Daily writing prompt

How do you build loyal subscribers?

View all responses

I assume the first step in building loyal subscribers is having subscribers.

Thankfully, I do have some.

As of this writing, I have 409 loyal subscribers, which is both wonderful and slightly hilarious because I have been writing this blog since May 2011 and posting daily since December 2020. In internet years, that means I have been at this since sometime around the invention of fire.

I have also done the things one is supposed to do.

I added a subscription line at the bottom of every post. I made sure there is a visible subscribe option on every page. I have tried to make it as easy as possible for someone to say, “You know what? I need more of this man’s nonsense in my life.”

And after all that strategic brilliance, I have added maybe 10 subscribers in the past two months.

So clearly, I am the person to ask.

How do you build loyal subscribers?

Carefully, I suppose.

Slowly.

Painfully.

With occasional whimpering.

This is one of those WordPress prompts that feels like it was written for someone with a podcast studio, a monetization strategy, a newsletter funnel, and a branded mug collection. Meanwhile, I’m over here trying to figure out whether yesterday’s views were actual readers or just me checking for typos.

But maybe that’s the real answer.

You build loyal subscribers by being loyal first.

You show up.

You write when the topic is good. You write when the topic is ridiculous. You write when the prompt asks a question that makes you wonder whether WordPress thinks you are secretly running The New Yorker from your spare room.

You give readers something consistent enough that they know what they’re getting, but not so predictable that it becomes wallpaper. You give them honesty. You give them humor. You give them a little piece of yourself, but not so much that they start worrying about you.

And sometimes, you give them bourbon.

Not literally, of course. Mailing bourbon to subscribers is probably frowned upon by several government agencies.

But you give them the spirit of the thing. Warmth. Personality. A reason to pull up a chair. A sense that there is an actual human being on the other side of the screen and not a committee of growth consultants wearing matching quarter-zips.

Loyalty is not built by begging people to subscribe. It is not built by pop-ups that block half the screen before anyone has read the first sentence. It is not built by promising “exclusive content” when the regular content is already fighting for oxygen.

It is built by trust.

Readers come back when they believe the writer is going to tell the truth, or at least tell the truth as he sees it. They come back when they feel like the voice is familiar. They come back when something in the writing makes them laugh, think, nod, argue, remember, or feel a little less alone.

That’s the theory, anyway.

I’m still working on the practical application.

For now, my subscriber-building strategy is fairly simple: write the next post. Then write the next one after that. Try not to bore people. Try not to chase trends. Try not to sound like everyone else. Try not to panic when the numbers dip. Try not to refresh the stats page like it owes me money.

And yes, this does seem like the perfect moment for a shameless plug.

If you are not currently one of my 409 loyal subscribers, this is your chance to become number 410. Think of the prestige. Think of the history. Think of the bragging rights that will come someday when this blog has 412 subscribers and you can say you were here before things got completely out of hand.

No pressure, of course.

But loyalty has to start somewhere.

Apparently, there is a button for that.

Enjoyed this? Subscribe and get future reflections, bourbon notes, and assorted nonsense delivered straight to your inbox.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.