Alicia Teltz Celebrates Substack Growth and Shares Strategy Insights

In a recent LinkedIn post, Alicia Teltz shares her excitement and gratitude for achieving a significant milestone: reaching the Top 5 on Substack’s Global Bestseller List. Teltz emphasizes that this recognition is particularly meaningful because it is based on objective metrics – specifically, the growth rate of paid subscribers – rather than undisclosed criteria.

Substack Bestseller List: A Metric of Growth

Alicia Teltz highlighted the transparent nature of the Substack Bestseller List, contrasting it with platforms she feels use less clear evaluation methods. She stated:

Making it onto that list means so, so much because it’s not based on a vague, undisclosed metric (you know who you are………… Favikon).

According to Teltz, the Substack list’s power lies in its direct correlation with real-world growth. She detailed her own journey, noting a rapid increase in her paid subscriber base.

Rapid Subscriber Growth and Gratitude

Teltz expressed profound thanks to her audience, attributing the recent surge in her subscriber numbers to their support. She shared the impressive speed at which her community grew, stating:

Yesterday: Within 1 day only (!!!), you wonderful people doubled my paid subscribers’ numbers! 🤯🤯

This rapid expansion occurred shortly after she had already reached a personal financial goal. As Teltz put it:

One day earlier: I had just hit $10k over the course of 1 month since switching on paid subscriptions.

The overwhelming success led Teltz to express a need for a brief respite, conveying her immense appreciation with repeated thanks.

Demystifying Substack Badges

In her post, Teltz also took the opportunity to clarify the meaning behind the different colored checkmarks displayed next to authors’ names on the Substack list. She explained that these badges visually represent the number of paid subscribers an author has:

• Purple checkmark: Tens of thousands of paid subscribers (10,000+)
• Orange checkmark: Thousands of paid subscribers (1,000–9,999)
• White checkmark: Hundreds of paid subscribers (100–999)
• No checkmark: Below a hundred paid subscribers (<100)

Teltz humorously noted her own position at the time of the post, indicating she fell into the category without a checkmark.

Sharing Substack Strategy

Beyond the celebratory announcement, Teltz provided a valuable resource for her followers. She directed them to a recent article where she breaks down her Substack strategy in detail. Crucially, she made this article freely accessible, without requiring a paid subscription, to ensure wider reach and to share her learnings.