Yesterday, I shared that it has officially been two years since I started this newsletter.
Back then, I had a few dozen subscribers. Today, we’re closing in on 20,000.
There wasn’t one big moment that suddenly changed everything.
There were a lot of small things that worked together: writing consistently, learning which topics connected with people, building relationships with other writers, and creating a system I could actually maintain.
But if you asked me where I would focus first if I had to start over today, my answer would be pretty simple.
I would focus on Notes.
Your newsletter is where people get to know you. It’s where you can tell deeper stories, teach something valuable, and build enough trust that readers eventually want to buy from you.
But before any of that can happen, people have to find you.
That’s the role Notes can play.
Notes gives you a way to put your ideas in front of new readers every day without publishing another full newsletter post.
Some of my strongest periods of subscriber growth have come from using Notes consistently.
At one point, Notes brought me 225 new subscribers in a single week and 916 over 30 days.
That didn’t happen because I spent the entire day posting.
It happened because I stopped treating Notes randomly and started using a simple system.
I see a lot of writers approach Notes in one of two ways:
They either treat every Note like a miniature newsletter and spend far too long trying to make it perfect…
Or, they post whatever comes to mind and hope something eventually catches on.
When neither approach produces subscribers immediately, they assume Notes don’t work for them.
But Notes isn’t about creating another exhausting content schedule.
You don’t need to write ten times a day, constantly chase engagement, or turn yourself into someone who lives on the app.
You just need to understand what kinds of Notes make people stop, respond, and become curious enough to learn more about you.
Most days, I’m not sitting down and wondering what to post from scratch.
I have a collection of formats and prompts I can return to.
I know how to take an idea from a newsletter and turn it into several Notes, how to use my own experiences without sharing my entire life, and how to participate in conversations without spending hours scrolling.
That system matters more than any single viral Note.
One popular Note might give you a temporary spike in attention. A repeatable routine gives you a way to continue attracting the right readers week after week.
I created the Workshop for writers who know Notes could help them grow but still aren’t sure what to post, how often to post, or how to turn engagement into actual newsletter subscribers.
Inside, I walk you through the complete Notes system I’ve used to grow this publication, including:
The types of Notes that are most likely to attract the right readers
How to turn your existing ideas and newsletter posts into Notes
How to write Notes that create curiosity without relying on gimmicks
How to optimize your profile so more visitors become subscribers
How to engage with other writers without spending hours scrolling
How to build a repeatable Notes routine in approximately 20 minutes a day
You’ll also receive my Notes Writing Playbook, which includes more than 30 prompts and templates you can adapt to your own topic, stories, and voice.
This isn’t about copying my Notes or forcing yourself to post all day.
It’s about understanding why certain Notes work, then building a system that feels natural enough to continue using.
Join the Notes Growth Workshop below and learn how to turn 20 focused minutes a day into a consistent source of new subscribers:
Join the Notes Growth Workshop
I also know that learning the strategy and consistently putting it into practice are two different things.
Sometimes, the fastest way to build momentum is to have someone tell you exactly what to focus on each day—and to have a small group of other writers doing it alongside you.
It’s a focused seven-day challenge designed to help you stop overthinking Notes, post with a clearer purpose, and build a routine you can continue using after the challenge ends.
Each day, you’ll receive a specific Notes assignment, prompt, or template to put into action.
The goal isn’t to create another shallow engagement group where everyone mindlessly likes everything. It’s to help you publish consistently, discover writers you genuinely want to connect with, and get your work in front of more relevant readers.
I want it to remain small enough that people can recognize one another, have real conversations, and receive meaningful support instead of dropping links into an overcrowded thread where nobody is paying attention.
The Challenge begins Thursday, August 20. Everyone who joins the Notes Growth Workshop during this enrollment period will receive access to the Challenge, and current Workshop members will be invited too.
I’ll share the complete details—and explain how to claim one of those 25 Chat places—tomorrow.
But if you already know that Notes are the missing part of your Substack growth strategy, you don’t have to wait.
When you join today, you can begin working through the Workshop immediately and arrive at the Challenge with the complete strategy, templates, and growth system already in front of you.
Join the August Notes Challenge
Let’s finally make Notes work for you.
PS - If you’ve been a part of my weekly Notes Boosts with 300+ writers, you know how powerful they can be.
I’ll be capping this Notes Cohort at 25 writers, so if you know you’d like to be a part, I wouldn’t wait.
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