One Substack or Two? Here’s How to Decide

Read This Before Splitting Your Newsletter...Creators with multiple interests

Hey Creator,

Do you feel torn between your passions?

You’re a Substack creator with more than one interest. Maybe you want to write about productivity and personal finance.

Or storytelling and mental health. Now you’re wondering:

Should I create a new publication for each topic? Or keep everything under one roof?

I’m going to break it down for you so you can make the best decision for your audience—and your sanity.

So, One Substack publication or Two? …and should you do them simultaneously? Big question huh?

Let’s break it down.

Why This Question Matters

Substack is about building connections.

Splitting your interests into separate publications can help you narrow down, but it can also fragment your audience. On the flip side, keeping everything in one place may confuse readers. So what’s the best choice?

The choice depends on your goals, your audience, and how much bandwidth you have.

Unfortunately, most creators either overthink this decision or wing it without a strategy. Both can cost you time, energy, and growth.

Here’s why so many creators struggle with this decision:

1. Fear of losing subscribers. You worry your audience will leave if they’re not interested in all your topics.

2. Niche confusion. You’ve heard, “The riches are in the niches,” and don’t want to dilute your brand.

3. Overestimating bandwidth. Managing multiple publications sounds easy—until you realize how much work it takes.

4. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). You don’t want to leave opportunities on the table by excluding topics.

Sound familiar?

Don’t worry—there’s a way forward.

Here’s How to Decide:

Step 1: Define Your Primary Goal

Why this matters:

Your decision should align with what you want to achieve: audience growth, revenue, or creative freedom. This is very key

How to do it:

• If your goal is audience growth, consider one publication. It’s easier to build momentum with a single, focused message.

• If your goal is diverse income streams, separate publications might make sense for monetizing distinct audiences. But be ready to work like a bull.

• If your goal is creative freedom, focus on a single publication and make your multi-interest approach your brand. This is what I did.

Example:

When I started my Substack, I started talking about career development in science—I wanted to look professional. hahaha. It felt like I was shouting in the dark for so long. Then I started talking about what I know best: creative content. I plan to combine productivity and personal growth for creators under this one umbrella.

Why?

Because my audience cared about improving their lives holistically. It worked because the topics naturally complemented each other.

Make sense?

Step 2: Analyze Your Audience Overlap

Where most people go wrong:

Creators assume their audience shares their wide-ranging interests.

Spoiler alert: They don’t.

What to do instead:

• Survey your audience or analyze engagement. Are the same people responding to posts on all your topics?

• If your topics appeal to separate audiences with little overlap, consider separate publications. As I said earlier, it takes so much time and effort to grow one publication. Imagine having two.

Example:

If you love tech trends and cooking and want to write about the two, these audiences likely have minimal overlap. Two publications might serve them better. But if you write about productivity and mental clarity, they share common ground—you can keep it under one roof.

Step 3: Assess Your Bandwidth

Why this is crucial:

Running multiple publications doubles your workload. Be honest about how much time and energy you can dedicate.

How to do it:

• Start with one publication. If it grows successfully and you still want to explore another interest, branch out later.

• Ask yourself: Can I create consistent, high-quality content for two publications without burning out?

For instance, I’ve seen creators launch multiple publications only to abandon one because they underestimated the effort involved. Start small, then scale.

Step 4: Experiment and Evolve

Everything in life is about testing and adjusting. Test, adjust, hone in on what works and focus on that.

Why this works:

Your decision isn’t set in stone. You can adapt as your audience and goals evolve.

How to do it:

• Start with one publication and introduce multiple topics. Track how your audience engages with each.

• If one topic dominates, consider spinning it off into a new publication.

Example:

A very good example is one of my favourite creators (

Kristina God

). She’s launching a new publication called: Get Paid To Be You. She’s spun to a second Substack focused solely on that niche. This came after she had built over 10,000 subscribers on her first publication.

Do you get the point?

Quick Recap

1. Align your decision with your primary goal: growth, income, or creative freedom.

2. Evaluate how much overlap exists between your topics and audiences.

3. Be realistic about the time and energy you can commit to multiple publications.

4. Test your approach and refine it as needed—you don’t need to get it perfect from day one.

Bottom line? One publication or two—it depends on your goals. Choose the path that supports your audience and your capacity, not just what sounds good on paper.

Your Turn

What’s one topic you wish to talk about that feels out of place at the moment?

Could it grow into its own publication? I’d like to know…

That’s a wrap!

Chat soon.

Philip.

---

P.S. If you’ve enjoyed this, there are two ways to let me know:

1. Share this edition with a friend and inspire them to start creating the life they love today.

2. Recommend this publication to someone who might need it.

Every week, I send battle-tested frameworks that help you:

• Build a personal brand that stands out

• Create content that converts

• Design systems for steady growth

• Turn your expertise into income.

Each issue delivers:

✓ Quick-win templates you can use today

✓ Deep-dive analysis of what actually works

✓ Step-by-step frameworks to grow your audience

No fluff. No theory.

Just proven systems I've personally tested.

Join the Chat here and see for yourself.

P.S.S. Join Our 100 Subscribers Weekly Challenge for FREE

The goal is to add 100 New Subscribers to each member's Substack, every week.

Click the button below to join. It’s FREE