This is really interesting! I post at least daily on notes and my growth is slow. But, as soon as I start posting on others' posts/notes, my notifications bell starts turning orange. I think the algorithm gives more exposure to people who connect!
I'm also concerned that getting subscribers from notes means you're preaching to the converted. Substack is predominantly a newsletter software, and I want to get more sign-ups from people who have no idea about what substack is - and don't care. I need a better way to connect with people out there in the working world, and that's the trickiest part!!
Yes! Me too. LinkedIn is my main home on social media, and I'm also trying to boost my YouTube. TikTok is ticking along and Instagram and Facebook are purely for the SEO..... I'm always thinking about what happens when the platform goes down - or it gets banned in a particular country........
This is encouraging because it can be hard to respond to posts that feel like a brick in a wall. But I find it easy to respond to another person’s often more genuine sounding response….like yours.
I’m also more interested in people who are here for the info or content, less in the game that social media can feel like.
Yeah, I agree with you, Dr. Nia. My whole thing about starting on Substack or any other free content platform is to find new people and invite them into my world (affiliate marketing). I could very easily just run Facebook ads or continue buying solo ads to build my list. But those methods almost always bring in the same people. So, I wanted to create a space where I could build my list for free and have fun doing it while attracting new people outside of those list-building strategies. It takes a lot longer, obviously, but I know for sure it will be worth it because I find the quality of people from content marketing to be more serious than those that you have to pay to acquire. It's nothing to spend a couple of hours out of my day to get the best quality leads on my list. Totally worth it.
I have found notes to be super helpful in not only in getting new subscribers but in better interactions with the community on here. I have never been about the numbers but more about having my work create connection. Notes has been a game changer in that regard.
I actually just enjoy notes for the social aspect. I do tend to subscribe to newsletters because I find the author through notes, but more than anything I just enjoy the chatter and being nosey 🤣
At least you're honest, Freya. My goal with Notes is to strictly get free subscribers. I don't put up a paywall for that reason alone. I want to build my list with quality people. I figured if I could do that, I could pretty much convert them through email marketing. But, I think notes is the first step, followed closely by engaging on a regular basis with other creators. Whether that be with their notes or their long-form posts.
I'm so glad this showed up on my feed! I joined Substack a month ago and felt quite lost at first, but this article is incredibly motivating, it’s given me a glimmer of hope.I have 73 subscribers now, and I’m excited to see where I’ll be in a month. Subscribed!
I have a conversion rate of about 13 percent, and 25,000 subscribers, which I think makes me fairly successful here. I don't really do Notes. I'm sure if I did I could get more subscribers or publicity, but it would detract from my newsletter and stress me out. I think there's a cost-benefit analysis with all of these growth tips, and there's no single magic bullet
Zawn, thanks so much for sharing this insight - my readers love to hear success stories like yours and discover that they don't have to do 'all the things' to do well on Substack. Much appreciated.
I appreciate how you mentioned it can be stressful. I agree. I am still in the learning phase. I appreciate Karen's kindness in sharing about substack etiquette as well. My intention here as a professor, Psychotherapist, Mom, but firstly human, is to try and reach as many as I can to help with the global suicidal rates, deterioration in relationships and quality of life. That is the sole purpose behind Pain to Possibilities. I have decided to have no pay wall and keep all content free because I love that we can have reach here with no barriers making the content accessible to people. I just am not gifted at knowing how to get it out into the hands of many yet. I would love if you both of you might consider looking at the work, content and mission to know whether it would be something you would support to help our humanity. I thank you again for the opportunity to learn from you both about this platform and engagement.
Definitely agree. Notes only work well for people that have established audiences. Yet, certain "influencers" are pushing the idea that posting more Notes will magically cause you to grow, which is laughable because these same "influencers" didn't grow organically using Notes. They either imported an existing audience or got exposed to a huge audience via someone else.
I’m addicted to the orange number notification on the bell! I do enjoy interacting with others on here and have found my audience with people I actually know from a writing community. I’m trying to figure out how to build more momentum of subscribers on the app with Notes. It’s slow but progressing.
Excellent analysis, Karen, and thanks for the shout-out. You highlight an important point: correlation is not causation. While correlation is easy to demonstrate and with a large enough sample, you can even tell the statistical significance, proving the causality is more complicated. It would require randomized controlled experiments, like in A/B testing.
While writing the SQL queries and Python notebooks for my analysis, I was skeptical about the correlations I found. I believed that posting multiple daily notes would be perceived as spam and would result in canceled subscriptions. Therefore, I had to check my code multiple times and verify the logic.
I decided to perform the experiment and posted many notes, often short updates on my progress in building the Scheduled Notes tool. I had to adjust my beliefs as I saw the traffic increase and the subscriber growth. Substack Notes are a beneficial discovery tool, and posting more (relevant) notes will help those 30M Substack users find you.
Thanks for the article Karen… interesting as always. Notes conversation is extremely popular on Substack at the moment, but I have similar concerns as Nia regarding picking up subscribers inside the Substack network who are keen on newsletters rather than the subject of the article.
Hmm yes, I feel that way about Notes for my paid newsletter. I want to attract readers for that publication from outside the Substack universe. And so I don't use Notes at all with my other account.
But there are more than 30 million readers on Substack now, so for most topics there will be at least a few potential new readers who are already using the platform. I think it's worth at least exploring the possibilities.
I have been exactly the same, focusing on being off platform for my promotion. Also because I think it could be easy to get sucked into Notes comparison if you never go viral but someone on a similar topic does. But I might try and experiment for the first quarter in 2025.
Love this! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining industry line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.
Hey Harrison, this is a great way to ‘meet’ new readers, by commenting on posts in larger publications.
Another great way is to restack the post (to Notes) with a thoughtful comment. The creator will see this in their activity feed or notifications. Hopefully, the creator will then like your note. If they do, that can give it (and you) a lot more reach.
This is really interesting! I post at least daily on notes and my growth is slow. But, as soon as I start posting on others' posts/notes, my notifications bell starts turning orange. I think the algorithm gives more exposure to people who connect!
I'm also concerned that getting subscribers from notes means you're preaching to the converted. Substack is predominantly a newsletter software, and I want to get more sign-ups from people who have no idea about what substack is - and don't care. I need a better way to connect with people out there in the working world, and that's the trickiest part!!
I have similar concerns about picking up subscribers through notes and I still post on social media to gain audience engagement away from Substack …
Yes! Me too. LinkedIn is my main home on social media, and I'm also trying to boost my YouTube. TikTok is ticking along and Instagram and Facebook are purely for the SEO..... I'm always thinking about what happens when the platform goes down - or it gets banned in a particular country........
I agree with this for sure. Love writing on Substack though.
This is encouraging because it can be hard to respond to posts that feel like a brick in a wall. But I find it easy to respond to another person’s often more genuine sounding response….like yours.
I’m also more interested in people who are here for the info or content, less in the game that social media can feel like.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes! I didn’t leave social media just to learn the rules of another “game.” I’m here for the content and want subscribers who are too.
Yeah, I agree with you, Dr. Nia. My whole thing about starting on Substack or any other free content platform is to find new people and invite them into my world (affiliate marketing). I could very easily just run Facebook ads or continue buying solo ads to build my list. But those methods almost always bring in the same people. So, I wanted to create a space where I could build my list for free and have fun doing it while attracting new people outside of those list-building strategies. It takes a lot longer, obviously, but I know for sure it will be worth it because I find the quality of people from content marketing to be more serious than those that you have to pay to acquire. It's nothing to spend a couple of hours out of my day to get the best quality leads on my list. Totally worth it.
I have found notes to be super helpful in not only in getting new subscribers but in better interactions with the community on here. I have never been about the numbers but more about having my work create connection. Notes has been a game changer in that regard.
I actually just enjoy notes for the social aspect. I do tend to subscribe to newsletters because I find the author through notes, but more than anything I just enjoy the chatter and being nosey 🤣
At least you're honest, Freya. My goal with Notes is to strictly get free subscribers. I don't put up a paywall for that reason alone. I want to build my list with quality people. I figured if I could do that, I could pretty much convert them through email marketing. But, I think notes is the first step, followed closely by engaging on a regular basis with other creators. Whether that be with their notes or their long-form posts.
I'm so glad this showed up on my feed! I joined Substack a month ago and felt quite lost at first, but this article is incredibly motivating, it’s given me a glimmer of hope.I have 73 subscribers now, and I’m excited to see where I’ll be in a month. Subscribed!
Thanks Karen, this is great info. I especially appreciate your boots-on-the-ground approach to keeping it real, fun and manageable.
My view about notes is I am having fun making connections and interacting with them. Anyone who becomes a subscriber is an added benefit.
Pamela, me too! I'm here for the community, not necessarily the numbers.
I have a conversion rate of about 13 percent, and 25,000 subscribers, which I think makes me fairly successful here. I don't really do Notes. I'm sure if I did I could get more subscribers or publicity, but it would detract from my newsletter and stress me out. I think there's a cost-benefit analysis with all of these growth tips, and there's no single magic bullet
Zawn, thanks so much for sharing this insight - my readers love to hear success stories like yours and discover that they don't have to do 'all the things' to do well on Substack. Much appreciated.
Hi Zawn,
I appreciate how you mentioned it can be stressful. I agree. I am still in the learning phase. I appreciate Karen's kindness in sharing about substack etiquette as well. My intention here as a professor, Psychotherapist, Mom, but firstly human, is to try and reach as many as I can to help with the global suicidal rates, deterioration in relationships and quality of life. That is the sole purpose behind Pain to Possibilities. I have decided to have no pay wall and keep all content free because I love that we can have reach here with no barriers making the content accessible to people. I just am not gifted at knowing how to get it out into the hands of many yet. I would love if you both of you might consider looking at the work, content and mission to know whether it would be something you would support to help our humanity. I thank you again for the opportunity to learn from you both about this platform and engagement.
Definitely agree. Notes only work well for people that have established audiences. Yet, certain "influencers" are pushing the idea that posting more Notes will magically cause you to grow, which is laughable because these same "influencers" didn't grow organically using Notes. They either imported an existing audience or got exposed to a huge audience via someone else.
Entrepeneur porn is hilarious. And everywhere I look, shaming me for for my lack of success.
I’m addicted to the orange number notification on the bell! I do enjoy interacting with others on here and have found my audience with people I actually know from a writing community. I’m trying to figure out how to build more momentum of subscribers on the app with Notes. It’s slow but progressing.
Excellent analysis, Karen, and thanks for the shout-out. You highlight an important point: correlation is not causation. While correlation is easy to demonstrate and with a large enough sample, you can even tell the statistical significance, proving the causality is more complicated. It would require randomized controlled experiments, like in A/B testing.
While writing the SQL queries and Python notebooks for my analysis, I was skeptical about the correlations I found. I believed that posting multiple daily notes would be perceived as spam and would result in canceled subscriptions. Therefore, I had to check my code multiple times and verify the logic.
I decided to perform the experiment and posted many notes, often short updates on my progress in building the Scheduled Notes tool. I had to adjust my beliefs as I saw the traffic increase and the subscriber growth. Substack Notes are a beneficial discovery tool, and posting more (relevant) notes will help those 30M Substack users find you.
Thanks for the article Karen… interesting as always. Notes conversation is extremely popular on Substack at the moment, but I have similar concerns as Nia regarding picking up subscribers inside the Substack network who are keen on newsletters rather than the subject of the article.
Hmm yes, I feel that way about Notes for my paid newsletter. I want to attract readers for that publication from outside the Substack universe. And so I don't use Notes at all with my other account.
But there are more than 30 million readers on Substack now, so for most topics there will be at least a few potential new readers who are already using the platform. I think it's worth at least exploring the possibilities.
I have been exactly the same, focusing on being off platform for my promotion. Also because I think it could be easy to get sucked into Notes comparison if you never go viral but someone on a similar topic does. But I might try and experiment for the first quarter in 2025.
That's true ... best to make use of all sources ... 30 million is a heck of a lot!
I've learnt that blindly posting notes is useless. Conversing with people through notes helps growth far more.
“Perhaps bestsellers with 10,000 paying subscribers just have more free time to spend dick%#g about on Notes.“
When I read that I felt it in my bones.
Valuable advice. Thank you!
Love this! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining industry line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes (mostly NYC and L.A.) for easy home cooking.
check us out:
https://thesecretingredient.substack.com
Hey Harrison, this is a great way to ‘meet’ new readers, by commenting on posts in larger publications.
Another great way is to restack the post (to Notes) with a thoughtful comment. The creator will see this in their activity feed or notifications. Hopefully, the creator will then like your note. If they do, that can give it (and you) a lot more reach.