Kick Off 2026 This Way With Your Paid Subscriptions

If you're going to clean your slate, you might as well clean the whole thing!

I’m not the type who makes resolutions at the start of a new year but when I start fresh, I mean super FRESH. I love the challenge of beginning at ground zero and paying attention to how things grow (and why).

This year’s new project — a brand new publication — is no exception. And with a new publication comes new ways to track progress, far more intentionally than I have in the past.

Now, I’m passing on the info to you. Maybe we can all track our year together and share what we learn along the way.

Here’s how I’m tracking progress in 2026:

First, when I retired my original publication and replaced it with the new one, I intentionally turned off paid subscriptions on the old one and stopped billing everyone.

Next, I made the decision to launch the new one with paid subscriptions enabled, even though I will not be paywalling my content. I always prefer to turn on paid right off the bat, whether I'm paywalling or not. This gives others the option to support you, and in my experience, people often DO choose to support.

Here’s the intentional tracking part:

Since my launch coincided with the start of a new year, I thought it would be prudent to track all streams of income associated with the publication from day one. This will give me a full 365 days’ worth of earnings insight at the end of 2026.

STEP 1: I opened a brand new bank account with zero dollars in it.

STEP 2: I created a completely separate Stripe account and tied it to the new bank account and the new publication.

STEP 3: I intend to generate revenue through several channels with the new publication. All of those revenue streams will be directed to the new bank account.

STEP 4: I created a new Gmail address related to the new publication so that I can track and separate literally everything including affiliate income, subscription income, sponsor income, etc.

Everything was in order on January 1st, 2026.

If you’re planning to enable paid subscriptions:

Today is only January 3rd. It’s not too late to get organized the same way, and I highly encourage you to try it!

You’ve probably already blown your “Go to the gym every day” resolution, but there’s still hope for your “Track my Substack income” aspirations. In addition to paid subscriptions, there are many different ways to earn money here.

When I first came to Substack, I turned everything on and funnelled it ALL into my everyday checking account. Nothing intentional whatsoever about keeping track. Now, I totally regret it.

What inspired this change in getting my finances in order?

In the latter part of 2025, I read a post by Jen Baxter ✒️ about how she was taking charge of her business finances. Jen is a trusted colleague of mine, so naturally, I wanted to sip the same Kool-Aid she was sipping 😁

But for real, I could tell from listening to her that the program she had just completed made a significant impact on how she shows up in her business. Who am I not to show up the same way for mine?

I've been working through the same the program for two months now, and the rest is history!

If you want 2026 to be the year you get your financial sh!t together, I super encourage you to go for it. Not because that’s an affiliate link, but because you owe it to yourself, your business, and your success, and there’s literally no better time to start fresh than a new year!

At the very least, download this quick business money map and do a real assessment of where you’re at. It’ll be eye-opening 🫢

Anyway, this might be a lame Substack tip, but I’m just coming off a couple of weeks' holidays (aren’t we all?), so be gentle with me 😁 I feel like this is a great way to start your Substack year off on the right foot.

Have you been tracking your Substack income from the get-go, or have you done it all willy-nilly like me, and now you regret it?