10 High-Leverage Substack Projects to Start the New Year Strong
Turn the the new year into a growth engine with these behind-the-scenes upgrades.
The start of a new year comes with a funny kind of pressure. New goals! New plans! Big expectations!
But the most successful Substack creators donât start the year by publishing more, they start by building better foundations.
The early weeks of the year are a rare window: inboxes are still settling, routines are reforming, and thereâs space to work on your publication instead of constantly shipping new posts.
This is the perfect time to invest in behind-the-scenes projects that make everything else easier for the rest of the year.
Here are 10 smart Substack projects you can tackle now to set yourself up for a stronger, more intentional year of growth.
1. Grow Your Network đ
Quiet times on Substack are the perfect opportunity for your engagement to stand out more. When fewer people are posting and commenting, you have a great opportunity to grow your network. Thoughtful replies, kind DMs, and simple âlove your workâ notes go further right now than they will during the busy holiday season.
These small connections often lead to collaborations, shoutouts, cross-promotions, or just having a few more friendly faces in your corner.
Action Plan
Comment on 3 Substack Notes or posts per day from writers in your niche.
Share 1 post you read every week with a personal note about why it resonated.
Send 1 âjust saying heyâ email or DM each week.
These relationships compound, and todayâs casual connection could be tomorrowâs biggest growth driver.
2. Fix Your Business Bottleneck đ§±
Every business is built on three core pillars: audience, offer, and distribution. If one is weak, it holds everything else back. The new year is a great time to zoom out, figure out where youâre stuck, and work on the one thing that will unlock growth across the board.
Start by identifying which business building block needs the most attention. Is your offer clear? Is your distribution consistent? How well do you understand your audience?
Action Plan
Take my Business Bottleneck Quiz to find your weakest link.
Get your free, personalized 4-week action plan by email.
Work through the action plan to fix your bottleneck.
This kind of behind-the-scenes work might not feel urgent, but itâs the stuff that turns a shaky newsletter into a real business. And now is the perfect time to do it.
3. Do a Traffic Audit đ
Where are your readers actually coming from, and where are they dropping off? A quick traffic audit can reveal surprising insights about whatâs working and whatâs not. This is the kind of high-leverage task most creators skip during busy seasons, but the new year gives you space to dig in.
Look at your top-performing posts, referral sources, and conversion points. What can you double down on? Whatâs no longer worth the effort?
Action Plan
Check your Substack stats or Google Analytics account for top traffic sources.
Make a list of your most visited posts and top-performing channels.
Develop a plan to scale your best-performing channels and strategies based on what you learn.
Small insights can lead to big shifts in how you grow. This kind of analysis sets you up to be intentional (not just busy) this year.
4. Do a Content Refresh â»ïž
You donât always need to create something new to get more attention. Sometimes, the smartest move is updating what you already have. Search engines (and LLMs that recommend content) reward freshness, so refreshing your best posts can give them new life and visibility with very little effort.
Look for content that performed well but could use updated stats, a stronger headline, better formatting, or a clearer CTA. Even small tweaks can improve engagement and discoverability.
Action Plan
Use Google Search Console or Google Analytics to identify posts that used to drive search traffic but have since dropped off.
Optimize your content with updated information, improved visuals, a fresh hook, and a cleaned-up structure to make it feel fresh and relevant again.
Build new internal links to and from refreshed posts to boost visibility and keep readers engaged.
This kind of cleanup feels small, but itâs very high leverage, especially for SEO and AI-powered discovery tools that prioritize recent, relevant content.
5. Create a Digital Product đŸ
This is the ideal time to package what you know. If youâve been publishing consistently, you already have the raw material for a great digital product, whether itâs a PDF guide, mini-course, email series, or template pack.
You donât need to build something huge. Start small: a paid resource that solves one specific problem for your readers can be enough to unlock new revenue and deepen your authority.
Action Plan
Audit your past posts to see what topics resonate most with your audience.
Turn it into a digital product with exclusive strategies and actionable takeaways your free content only hints at.
Sell it on Gumroad or use it as a paid subscriber perk on Substack.
Rather than obsessing over perfection, focus on progress. A lightweight product created now can become a steady income stream next year.
6. Update Your Evergreen Assets đ§č
Your welcome emails, About page, and pinned posts are often the first things new readers see, but theyâre easy to forget about once theyâre set up. The new year is the perfect time to revisit these assets and make sure they still reflect who you are, what you offer, and why readers should stick around.
Even small updates can improve clarity, trust, and conversion.
Action Plan
Re-read your welcome email: does it feel warm, clear, and current?
Update your author bio, About page, Substack profile, or pinned posts to reflect your latest focus.
Add links to best-of content so new readers have somewhere to go next.
These evergreen assets work for you 24/7. Make sure theyâre pulling their weight.
7. Learn a New Skill đ§
The new year is the perfect time to expand your toolkit without the pressure of immediate implementation. Whether it's brushing up on brand and design, exploring AI tools, improving your writing flow, or finally figuring out how search engine optimization works, this is a great time to experiment.
Choose one skill that feels exciting and useful for your Substack in the long term. Donât overthink it. A single new skill can level up your workflow, make your posts pop, or help you create a point of differentiation.
Action Plan
Pick one new skill you want to develop before the end of the year.
Follow one new creator who teaches the skill you want to learn.
Dedicate 30 minutes a week to learning and practicing, without worrying about perfection.
Small upgrades now can lead to big leaps later, especially when things pick up in the fall.
8. Do a Financial Deep Clean đ§Œ
The new year is a great time to catch up on the unsexy but essential stuff like organizing your books, cleaning up your transactions, and making sure youâre ready for tax season before it turns into a panicked rush.
If youâve been putting off setting up a simple system, nowâs the time. Good bookkeeping isnât just for accountants; it helps you make smarter decisions, stay stress-free, and treat your Substack like the business it is.
Try this:
Categorize and tag your past expenses (even if itâs just in a spreadsheet).
Reconcile payouts from Stripe.
Set up a basic bookkeeping system (I use Puzzle).
Tidy books = peace of mind. And your future self will definitely thank you at tax time.
9. Experiment With a New Format đïž
Now is the perfect time to try something fun, low-stakes, and different. Maybe itâs a short podcast episode, a casual video, or even a vibe-coded tool: a playful, useful resource that feels more like a gift than a product.
These creative experiments can refresh your energy and give your audience a new way to engage with your work.
Action Plan
Record a short podcast or video version of a post your readers loved.
Create a vibe-coded tool: a quiz, calculator, or interactive checklist that solves a reader problem.
Treat the new year like a creative lab: experiment with formats, observe results, and note what you want to continue into the year.
You donât need to commit forever. Just test what feels fun, and pay attention to what resonates.
10. Take Time Off đïž
Rest is productive. Your creativity needs space to breathe, and your best ideas often show up when you're not staring at a screen. If things feel slow right now, itâs not necessarily a sign that you should push harder. It might be a signal to press pause.
Stepping back doesnât mean youâre falling behind. Paid time off exists for a reason, and youâre allowed to take it even as a creator. Let your audience know what to expect, queue up what you can, and then give yourself permission to truly rest.
Action Plan
Let your subscribers know youâre taking some time off (theyâll get it).
If you want, set up a scheduled post before you log off.
Keep a low-stakes idea journal while youâre away.
Youâll come back with more energy, sharper ideas, and maybe even a new perspective on what you want to write next.
Bonus: Set Your Publicationâs Operating System
If you notice a theme across these projects, itâs this: None of them are one-off tasks. Theyâre decisions and systems youâll return to again and again.
Thatâs why one of the most valuable âprojectsâ you can do at the start of a new year is setting up a single operating system for your publication: a place where your strategy, content, growth efforts, and monetization plans actually live and work together.
Most creators donât struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because everything is scattered: notes in one place, drafts in another, half-formed plans in their head, and no clear way to see how it all connects.
Thatâs exactly why I built the Substack Creator OS. Itâs a Notion workspace designed to help you:
Clarify your positioning, audience, and goals.
Plan content with growth and monetization in mind.
Keep all your ideas, decisions, and assets in one structured, organized system.
Think of it less like a template and more like the infrastructure that supports everything you do.
If youâre serious about making this year feel more intentional (and less reactive), setting up an operating system for your Substack is one of the highest-leverage moves you can make.
The Substack Creator OS is free for Premium Subscribers, with lifetime access and updates.
Less Hustle, More Leverage âïž
Reflective times donât have to mean standing still. Whether you use this time to refresh your content, test a new format, organize your finances, or simply rest, every small move adds up. These projects arenât just about staying productive; theyâre about laying the groundwork for long-term growth.
You donât need to tackle all 11. Just pick one or two that feel energizing. Itâs not too late to make this your most focused, creative, and profitable year yet (if you want to).
Need help turning these ideas into action?
If you're ready to grow your Substack but want some support to make it a reality, my Premium subscription is here to help. You'll get access to step-by-step playbooks, practical tools (like the Substack Creator OS), and deeper strategy breakdownsâplus office hours and direct message support if you get stuck or want feedback along the way.
Join now and make the most of 2026.
To endless possibilities,
Casandra
Great ideas. I'm planning my last quarter now, so this will be very helpful. thank you for sharing.
Love these great ideas! Thanks for sharing :)