The Surprising Mistake New Creators are Making on Notes Right Now (you'll never guess what it is)

I've helped >7,000 creators grow their Substacks. Here's what I was missing

Last week, in coaching calls with two ultra-ambitious new Substackers, I discovered something that shocked me. Both of them were making a huge mistake that was guaranteed to throttle their growth.

What shocked me was not the mistake itself - we all make mistakes - but the fact that it had never occurred to me that Substack users might do this.

The mistake meant that their Notes would never be seen.

The biggest mistake

Before we jump into the surprising mistake, let me share the biggest mistake new creators make on Notes. It’s publishing their own notes instead of interacting with other people’s notes. I’ve written about this dozens of times, including in this post, which explains the best way for new writers to use Notes.

The surprising mistake

Here’s what shocked me about new creators and Notes last week.

I discovered that ambitious new creators were crafting carefully intentioned growth strategies, doing all the things the experts said, and wondering why they weren’t getting results.

They were missing a piece of the puzzle.

Partly my fault! I missed it too. This was something I never thought to tell anyone about.

I didn’t realise that these new creators were (metaphorically) in incognito mode on Substack.

Let me explain.

You’ve probably heard me say 1,000 times that new creators who use Notes get more growth by interacting with other people’s content rather than posting their own notes. Substack’s founder and the architect of Substack’s Notes algorithm say the same thing.

Interacting with other people’s notes works because when you show up in replies and comments, your profile gets seen by other humans.

But that’s not the only reason it works.

The other reason it works is that by interacting with other people’s content, you are showing Substack (‘the algorithm’) who you are. You’re teaching Substack about your interests and your preferences. In doing so, you’re giving it an opportunity to show you more of the things you like.

Substack assumes that if you like the same things as someone else, that person might also be a good fit for your publication. And Substack wants to get you new subscribers.

Yes, Substack WANTS you to get more subscribers. The Notes platform was built for that exact purpose (coz that’s how Substack earns revenue, not from serving up ads like other social media platforms).

Bonus: This means you don’t have to ‘game’ the algorithm to get new subscribers, you just have to give it enough data to do its job.

So what’s the big mistake I discovered?

The mistake is that some new creators are not subscribing to enough publications. So simple. So obvious that I missed it.

Why is it a mistake? Because if you don’t subscribe to publications, you starve Substack of the information it needs to hook you up with like-minded readers.

Sure, when you ‘like’, comment and follow on Notes, these can help the algorithm guess what you’re into, but subscriptions? Subscriptions are rock solid signals.

When you subscribe to a publication about fishing, you’re telling Substack loud and clear that you’re interested in fishing, instead of it having to guess based on a once-off interaction with a random Note containing just 50 words.

Subscribing to publications that appeal to you is the strongest signal you can send to Substack.

Substack uses the information to match you up with related publications and readers. When you are subscribed to many publications, Substack can understand what sort of reader you are and can guess what type of reader might want to hear from you too. Then it makes sure those readers can see you in Notes. Magic.

That’s why you should be subscribing to other people’s publications.

You have questions. Doubts. Excuses. Here’s what you need to know.

But isn’t it better to search for keywords and dig up new unrelated notes every day for commenting and re-stacking?

Nope. Subscribe and let the content that resonates with you come to you, rather than clicking around looking for it. When you are subscribed to many publications, relevant content will appear in your feed automatically, so you can interact with it in an authentic way.

Chasing around for notes using search could actually sabotage your efforts. If you interact with dozens of notes that the algorithm doesn’t recognise as linked to you or to each other, you make it harder for Substack to understand you and your place in the Substack universe.

Remember, Notes is designed to help you to grow; you don’t have to jump through hoops or trick the algorithm to get traction.

But I don’t want to pay for dozens of subscriptions!

You don’t have to pay; free subscriptions do the job. There’s no evidence that paying for publications helps with growth or reach¹.

But I don’t want my inbox flooded, I can’t read dozens of emails every day!

I hear you. You don’t have to read everything that lands in your inbox. And you don’t have to let Substack newsletters flood into your primary/focused inbox.

Instead, set up email inbox rules, labels and filters to automatically divert newsletters to a separate folder where you can browse them at your leisure. And remember, you don’t have to stay subscribed forever.

What! Are you telling my subscribers to NOT read all my emails and to unsubscribe after a while?!

That’s right. Not sorry. Some readers will read every word you send, some will open most of your emails, and some will only open occasionally. This is the way of newslettering, and it’s time you made your peace with it. Unless you want a subscriber list that is forever just you and your mom.

What publications should I subscribe to?

Choose publications that

• genuinely appeal to you AND

• that you think would appeal to your ideal reader.

For example, if your ideal reader is into health, subscribe to fitness and nutrition publications.

Why this works: There’s a reason I don’t see any US politics in my Notes feed; it’s because Substack knows that’s not my cup of tea. On the other hand, I never see any watersport-related notes, even though I love watersports. Why? Because I’ve never subscribed to any watersports publications, so Substack doesn’t know I’m a watersports enthusiast.

What if I have two publications on completely different topics? Should I subscribe to publications in both topics? Will the algorithm get confused?

If your topics are wildly different, it makes sense to have two separate Substack accounts, one for each topic. But if your reader demographics are similar for both (for example, both publications are for middle-aged women from North America), you could get away with one account.

How many publications should I subscribe to?

Aim for 10 to 20 publications to begin with. This will greatly increase the size of your network immediately. From there, you can slowly explore the publications and prune out ones that don’t serve you.

How do I find new publications?

If you’re already subscribed to a few that are a good fit, you’ll be able to use the ‘Related Notes’ feature in the Substack Notes feed to discover creators with similar ideas to the people you already follow. To find Related Notes, open a popular note in the Notes feed and scroll past the top replies.

Alternatively, if you want a completely fresh set of options, open the Substack Browse page and click one of the topic buttons across the top of the screen. You’ll see a list of posts by various publications. Choose a post that looks interesting, click through to read and subscribe to the publication if the post is good.

How to find publications🍒 Open the Substack Browse page 🍒 Click one of the topic buttons across the top of the screen; you’ll see a list of posts by various publications 🍒 Choose a post that looks interesting and click through to read 🍒 Subscribe to the publication if the post is good 🍒 Repeat 🍒

Final thoughts

To conclude, I admit I’m feeling a bit dumb for not realising that some people start writing and publishing on Substack without first being an avid reader on the platform.

Subscribing to other publications means showing Substack who you are and what you are interested in. It’s a vital step to getting good results on Substack Notes.

This step wasn’t important until relatively recently, when the Substack Notes algorithm was rebuilt to improve its ability to match new publishers with potential readers. However, I really wish I’d identified this mistake and called it out for you sooner.

I’ve just finished updating my other posts and Notes strategies blueprint to make sure none of my readers makes this mistake again.

That’s it from me for this week, see you soon.

Karen

1. Having said that, it makes sense that readers who have shown Substack they are willing to pay occasionally, and publications that are willing to accept payment will be ranked slightly better. Become a paid subscriber of Pubstack Success for just US$30 (for a limited time only) and show the algo you care!