liked this free post, that Vault was built for you.

Upgrade to paid access now to unlock the Premium Vault, join monthly live trainings, and get access to the AI Toolbox and Action Lab.

Want to read more about the FULL benefits of being a Paid Subscriber?

⭐️ What You Get as a Paid Subscriber

---

Final Thoughts

$661 from one Substack post isn’t a flex.

It’s to proof a point.

You don’t need ads.

You don’t need sponsors.

You just need content that helps people right now, and a system that gently invites them to go deeper.

Stack value.

Respect your readers.

Then let the results speak.

“Success looks a lot like failure up until the moment you break through the finish line.” - Dan Waldschmidt

Interesting Substack Posts I Read This Week:

• The 2025 Tech Almanac: 16 Charts That Are Defining Our Future by

  Ashwin Francis
  and
  Raghav Mehra

• How I Built 3 AI Agents That Write My Newsletter in Minutes (Without Losing My Voice) by

  Sharyph

• The 30-Day Newsletter Monetization Blueprint for Solopreneurs by

  Sharyph

• Think deeper, remember longer by

  Jim Kwik

• AI Browsers and Your Privacy: The Real Concerns by

  Rahul Dogra

• What I Learned From a Digital Products Expert Who Makes 90% of His Income on Gumroad by

  Natasha Tynes
  and
  Anfernee

• The One Feature AI Can’t Replace by

  Karo (Product with Attitude)
  and
  Orel

• My Simple Productivity Workflow in Apple Reminders by

  Robin Kai

---

Two Milestone For Me This Week:

Solopreneur Code hitting 5K Subs

Solopreneur Code reaches 250,000+ views.

---

Thanks for reading! Ready for the next step?

See what to do next >

Let’s crack the growth equation and build a thriving one-person business on your terms!

Anfernee