If Things Feel Slow Right Now, It’s Not Your Writing (Here’s What to Focus On Instead)

Mini-Series Part 3 out of 5: Monetize From Day One

“May has been absolutely horrible for me”. Just today one of my students reached out to me with this message:

And I know him and I are not alone in this.

I feel a lot of us are struggling with exactly that and my student pointed it out one more time so clearly to me.

So, today I wanted to outline the plan that I have made for myself for the next months in terms of not being frustrated and focusing on things that I can control.

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You can find more on building your online business in my last post

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📌 The First Step: Understand the Cycles

First of all to understand the cycles, check where you are read. Luckily, Substack has a great built-in function for this. Go to your dashboard > stats > audience. This is where WanderWealth for example (my bigger publication) is read at:

And here is what is happening in slow and growth months:

Slower Months

• May–June: Summer distractions (US/UK), early vacations.

• August: Vacation mode globally. Low engagement.

• Late December: Holidays = inbox fatigue.

Growth Months

• January: “New year” momentum. Great for paid conversions.

• September: Back-to-routine energy. High engagement.

• March–April: Spring reset. Solid growth period.

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🗓 Month-by-Month Content & Campaign Calendar

To work with these seasonal shifts (instead of against them), I asked ChatGPT to create a calendar that keeps me focused, but flexible.

Here’s what it suggested:

🟡 May
Theme: Reflection & Prep
Campaign: Share your writing systems or behind-the-scenes workflow
Tip: Offer a simple event (e.g. co-writing session) to maintain momentum

🔴 June
Theme: Mid-Year Review
Campaign: Reflect on the year so far, invite feedback
Tip: Keep content light — ask questions or run a poll to boost summer engagement

🔴 July
Theme: Play & Creativity
Campaign: Run a community story challenge or reader feature week
Tip: Highlight your readers or co-create content to reduce your load

🔴 August
Theme: Reset & Realign
Campaign: Tease or prep your fall launch
Tip: Focus on internal work — build, write ahead, rest strategically

🟢 September
Theme: Back to Business
Campaign: Launch or promote a paid offer / new content track
Tip: Ride the “back-to-school” mindset with structure + value

…

Legend:
🟢 High Engagement
🟡 Moderate Engagement
🔴 Lower Engagement

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✨ Want Your Own Calendar?

Use this ChatGPT prompt to create your personalized month-by-month planner:

Create a Month-by-Month Content & Campaign Calendar for my Substack newsletter. Each month should reflect real seasonal rhythms for writing and newsletter growth — with slower months like May, August, and late December, and stronger months like January and September.

Format each month like this:

🟢/🟡/🔴 [based on seasonal engagement strength]  

Month  

Theme:  

Campaign:  

Tip:  

📌 Important:

- Align themes with how writers and readers behave throughout the year.

- Keep suggestions realistic for solo writers or small teams.

- Focus on content, challenges, light launches, or reflections based on seasonal timing.

- Prioritize consistency, community, and creativity.

Here’s my info:

1. Publication name + link:  

👉 [INSERT HERE]

2. Publication description (what it's about / who it's for):  

👉 [INSERT HERE]

3. How often I publish:  

👉 [INSERT HERE]

4. My next key goal (e.g. product launch, list growth, paid push, event):  

👉 [INSERT HERE]

5. (Optional) Screenshot or list of top audience countries from Substack stats:  

👉 [DRAG AND DROP]

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Slower Month Strategy: What To Focus On

Slower months don’t mean you should stop. Just shift your energy. I’m using May to:

• Create LIVE events

• Prepare for stronger growth seasons

• Keep publishing — but adjust expectations

Here are 6 things you can do in slower seasons:

1. Host Live Events

Co-writing sessions, Q&As, workshops, subscriber hangouts
→ Great for May, August, and December
→ Builds trust, even with a small group

2. Test New Formats

Audio posts, voice notes, short videos
→ Helps re-engage tired readers

3. Build or Refresh Your Funnel

→ Update welcome email
→ Create a lead magnet
→ Plan an onboarding series

4. Run Soft Launches or Pre-sales

→ Offer early access or limited-time signup to something new
→ Great way to earn without a full launch

5. Highlight Your Community

→ Feature replies, interviews, or reader spotlights
→ Makes readers feel seen and deepens connection

6. Repurpose & Reflect

→ Turn old posts into guides or resources
→ Share lessons from past experiments

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👇 My Own Example: A LIVE Bootcamp & AI Website Tool

Two days ago, I built the landing page for my LIVE Bootcamp in just one afternoon — using Lovable (an AI website builder).

It used to be clunky, but now it’s great. I don’t get paid to say this — just sharing what worked.
Check it out: https://substackbootcamp.com

The only tricky part was integrating the email sign-up. Lovable doesn’t handle backend stuff, so I just connected my ConvertKit form and asked it to drop it into the page.

Pretty neat, right?

Instead of focusing on not growing, I decided to launch a LIVE event, built the website and got started. Focus on things you can control.

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Final Notes

If things feel slow right now: you're not doing anything wrong.
It’s the season.

• Keep writing

• Focus on what you can control

• Adjust your strategy based on the season

As always, trust the process.

Want to go deeper on this? Upgrade now to get access to more tips, templates, and real examples that help you turn your newsletter into a business.

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