Self-Care Can Go Viral On Substack Too
How one creator made a small change to gain more engaged readers
Have you ever tried to take care of yourself but felt guilty that you weren’t doing it “the right way”?
*All the examples feature real people, their names have been changed out of respect for their privacy.
Emily writes a self-care newsletter.
Not the clichéd kind with candles, bath salts, and “10 ways to relax.”
Hers is softer and more honest.
Because let’s face it, self-care isn’t just spa treatments and Instagram rituals.
She wrote about people who feel burned out, exhausted, or as if they’re carrying more than they admit.
For months, she wrote thoughtful posts in which she shared practical advice mixed with a great deal of humanity.
Things like:
how to rest without feeling lazy
how to set boundaries without apologizing
how to listen to your body before it starts screaming
how to take up emotional space without guilt
And yet… there was almost no engagement.
She felt as if she were whispering in a crowded room, and no one was hearing her.
And she truly put her heart into what she was doing
She wasn’t doing it for tricks, growth, or algorithms. She sincerely wanted people to feel better in their own skin.
So why wasn’t it working?
When we looked more closely, the reason became crystal clear:
Emily was writing for the version of herself who already knows what self-care is.
Her audience wasn’t there yet.
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They didn’t need “10 grounding techniques”, they needed permission.
They needed someone to tell them:
“You’re not broken because you need a break.”
“You’re not being dramatic because you feel overwhelmed.”
“You’re not weak because you want a quieter life.”
So the first change was very subtle, but incredibly powerful:
She stopped lecturing and started offering comfort.
Not “Here’s what you need to do.”
But:
“I know how that feels—here’s what helped me start breathing again.”
And this shift made her writing less like instructions and more like companionship.
Instead of publishing checklist-style articles, she opened up to her audience by sharing her own failures and tough moments, reassuring them that it was normal and okay. She shared what had helped her during those times.
The second change was realizing who her reader actually was.
Not the perfect reader she imagined — with a tidy desk, a journal, a routine, and a yoga mat.
But the tired and overwhelmed one.
The one who wants to take care of themselves but has no idea where to start.
When we saw that, we went back and looked at what actually worked:
Which posts had the most views?
The ones where she admitted that she was struggling too.
Which ones were shared the most?
The ones that sounded like a message someone would send to a friend.
Which ones got responses?
The ones that made people say, “That’s exactly what I needed to hear today.”
Even the ones that didn’t offer any practical advice, but were simply a story from her life when she felt most exhausted.
That gave us our direction.
Self-care for people who are tired, not “enlightened.”
So we rewrote her entire newsletter around one central idea:
“You deserve to take care of yourself, even when you don’t believe it.”
That clarity helped with everything else.
She started adding little notes at the beginning of each post:
“How are you doing this week?”
“If no one has told you today: you’re doing great.”
And people started responding.
There was one comment that really touched us: “This is the first newsletter I’ve read instead of archiving.”
And then came the second big change — something she had never done before
We rewrote her welcome email.
Many creators underestimate the welcome email, but it’s your first point of contact with a new subscriber and an opportunity to help them.
Not the standard “Hi, welcome to my newsletter,” which sounds like a form letter.
Instead, something that truly prepares the reader emotionally for her space.
We added the following:
1. Reassurance
“I don’t know what brought you here, but I’m glad you’ve arrived.”
2. A grounding sentence
“If you’ve been feeling tired lately, here, your tiredness is allowed.”
3. A small promise
“I won’t overwhelm you. I’ll write to you the way I’d want someone to write to me.”
4. A small invitation
“How are you feeling today—honestly? You can reply if you want.”
As a bonus, we added a little digital booklet with phrases that supported and reassured her readers. Not copy-pasted or generated by AI, but ones she had written herself, as if speaking to a friend who just can’t take it anymore.
5. A brief description of what they’ll receive
“Every week, I’ll send you a little reminder: that you matter, your needs matter, and rest isn’t a luxury.”
Nothing complicated. Just warmth and presence.
People started replying to her welcome email right away—something she didn’t think was possible.
One response still lingers in her mind to this day:
“Thank you. I didn’t know I needed someone to talk to me like that.”
She and that reader are still close friends today.
After that, her engagement began to grow. Slowly, but surely.
Not because she was posting more, and not because she discovered a trick.
But because she understood what her audience needed to feel before they even heard her: A sense of security.
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Her newsletter stopped being a self-help blog.
It became a small corner of the internet where people feel seen—especially on days when they don’t feel like much themselves.
Self-care isn’t about perfection. It isn’t just a fad or a dramatic label.
It’s about belonging and something everyone goes through, but they don’t have to go through it alone.
And she finally gave her readers a place where they belong.
Many people will tell you that if you write about self-care, you need to choose a niche.
To decide whether you’re a wellness writer, a mental health writer, a journaling writer, a productivity writer…
But I don’t think that’s always true.
Sometimes the niche isn’t the topic. Sometimes the niche is the feeling you leave with the reader.
Emily could write about boundaries, about rest, about burnout, about tenderness, about anxiety, about the little rituals that keep us alive on tough days.
Her topics were varied.
But all of her stories helped the same kind of person feel a little lighter, more understood, and more seen.
And that, in itself, is a direction. It’s not a box, limitation оr “pick a label and stick to it.”
It’s a thread that connects all her writing.
And for many writers—including Emily—that’s more than enough.
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Self-care brings value to everyone.
Wow! These are great suggestions I might have to borrow. My Substack is about all of this. Thank you!