Unplugged 1:1 Coaching for Substack Growth
This program is designed to accelerate the process of ramping up and getting directly into the growth phase of your Substack newsletter.
Our goal is to reach the phase of consistent new free and paid subscriber growth turning it into a 6-figure business that operates in about 2 to 4 hours of your time per day.
Weâll get there by implementing the Unplugged Substack Quest Model.
This includes:
1) Your Positioning Strategy.
Together we will define your niche, topic, audience, your content pillars and your unique angle. When you nail that part down, everything becomes much easier.
2) Your Product Strategy.
Next, we will design the income sources. Weâll build your irresistible paid offer â from research to define, price, validate, present, and finally launch your Substack. This also includes setting-up your Substack for a high conversion rate, and scheduling your ongoing process of analysis and optimization.
3) Your Content Strategy.
Next, we will define your content pillars and build your content funnel so you donât burn yourself out trying to figure out what to offer next. Iâll help with writing and copywriting, SEO, repurposing, crafting digital products, etc.
4) Your Growth Strategy & Implementation.
Next, we will plan the tactics for growth of monetizeable audience of free subscribers, launch your Substack and start implementing these tactics. Weâll scale your audience growth with sources outside of Substack. We will look at data, troubleshoot and optimize for acquisition, conversion and retention.
5) Your Monetization Strategy & Implementation.
Finally, weâll craft the tactics to convert and retain paid subscribers, monetize free subscribers and scale your Substack to a 6-figure online business with automations and additional growth outside of Substack. We will track KPIs, predict your income analyze, troubleshoot and optimize for growth.
The program includes:
Regular individual 1:1 60-minute coaching meetings via Zoom. Optional: I will provide recordings upon your request.
Stay in touch with me for support between the meetings via Signal, WhatsApp or Telegram
Supporting materials â guides, handouts, templates, checklists, business cases, etc.
Lifetime access to the Substack Quest (in case youâre not a paid Unplugged member)
Personalized AI tools:
a custom GPT, that writes like you - I will create it for you
my custom GPT trained to write viral Notes, customized to your audience (this is only available in the coaching program)
my custom GPT trained to write viral headlines for your posts, customized to your audience (this is only available in the coaching program)
I will recommend your Substack to help you grow faster (this is only available in the coaching program)
Collaborate opportunities within the Unplugged community: youâre welcome to co-create and collaborate with me to get more exposure and faster growth. This may include shoutouts, cross-posts, guest posts, lives, and other forms of collaboration as we agree (this is only available in the coaching program)
Responsibilities:
Together we define the initial strategies
You create and implement, I review and provide advice
Together we look at data and adapt strategies to optimize growth, you implement
Timing:
Itâs optimal to meet once per week for 60 minutes.
Within the first 12 weeks you should have your Substack up and running, gaining new subscribers consistently and feeling confident that you know what youâre doing on Substack.
After that period we can switch to bi-weekly meetings (once every two weeks) or stay with a weekly schedule until you need my support.
Within 6 months we should be able to know whether the newsletter is set to become a 6-figure business or we need to change something and in which areas.
Investment:
Iâve made myself available for just 3-6 people and the spots are almost filled. So before we start discussing your investment, we need a discovery call, to make sure weâre a good fit.
Book your free call here:
By the end of the program (6 months) you should have covered your investment in full and have earned something on top. If youâre a VIP subscriber to my Unplugged newsletter you should have covered your investment and earned at least the same amount on top, because you have a 50% discount.
I know because I earned $6,935 in my first 6 months from Substack and the offers on Gumroad I made to the same audience. I also see the results of people who work with me, so Iâm confident I can make this work for you.
What is the difference between this coaching program and the VIP membership?
The coaching program is the natural extension of the VIP membership. Hereâs whatâs different:
The VIP membership grants you only one 60-minute meeting and one 30-minute meeting per year, but no direct support with the implementation. With the coaching program, you have direct and regular weekly access to me, which grants you the maximum level of accountability and discipline plus my eyes on everything you do - thatâs how you achieve what I call âexcellence in executionâ, i.e. we make sure you implement everything the right way, which is 80% of success.
The coaching program helps with growth outside of Substack, automation, and other platforms, while the VIP membership is mainly focused on Substack.
With the coaching program, you get three personalized custom GPTs, including the Viral Notes Writer and the Title Generator. The VIP membership only grants you one.
Besides, Iâll also recommend your Substack and you get additional collaboration opportunities with me (as described above), which will accelerate your growth. VIP members donât have that granted.
What about refunds?
I will refund a payment for a meeting which did not take place for whatever reasons. No refunds are available for meetings that already took place in the past.
You can opt-out at any time. In case youâve paid for a package of 12 or 24 meetings and decide to opt-out, I will refund a pro-rated amount for the meetings which didnât take place. For example, if you paid $2,400 for 12 meetings and you decide to opt out after the 6th meeting, you will get a refund of $1,200, which is the pro-rated amount for the remaining 6 meetings.
Whatâs the guarantee I will get results?
No guarantees. Success is 20% strategy and 80% execution. In this program I help with both, but I cannot implement instead of you.
You have to do the actual work.
My methods are proven in various niches on Substack so Iâm confident they will work for you, provided youâre committed to make this work and take the needed actions.
Ready?
Book your free discovery call here:
âYana is one of the best writing and growth mindset mentors you can wish for. Since I started working with her guidance, my writing became much more specific, result driven and enjoyable. And it shows in my Substack newsletter subscribtions!â-- Daniel H. @ The Fearless YOU
About me:
Iâm not a newsletter guru.
Iâm a strategist who just happened to fall in love with the newsletter format.
By day, I work in big techâwhere Iâve spent 15+ years building and scaling subscription-based businesses, turning complex systems into frictionless buying experiences. Itâs where I learned how to drive predictable growth, optimize onboarding, and design offers people actually pay for.
Now I bring those same strategies into the world of digital writing, where most creators are flying blind.
I help writers grow their paid newsletter business using tools like Substack, Kit, and AIâbut more importantly, I help them build an ecosystem that turns free readers into paying subscribers without burnout or guesswork.
This isnât âjust write moreâ advice.
My work is for the writer whoâs ready to treat their Substack like a business, not a blog.
Because with the right systems in place?
Your words donât just inspireâthey convert.
And thatâs when writing online becomes more than just a creative outlet. It becomes a sustainable business. And it all starts here: