You’ve tried out Substack Notes and realized it’s really not for you. Or maybe you don’t even want to try it because it feels too much like social media, and you’ve already decided that social media isn’t where you want to spend your time. It can feel performative, distracting, or simply not aligned with the way you want to show up as a writer.
So where does that leave you?
If you’re not using Notes, does that mean you’re stuck on Substack with no real way to grow your subscribers?
Not at all.
While Notes is one way to grow on Substack, it is not the only way, and for many people, it isn’t even the best fit. Substack is not just a content platform; it is a collaborative ecosystem. The way growth happens here is different from most other platforms, and once you understand that difference, new possibilities start to open up.
On many platforms, growth is tied to visibility and competition. You are trying to stand out, to capture attention, and often to outperform others in your space. On Substack, something much more interesting happens. The people who might be considered your competition elsewhere can become your collaborators here. Writers with similar or adjacent topics are not obstacles to your growth, but potential partners in it.
Growth on Substack does not come from trying to reach everyone. It comes from finding the right people and building relationships within that network.
The process begins by finding those people.
This is less about chasing large accounts and more about identifying publications that feel aligned with your work. You can use your content preferences, the explore tab, and the search bar to gradually shape your feed into something that reflects your interests and your audience. Over time, you begin to see not just individual posts, but communities of writers and readers who are already engaged in conversations that relate to what you care about.
Once you start to recognize those spaces, the next step is to become part of them.
This does not require a complicated strategy. It starts with paying attention and responding in a thoughtful way. When you read something that resonates, you leave a comment. When a post or idea stands out, you acknowledge it. When someone shares something valuable, you might restack it and add your own perspective. These small interactions are what begin to build familiarity over time.
Instead of broadcasting your work into an empty space, you are gradually becoming known within a network of people who are already interested in similar ideas. As that familiarity grows, so does the likelihood that someone will click through to your publication, read your work, and decide to subscribe.
From there, those relationships can naturally deepen into more intentional forms of collaboration.
Recommendations are one of the simplest and most effective ways to do this. When you recommend another publication, you are introducing your audience to someone you trust and respect, and Substack makes that introduction visible by notifying your subscribers. When those recommendations are thoughtful and aligned, they can bring in readers who are already primed to be interested in what you create. This works best when it is genuine and selective, rather than something done purely for the sake of increasing numbers.
For those who are comfortable being on camera, Substack Lives offer another layer of connection. These conversations allow you and another creator to bring your audiences together in a shared space, where readers can see how you think, how you interact, and what you care about. It creates a sense of familiarity that goes beyond written content, and it allows people to engage with both of you in real time.
If being on camera is not appealing, guest posts offer a different path. Writing for another publication gives you the opportunity to share your work directly with a new audience, while inviting someone to write for your publication brings fresh perspectives to your readers. In both cases, the focus is on creating something valuable together, rather than simply trying to promote your own work in isolation.
All of these approaches are built on the same underlying principle: shared audiences and mutual benefit.
When you collaborate with people whose work is aligned with yours, you are not starting from scratch each time you try to grow. You are connecting with readers who are already interested in your general topic and are more likely to appreciate what you have to offer. This creates a much more stable and sustainable form of growth than relying on spikes of visibility or short-term attention.
It is also a slower process, and that is where many people begin to doubt whether it is working.
Unlike more performative platforms, where growth can sometimes feel immediate, Substack tends to reward consistency over time. The relationships you build, the conversations you participate in, and the collaborations you develop all contribute to a gradual increase in visibility and trust. This kind of growth may not always be obvious from one week to the next, but over a period of months, it becomes much more significant.
For writers who are not interested in using Notes heavily, this approach can feel much more natural. It allows you to stay focused on your long-form content while still participating in the broader Substack ecosystem in a way that feels authentic and sustainable.
Find more information about using Notes and growth on Substack here:
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