The best Substack Notes practice is simple: post a few short Notes a day, open each one on a specific line, talk to one reader, and spend as much time replying and commenting as you spend posting. Notes drove about 60% of the growth of 9-To-Thrive, which now has 12,500+ subscribers, and one single Note brought in 514 of them.
What should you post on Substack Notes?
Post one idea per Note, drawn from your own work. The Notes that earn subscribers for me share a result, a number, a mistake or a plain opinion. Generic advice gets scrolled past. A line like "I changed one sentence on my About page and paid signups doubled that week" gets read.
Mix the types over a week: a story from your own business, a short take, a list, a question your readers actually have, and now and then a Note that points to your newsletter.
How should a Note start?
Open on a scene, a number or a blunt claim. Skip the warm-up. Readers decide in the first line, and the feed shows only that line before the "read more." If the first line could open a thousand other Notes, rewrite it.
How often should you post Notes?
Pick a number you can keep for 90 days. One or two a day beats ten a day for a week and then silence. Once posting feels easy, move up to three or four spread across the day so different time zones see you. I wrote the full breakdown in how often to post on Substack.
Should you put links in Notes?
Rarely. Notes with links reach fewer people, so most of your Notes should stand on their own. Use a link Note a few times a week, and never on back-to-back days. When you do link, send people to one thing, such as your subscribe page.
What do you do after you post a Note?
Stay for the next 20 minutes. Reply to every comment, then like and comment on other writers' Notes. A thoughtful comment under a bigger writer's Note often brings more new readers than your own Note does, because their audience sees your name.
How do Notes turn into subscribers?
Readers follow you from a Note, check your profile, then subscribe if your bio and pinned posts make the promise clear. So fix those before you post more. State who you help and what they get, and link your best free resource. My free Substack Notes Crash Course covers the setup, and the Notes strategy guide goes deeper on the system.
What mistakes hurt Notes?
- Posting a link to every post, every day.
- Writing for everyone instead of one reader.
- Posting and leaving without replying.
- Copying another writer's format word for word.
- Quitting in week three, right before the compounding starts.
FAQ
What are the best practices for Substack Notes?
Post a few times a day, open every Note on one specific line, keep it short, talk to one reader, reply to every comment, comment on other writers' Notes, and link out rarely.
How many Notes should I post a day?
Start with 1 or 2 you can keep up for 90 days, then move to 3 or 4 spread across the day.
Do Notes really grow a Substack?
Yes. Notes drove about 60% of the growth of 9-To-Thrive.
Can I schedule Notes?
Yes. Here is how to schedule Substack posts and Notes.
Carrie Loranger, Substack coach and founder of 9-To-Thrive, is an 18-year marketing director (Fortune 500 and B2B) known for helping writers turn one newsletter into a portfolio of paychecks. 9-To-Thrive is a Substack Bestseller and a Top 50 Substack Business publication with 12,500+ subscribers, and she has helped hundreds of writers set up, grow, and monetize on Substack using her Portfolio of Paychecks system. Subscribe free to 9-To-Thrive.
