You Need Just 5 Minutes to Become an (Almost) Daily Substack Notes Writer: 365 Successful Notes. One Guide.
This guide helps you take action, not just notes
Let me start by asking you a simple yet powerful question:
Has your life changed in the last 6 months?
Substack Notes, its short-form network, has also!
The only constant is change.
from Substack’s Writer Partnerships team left the Notes fam (we’ll miss you!):I was lucky enough to publish her last interview.
It was about Substack Notes. In this, she spilled the insider tea and shared:
Substack Notes Is Essential for Growth
Notes isn’t just another feature—it’s the fastest way to get discovered and the #1 growth engine right now. Short-form posts, links, quotes, images, and restacks help new readers find you before they ever land on your newsletter.
According to Linda:
"If people have fun on Notes and enjoy Notes and find things relevant to them on Notes, they will keep using it every day and they will find new writers to enjoy.”
In other words, growth happens where engagement happens.
If you’re not using Notes, you’re missing out.
It’s OKAY To Not Always Be On!
There’s no magic number. Some successful Substack writers post daily, but what matters most is consistency.
Linda keeps it real:
“I think having fun is a huge thing. You’ve seen me—I go through phases where I’m posting multiple times a day, then I’ll disappear for a while. And that’s okay.”
The takeaway for me as a busy part-time writing mom? Post when you feel inspired, engage with others, and most importantly—have fun. That energy translates to real connections (and more subscribers).
Writing Should Be FUN!
If you’re treating Notes like a LinkedIn, X or Medium growth hack, you’re missing the point. The best writers enjoy the process and their audience sticks around because of it.
Linda’s advice?
"Short and sweet is king."
Notes is about building a writing habit that feels natural and sharing your work in a way that resonates.
Most Writers Quit In Week #14 to #16
The latter is especially important as most stop and call it quits in week #14 to #16.
That’s why my friend
when she analyzed 75,000 newsletters, also found out that 45% are inactive.So I wondered how I could help writers push through these hard weeks and get the inspiration they need to keep going.
I knew, my Substack Notes Kickstarter Bootcamps (If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I LOVE LIVE bootcamps to take inspir-ACTION) ALWAYS show our bootcampers get results, and some of them are WOW-worthy.
Before I show you some from this year’s Bootcamp with co-host, viral Notes writer and Substack bestseller
, let me explain where you can find these data and what they mean.Where To Check How Many Subscribers You Got Via Notes
You need to know that Substack allows you to check how many subscribers come via Substack’s app, which Substack pushes at the moment.
For this, you’d click on DASHBOARD_SUBSCRIBERS.
You can then see how many subscribers you got and how many came via Substack surfaces:
Mobile app
Notes
Leaderboard
From my experience working with hundreds of small- and midstackers building and growing their audience from scratch, Notes is driver number one that’s why I’m always looking at this metric to check how many came via Notes.
Most are using the app now (which is often #1 on the download) and are getting pushed to go on Notes.
Substack knows this is the place to convert casual readers into subscribers and subscribers into paid subscribers.
WOW! 400 to 500 New Subscribers Via Notes As a New List Builder
As you can see, the first new-ish bootcamper has 1800 subs. 500 of them via the app! This means this bootcamper is growing with Notes.
500 are coming via Notes. This is amazing.
Here’s another example from a new bootcamper who started in February 2025. This person could gain 419 new subscribers in the last 30 days via Notes!
I was impressed when I saw these numbers in the backend of my bootcampers. Chapeau!
This shows that writing on Notes makes an impact.
Substack’s internal social media network's built-in audience helps you experience the “wake-up-to-new-subscribers-every-day” kind of growth.
It’s safe to say that Substack Notes is a game-changer for every list builder.
Also, from my interview with an industry insider who wants to stay anonymous (I’ll share the podcast this week), I know his tip in short is:
Stack like there is no tomorrow. Because, guess what, there isn’t.
This is just one of many bombshells. After listening to our interview, you’re gonna rethink your whole Substack strategy. The good news: You’re not too late to the Substack Notes party! This is just the beginning.
But with more and more (bigger) list builders, creators, TikTokers, and YouTubers joining, Notes has become a mainstream tool you should (yes, I’m using this strong word here) definitely not miss out on.
I Hear You Say…
I don’t have the time,
….the bandwidth,
I don’t know what to write about,
I feel stuck
Well, there are two types of (new) writers . Those
who look for an excuse to DO
others look for an excuse to NOT TO
You can decide which type of writer you’d like to be.
I hope you're like me and want to DO something to grow. In my case, it takes about 15 minutes per day! You heard me right. Almost (!) every day I spend only 15 minutes on Notes. If this is too much, it can also be just 5 minutes.
Get The (Almost) Daily Notes Writer Now!
To celebrate 12,000 subscribers, I already shared in my Notes Masterclass that 25% of my subscribers are coming via Notes. This is one-fourth!
Check your number of subs and imagine how big your teeny tiny list could become when you could add this 25% to the list.
That’s why I’m sharing a special resource with you today that “the Notes-guy” David and I created without the help of AI. We just went through Notes and found viral, interesting, engaging, thought-provoking, cool, trendy, sad, funny, and motivational notes that stick for you. These 365 Notes you can click on will gonna help you become the prolific writer you always wanted to become.
Thanks!
Naturally, your Substack's first weeks and months might feel stagnant and slow.
We know you want to grow your newsletter and finally get discovered by other writers and readers and be seen.
The (Almost) Daily Notes Writer is your new companion!
✅Let yourself feel inspired by 365 engaging, converting, and list-growing Notes from other writers.
✅Put yourself in a position to have Substack luck — the kind that comes from actually showing up (almost) every day.
✅It helps you to push through the first hard and tough weeks to pass the milestone of weeks #14 and #16, where most quit.
Almost = it’s about having fun, part-time! It’s not a chore.
Thanks
for this feedback!Your tribe is out there, waiting to discover you.
I created this guide with David Mcllroy, so you can skip the guesswork and start using Notes by learning from posts that succeeded or made us stop the scroll.
These 365 posts are from tribe members from the Club, friends, bootcampers, other writers and creators, artists, new writers, more advanced writers, you name it.
A year ago, I had:
✅ 3,000 free subscribers
❌ Zero followers
❌ Zero paid subscribers
❌ No community
❌ Zero earnings
❌ No clue how Substack Notes worked
Fast forward to today, I have 12,000 subscribers. The Online Writing Club is a Substack bestseller with hundreds of paid subscribers.
Also, it belongs to the Top #25 Education publications on Substack.
More than 340 members are inside my invite-only community. I host weekly chats, workshops with writers, mini courses, Q&As and networking events.
I wish I had had a guide like this with Substack Notes that had already succeeded back then.
Now you do.
Let’s get started!
New to Substack Notes?
Here’s the Masterclass to help you.
You can also tag me (@ and then kristinagod) when you share your first post on Notes so I can re-stack it!
Let me know your Qs and suggestions! Or share your viral/successful posts in the comments. Once you tried to make those Notes yours, feel free to share them with us, too! Happy to receive any feedback. Really!
Would be awesome if you could re-stack this post so more writers like you can see it.
Cheering you on always,
PS Members get 50% off. If you’re a member, hit reply to get the code. You can become a paid subscriber and get access, too.
PPS Bootcampers get 100% off. Let me know, and I’ll send the code.
PPS No time to be on Notes? Now you can schedule your posts!
Yana - where do I find the code to get this book for free? I've looked but haven't seen it.
You're like a big mama, and this article makes me feel like you're looking out for us like a big mama. I feel so proud to have magic kristina. Thank so much for the heavenly tips