Substack Growth Mastermind Turns Passive Lives into Interactive Subscriber Building Sessions

Substack Growth Mastermind, a weekly live program co-hosted by Amy Chang and John Toomey, is redefining how creators engage with their audiences on the Substack platform. Unlike typical Substack Lives where viewers passively watch experts converse, this program, produced by Soani Gunawan, turns each session into a working opportunity for attendees to gain followers, subscribers, and even clients. The initiative matters because it addresses a critical gap in creator growth: the lack of interactive, action-oriented events that directly help writers expand their reach. By making each live session a hands-on building experience, it empowers creators to leverage collective effort and proven tactics to grow their publications.

During every weekly show, the latest SuperStacker Prizes are announced, often with winners present in the chat. These awards recognize platform members who contributed the best Notes, Articles, Comments, or Restacks the previous week, incentivizing superior performance of these often-overlooked mini-skills that are invaluable for creator growth. Audience members also submit their own Notes in the chat, then like, comment, and restack those of other creators during the live session itself, leading to lively discussions of the most insightful Notes. At least one Note presented by an audience member is used as a central topic for a group mind mapping session using Ayoa.com. Everyone in the chat can comment on and add to the mind map, which is then posted to the program's social media and website. Submissions that can be used as a main prompt for a Claude Artifact, GPT, Gemini Gem, or Perplexity Space, and that address one of the UN's 169 Sustainability Indicators, can earn a Hero Award.

The most insightful contributions of attendees are then added to a draft press release before the end of the program, so that in a few days they can see their writing referenced by news publications. If time allows, the hosts conduct a mini-audit of an audience member's Substack publication to identify areas that can be modified to ensure future growth. Sometimes Substack Superstars are invited as guests; evocative sentences from their Notes and Articles are then used as AI prompts for the group mind maps. The producers of Substack Growth Mastermind are planning to incubate and nurture other writers who'd like to mount their own similar live programs. "We find that live video is the best way to get a potential audience to know, like, and trust you," says Chang. "And the way we do it makes it fun. So we want to support as many people as possible to conduct these types of shows for their own subscribers and clients. We want to build and promote a Substacker Live Network."

Future plans include a weekly challenge, which will offer participants ways to build significant growth before the next week's program, during which their achievement will be celebrated by all. A SuperStacker prize will be offered to creators who help another writer reach Bestseller status. For more information, join https://substack.com/@growbyhelpingothers. To apply to be a participant or guest write [email protected]. To find out about the Hero Award, see theheroaward.net. To learn more about Substack, visit substack.com. Substack Growth Mastermind exists to help newsletter and blog creators build their presence through the power of swarm intelligence.