The Substack Note that earned me 475 subscribers
Just one meaningful Note can help grow your newsletter.
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The Substack Note that earned me 475 subscribers
And how the same can happen for you.
I received a few notifications recently from people who had liked a Substack Note of mine. The Note dated back to October 2024, so more than six months ago. I hadnât seen it in a while, and if I recall correctly, the analytics for individual Notes werenât much of a thing at the time.
So I checked it out in more detail.
2,963 likes. 518 reposts.
But it gets even better than that. 17,548 clicks. And 475 new subscribers!
475 completely new subscribers to the Freelance Writing Network, all because I shared a photo of C. S. Lewisâ advice to a young writer from 1959. And clearly others found that as fascinating as I did.
So, what can you take from this? And can you replicate it?
Letâs be honest here first and foremost: Substack Notes are not a magic formula. Most days, it will feel like shouting into the void. But sometimes, with the right timing and message, one single Note can go viral and spark momentum for your own writing.
When I shared that post, I had 3,000 subscribers. Next week, just seven months on but with a lot of hard work in between, Iâll hit 12,000. And this kind of growth isnât exclusive to me. Itâs possible for anyone who shows up consistently and shares with intention. Itâs one of the things I love most about this platform.
So how can you use Notes to grow your own audience? Well, letâs look at what works.
Personal resonance > viral intentions
I never posted that Note thinking, âThis one has got to go viral.â I posted it because it was meaningful to me, and had personal resonance with my work. It felt authentic, and it genuinely moved me.
And if it moved me, it was likely to move others too. Not everything on Notes needs to be about showing off your growth tactics or Substack metrics (though I am partial to this as well). Meaningful content can matter too.
You donât need to hack growth
Many of the âgrowth tipsâ on Substack can feel like tricks. As though they canât actually be replicated. But this isnât any of that.
It was a Note of interest posted because of genuine resonance and curiosity. So whatâs the lesson? Sometimes you just need to give people something worth pausing for. Be that because itâs timeless, true, or just simply beautiful.
Sometimes, thatâs all we really want to see.
Small content can have a big impact
This one wasnât a 1,500 word essay. It was short and simple, with one line for context and a photo attached. Yes, Substack is fantastic for long-form writing and important content. But it isnât all you need to help with engagement and growth.
Sometimes something small and meaningful is what has the biggest impact.
Curation is content
I didnât write the quote. I didnât summarise it. I didnât even take the photo.
But I did love it. And I passed it along. And in doing so, brought thousands of people to see it as well, which led hundreds of new readers to my work in turn.
Donât ever underestimate the power of being a curator.
Notes can take time to hit the mark
This Note is still getting likes and shares more than half a year after sending it. It didnât catch fire immediately either, but was a slow burn over a period of months before it slowed down.
Perhaps the right people found it. Who knows? Maybe it hit right with the (admittedly unpredictable) algorithm at the right time. But on Notes, itâs worth remembering that not everything has to perform to your expectations immediately.
It doesnât mean throwing darts in the dark and hoping one hits the bullseye, but it does mean being a little patient. Sharing content thatâs different. Meaningful. And keep at it, because for the handful of Notes that went âviralâ for me on Substack, there are goodness knows how many that barely a soul out there got to see.
So yeah, 475 subscribers from a single Note. I just checked how many of my total subscribers came from Notes, and that sits at an extraordinary 4,793. Nearly 5,000 people subscribed to this newsletter, just because of Substack Notes! Thatâs over one third of my entire audience.
So the next time youâre posting on Notes, try sharing something meaningful. Something that moves you. Something that you believe will resonate with others.
As writers, we should never underestimate the power of what inspires us. Share it. Not just your ideas, but the things that shape them. You never know whoâs reading, and who might just be ready to hit that âsubscribeâ button after doing so.
Thank you for sharing this. It was insightful and helpful and encouraging
Thank you!