Take a minute. You’re doing great. Truly. This is a really rough time and many, many of my clients feel like it’s getting harder to get traction on Notes and convert subscribers.
If you’re feeling this, you’re not alone.
And it’s going to be fine.
We just stay together, ride out ebbs and flows, and bring our good work to the world. Our theme for this month (and every month) is how to make your Substack growth easier.
Now, let’s talk about how to take advantage of Notes without giving all your time and energy to it.
The truth about Notes
Most people want to be seen on Substack Notes to get subscribers and connect with people.
But it can feel like we’re spending all our time there and posting into a void.
I don’t want you spending all your time on Notes. I want you to be efficient so you can spend your time and energy doing what you love: your Substack.
Wait, what is Notes?
Notes is our internal social media network.
Notes started in April 2023 to help us connect and get subscribers. I was in the beta launch with the Substack team and many of the big Substack writers. It was very different back then—all about connecting with other Substack writers.
It has since turned into an amalgamation of Facebook, Instagram, the old days of Twitter, and LinkedIn.
It’s a social media platform like any other and abides by certain “rules” if you want to go viral.
Why some Notes get engagement and others don’t
Notes is as much about how you say something as it is about what you say.
The Notes that get engagement abide by the “rules” of the Notes genre. Just like there are some “rules” to writing a novel that engages readers, so there are “rules” to writing Notes that engage scrollers.
Should you bother with the 12 Essential Notes Templates?
You decide, of course.
They aren’t “hacks.”
I’ve distilled down what I know has worked for hundreds of Substack writers and creators and what seems to be happening on Notes.
They’re a way to be on Notes with my support, which I think you should do because:
The potential organic growth is phenomenal.
The potential organic growth likely won’t last forever (though I’m more than happy to be proven wrong on that).
The butterfly effect of Notes is unreal. A tweet stays around for 30 seconds, a Facebook post for 4 hours, an Instagram post for 48 hours, but our wonderful Notes can live on for weeks or months, getting engagement, helping you find your readers and subscribers. That’s pretty great.
Is the point really to go viral?
Yes, but “viral” means feeling like the time you do spend on Notes is worth it because you’re getting some engagement.
“Viral” could mean 12 or 1200 likes, 5 or 50,000 new subscribers.
The templates work, but you have to work with them and experiment.
Access the templates and PDF below.