How do you turn an audience into a loyal, paying community? If you're building a newsletter, working out when to monetise a community, or wondering whether a paywall is the right call, this episode is for you.

Juliet talks to yoga teacher and Substack creator Jo Hutton about rebuilding her business after burnout, growing 47,000 Substack subscribers from zero with no mailing list transfer, and why she ditched a fixed paywall for a pay-what-you-feel model.

They cover Substack's open rates versus other platforms, the 'say what you do, do what you say' rule for growth and retention, and why Jo treats Substack as one spoke in her business rather than the whole wheel.

After 16 years as a yoga teacher, Jo hit burnout in 2022 and rebuilt around Yoga For Tired People - now 47,000 Substack subscribers, a 42% open rate, 177,000 Instagram followers, her podcast Before The Work Begins, and a debut book with Bloomsbury.

In this episode:

(04:40) When burnout forces you to rethink your business model
(09:20) Starting again and building an audience from scratch
(17:00) How to grow a Substack without relying on an existing audience
(22:00) When does an audience become a paying business?
(23:30) What turns an audience into a community that stays?
(27:15) How to price a paid community and know what to give away for free
(40:20) Why growing a business means growing as a founder

Find out more:
Jo Hutton Instagram: @johuttonyoga
Yoga For Tired People Substack: https://happyyoga.substack.com/

FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.
https://www.fallowfieldmason.com

Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.

Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on Instagram @fallowfieldmason.

MUSIC CREDIT: Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.

#substack #newslettergrowth #audiencegrowth #communitybuilding #entrepreneurship