Your Substack Profile Name Might Be Costing You Subscribers
Why your profile name, publication name, and handle shouldn't be doing the same job.
💛 Editor’s Note: Every once in a while, I come across a publishing tip that’s so simple it’s easy to overlook.
This is one of them.
Today, I’m handing Unstuck to Published over to fellow Substack writer Timo Mason, creator of Write Your Way To Wealth.
Timo has a sharp take on something I see creators get wrong all the time: their Substack profile name.
→ Your publication has a name.
→ Your profile has a name and your handle has a job of its own.
Those details may seem small, but they affect how people recognize you, remember you, and find you across Substack.
So I’m letting Timo Mason🤠 take it from here.
The article below was written by Timo and is being republished on Unstuck to Published with his permission.
— Jess, The Creator 🤗
Contributor: Timo Mason 🤠
Creator of Write Your Way To Wealth
Howdy, Wealth Writers🤠
You’re split-testing your headlines.
You’re obsessing over your posting schedule.
You’re studying analytics trying to squeeze out every last subscriber.
But your Substack profile name is still wrong.
Not “wrong” like a typo. Wrong in a way that costs you trust and searchability every single day while you still think you have to post more notes to grow.
Creators come to Substack, pour everything into their content, and completely ignore the most basic thing…the name on their profile.
In this article, you’ll learn:
✓ Why your Substack profile name and your publication name are two completely different things (and why mixing them up is costing you trust)
✓ The difference between your Name and your Handle and exactly what to put in each field
✓ Why your profile name is the internal Substack SEO nobody talks about and how to make sure people can actually find you
Your name sounds like the easiest thing to get right.
Well…it isn’t. ;)
Your Substack Profile Is You, NOT Your Publication
First, we have to get clear about one thing.
→ On Substack, you have two different types of “identities.”
1. Your Publication
That’s your newsletter.
It has its own name, its own page, its own branding.
→ Write Your Way To Wealth is my publication name for example.
2. Your Profile
It’s your personal identity on the platform.
The name that shows up when you comment, when you get mentioned, or when someone searches for you.
→ Mine is Timo Mason🤠.
They aren’t the same thing, but creators constantly treat them like they are.
They put their newsletter name in their personal profile name field and wonder why they aren’t able to build an engaged audience
When your profile name says NewsletterGrowthHQ instead of your actual name, you don’t look like a person anymore.
→ You look like a brand account and people don’t connect with random brands.
The second your profile stops feeling like a real person, you lose trust before you even open your mouth.
“But what if I’ve been using my newsletter name as my profile name for months?”
→ Change it today. The sooner it’s right, the sooner people trust you.
If you’re afraid that some people might be confused, send out a quick email to your audience and tell them about the update you made to your Substack.
Keep the newsletter name for your publication, and your profile name for you.
Just Use Your Name (But Read This First)
There’s something worth knowing before you go type in your name.
When you open your Substack profile settings, you’ll notice two separate fields.
→ Name and Handle.
They’re not the same thing, and most people don’t think twice about either of them.
1. The Handle
→ Your handle is how people find you and mention you on Substack.
When someone tags you in a comment or a note, they’re using your handle.
Keep it clean.
No emojis, no special characters, just your name in plain text.
→ Mine is simply timomason. (@timomason)
2. The Name
This is where you have a little room to play.
→ Your name field is what displays publicly next to your profile picture. It’s what people actually see.
This is where you can add something that makes you visually distinct, like an emoji or symbol, something tied to your brand.
→ Mine is Timo Mason🤠
That cowboy emoji is part of my brand. And here’s the thing… whenever I get mentioned anywhere on Substack, I stand out immediately. The emoji makes me impossible to miss. :D
It’s a small detail that adds up to real recognition over time.
“But wait…do I have to use my actual legal name?”
Nope.
Timo Mason isn’t even my real name. You don’t need your exact legal name, just something that sounds like a real human being and is easy to find.
So pick your name, keep the handle clean, and add something small to the display name if it fits your brand.
Your Profile Name Is The “SEO” Nobody Tells You
I once tried to find the Substack profile of a client and when I put her name in the Substack search bar, nothing came out, like she…didn’t exist.
She was daily on the platform, but her profile name wasn’t her personal name, so Substack Search was like: 🤷♂️
Now think about what that means for you.
A potential collaborator heard your name somewhere or a reader from another platform wants to follow you on Substack.
They search your name, and if that’s not aligned with your internal Substack name they won’t find you.
Your profile name is your internal Substack SEO, and unlike Google, there’s no algorithm to game, you either have your name there or you don’t.
The 30-Second Fix
Please don’t just read and think “cool, I fix that someday” do the following right now while you are reading this article.
Go to your Substack profile settings.
You’ll see two fields:
1. Name
Put your real (or “could be real”) name here. Add an emoji or something on-brand if it fits.
2. Handle
What people use to find and tag you. Use the name you put into the first field without any extras.
That’s it, thirty seconds and your profile name is optimized for growth and trust.
This Is Just The Beginning
What you just read was part 1 of 3 in The Perfect Substack Profile Series, where we fix every part of your profile from the ground up.
1. Name
2. Picture
3. Description
By the end, your profile will be optimized to make sure all your visitors will become loyal subscribers. :)
Also subscribe to Write Your Way To Wealth to get the Substack Side-Hustle Sprint(A 5-day masterclass to build the foundation of a $2K/month Substack business from scratch), for free.
See ya soon,
Timo Mason🤠
Continue With Timo
This article is part one of Timo’s three-part Perfect Substack Profile Series, covering your name, profile picture, and description.
If you enjoyed his contribution to Unstuck to Published, you can continue reading the series and subscribe to Write Your Way To Wealth on Timo’s publication.
About Timo Mason
Timo Mason is the creator of Write Your Way To Wealth, where he writes about building and monetizing a Substack publication.
He helps you use your writing and story telling skills to build wealth writing online. Timo knows the Substack platform very well and has had great success creating income by writing online and using his AI systems.
If you want your articles working just as hard as your profile, check out the Article Architect, Timo’s AI-writing system that creates personalized Substack articles in minutes.
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Quick Substack audit:
What's currently in your profile Name field?
Your actual name?
Your publication name?
A pen name?
Something else entirely?
No judgment. 😂 Timo and me curious how everyone has theirs set up.
Thanks for having me, Jess. :D