Howdy Wealth Gang🤠
A few days ago, I sat down with Orel (the founder of WriteStack) for my second-ever livestream. We talked about why I ditched Twitter for Substack, how he grew WriteStack to $7,300 MRR, and what we’ve both learned about affiliate partnerships, Notes strategies, and Substacks limitations.
If you’re building on Substack or thinking about making the jump from another platform, this one’s packed with real numbers and experiments we’ve actually run.
Prefer reading over watching?
Here’s a concise written version of our conversation.👇
The Shift from Twitter to Substack
Timo: I originally started on Instagram doing videos, then switched to Twitter about a year ago. I learned to write tweets and threads, had some viral moments — including a Bali mafia story that hit 5 million views (posted while still in Bali, which was terrifying).
But I noticed something: Twitter isn’t built for long-lasting success. You have to go viral again and again. The algorithm doesn’t care about your followers.
Then I discovered Substack. The key difference:
On Twitter, you farm followers. On Substack, you build email subscribers — and that’s 1,000x more valuable.
Email readers are way more likely to buy. Plus, you own your list. If Substack dies tomorrow, you can move your subscribers anywhere.
Once I realized that, I stopped Twitter and went all in on Substack.
Orel: Exactly. Twitter can shadow ban you anytime. With emails, nobody controls your traffic. Substack gives you both the Twitter-style feed (Notes) and the valuable emails. Everything in one platform.
Twitter vs. Substack: What’s Missing
Timo: One thing I noticed — on Twitter, it was easy to do giveaways. You’d post something like, “Comment ‘apple’ and I’ll DM you this free resource.” That format drove tons of engagement and email signups. But on Substack, that doesn’t really exist.
I saw Nicolas Cole do one giveaway for his books and it worked, but otherwise, the format isn’t there. Do you use freebies to drive growth?
Orel: I give everything away for free — workshops, PDFs, knowledge. My goal is to get people to my profile, because 30% of all subscriptions come from my bio. People click the link and subscribe.
I put freebies in my welcome email, footer, and Notes. I mention WriteStack once or twice a day wherever it’s relevant.
Timo: That works if you have one main offer. But it’s harder to segment audiences. On Twitter, I could run a giveaway for a Twitter growth lead magnet, then sell a Twitter product. Next day, run a LinkedIn giveaway and sell a LinkedIn product. Easy segmentation.
On Substack, you only get one welcome email. Segmentation requires more advanced setups.
Substack’s Limitations (And Smart Restrictions)
Orel: Substack doesn’t make it easy to sell stuff outside their platform. They want you selling subscriptions so they get paid. That’s why they don’t help us promote external products.
But it keeps the platform clean. You can only send 10 DM requests per day, so no spam. On Twitter, I have hundreds of spam messages.
Timo: That’s smart. DM outreach works, but limiting it prevents abuse. There’s not much spam on Substack compared to Twitter.
Orel: They also blocked sending Notes from cloud computers. Someone abused it, so now you can’t automate Notes that way. You have to leave your computer running with the extension.
Timo: I don’t understand why Substack doesn’t have a native Notes scheduler. Maybe it’s coming?
Orel: I heard rumors some creators already have access to better scheduling features. Their priority isn’t that right now — they’re focused on UI/UX improvements. The platform’s idea is good, but execution on the interface is awful.
Partnerships That Actually Work
Timo: Let’s talk revenue. A few months ago on Twitter, I was making $300–$500/month passively. Then the algorithm changed (or I got shadow banned), and everything dropped.
That’s when I looked for ways to grow my email list. I tried list swaps with Twitter creators, but not everyone had an email list. On Substack, everyone has one. Easy collaborations.
The real leverage? Affiliate partnerships.
I launched a product with a friend (Tadeas) — a 30-day email course on Twitter and Threads growth. We reached out to potential partners, offered 50% commissions, and got 10 people to promote it.
Most partners brought in small sales. But I landed one big one: Chris Orzechowski. He sent one email to his 13,000 subscribers (mostly business owners with money), and that single email turned the launch from a potential flop into a success. We made a few hundred dollars in a few days.
Orel: Great partnerships are insanely valuable. I have one affiliate who’s brought in a few thousand dollars of monthly recurring revenue for WriteStack. Just one person. He promotes it in his community, plugs it in live streams, mentions it in messages — anywhere relevant.
And since it’s recurring revenue, every subscriber he brings keeps paying him.
Timo: Is it an evergreen partnership or one-time?
Orel: Evergreen. He loves the product, uses it himself. I give him a percentage of all revenue he brings in, and his people get a special offer (30-day trial instead of 7). He’s a beast marketer — every time I listen to him, I learn something.
Timo: So he’s actively talking about it in his community. That makes sense — if he uses it himself, he just naturally mentions what he uses.
Orel: Exactly. And I get more partnerships by DMing big creators. 90% don’t reply. Most who do say they’re not interested. But maybe 1 in 100 tries WriteStack. And one big partnership per month can be game-changing.
Notes Strategy: Discovery vs. Conversion
Timo: I ran a Substack growth experiment — posted 10 notes per day instead of my usual 10 per week. I documented everything and published it as an article.
My conclusion: Notes themselves don’t bring subscribers directly. They’re a discovery engine.
Posting more Notes got more eyes on my profile. But what converted those visitors into subscribers was my long-form articles. The value I provided in full pieces turned Note scrollers into loyal readers.
Orel: Exactly. You need to optimize your profile — good banner, clear bio. When people hit your profile, they decide instantly whether to subscribe.
Some will read your newsletter first, but most will just look at your profile and either leave or subscribe.
Timo: I’m also testing something new: instead of posting Notes as standalone content, I’m linking every Note back to the original article. So if I write about Gumroad, I turn it into multiple Notes — but each one links to the full Gumroad article.
The logic: if someone reads a Note about Gumroad, they’re interested in Gumroad. They’ll click through to the article.
I don’t have conclusive data yet, but it makes sense.
Orel: It does convert better, based on my experience. But here’s the thing people don’t understand: those Notes aren’t about engagement — they’re about clicks.
People who click through to your newsletter won’t engage with the Note. They’ll either engage with the newsletter or keep scrolling. So don’t measure likes or comments. Measure clicks.
Finding the Sweet Spot: How Many Notes Per Day?
Orel: I’ve tested different posting frequencies — 1–2 Notes per day, then 3, then 5, 7, 10. Right now I’m back at 7.
I saw engagement grow as I posted more. It plateaued between 3 and 7, then jumped again at 10 Notes per day. But after a few weeks, it fizzled out. Now I’m testing 7 again.
WriteStack tracks all this automatically — graphs showing clicks, likes, comments, restacks over time. I can see exactly when trends shift.
Timo: So the more you post, the more traffic — but it’s not linear?
Orel: Right. It’s not hyper-growth either. Just steady increase. But I know people who post 24 Notes per day (one every hour), and eventually it hits a limit and fizzles out.
Also: Sunday is the worst day for engagement. Every single week, Sunday barely gets anything.
Substack’s Native Affiliate Feature (And Why Nobody Uses It)
Timo: There’s a Substack feature where readers can get rewards for bringing you subscribers — 5 subscribers gets them a free product, 10 gets them a bigger product. But I never see anyone using it.
I set it up when I started, but it didn’t bring any subscribers. And as I researched other creators, nobody seemed to leverage it. So I removed it.
Orel: I didn’t even know it worked for free subscribers. I thought it was only for paid subscribers, which is hard enough already.
If it gave affiliates a percentage of recurring revenue, that would be more exciting. But just one month free? Not worth the effort.
How WriteStack Hit Critical Mass
Timo: How long did it take to hit 150 subscribers on WriteStack, and what happened after that?
Orel: About 10 months to hit 150. That’s when things exploded.
Growth follows that classic curve — starts slow, then suddenly takes off. In the beginning, you have a tiny group of users. As it grows, so do your loyal fans who talk about you. Once you hit critical mass, those 200 people turn into 50 people actively sharing it, who bring in more people, who share it more.
For me, December 1st I was at $3,000 MRR. Now I’m at $7,300. Almost tripled in two months.
Timo: That’s incredible. What changed?
Orel: More people talking about it. More organic word-of-mouth. And I kept improving features based on what users actually needed — like the Activity Center (streamlined notifications), emoji support in Notes and comments, saving Notes to drafts.
Final Thoughts
Timo: One thing Alex Hormozi does that’s insane: he posts 250+ pieces of content every week. Not by being chained to his camera 24/7, but through AI-powered repurposing. He creates once, then turns that one piece into videos, tweets, posts, and clips.
That’s the difference between creating for attention and creating with intention. Repurposing lets one idea keep working long after you hit publish.
Orel: Exactly. And he writes everything himself — even his $100 million book. He has a huge team, but he wrote every word. That’s the David Goggins of business right there.
Thanks for reading! Hope this written format worked for you. 🤠
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See ya soon
Timo Mason🤠
