How to Find Success Writing Substack Notes in 2025

Here's everything I've learned thus far

Image generated using chatgpt.com

Notes are one of the best ways to grow organically on Substack.

But, if you don’t love writing short-form content, they can feel unintuitive. I know this from personal experience.

So, over the past few months, I’ve devised a strategy to find continual success through Substack Notes. Without following trends or sacrificing who you are.

Let’s get into it…

---

What are Substack Notes?

If you’re brand new to the idea of Substack Notes, here’s a quick breakdown.

Substack Notes are a subset of Substack (say that ten times fast), where you can share quick thoughts, quotes, images, videos, or snippets from your newsletter posts.

Notes are essentially Substack’s version of Twitter — with a hint of LinkedIn.

With the addition of Notes, Substack has turned itself into an all-in-one business builder:

• Newsletter posts are your product

• Notes are your main marketing tool

• Paid subscriptions are how you convert sales

On Substack, newsletter posts don’t have a dedicated home screen. Instead, everything is displayed on the Notes feed.

Substack’s algorithm pushes Notes out to readers based on their interests. This means readers who either follow you, your niche, or writers in your network.

So, regardless of what you write about, if you want to attract new readers, you must establish a presence on the Notes feed

Especially, if you don’t want to promote on multiple platforms…

---

Why are Notes important?

If you’re like me, you may not love short-form content.

As a writer, your words are your art.

And, the idea of chopping your nuanced thoughts into bite-sized pieces can feel blasphemous. But, the truth is, the struggle of artist vs. algorithm is nothing new. Oscar Wilde, a prolific poet, was famously underappreciated until his passing. And, Vincent van Gogh didn’t sell a single painting himself.

Luckily, social media has made it easier than ever to promote your art. And, on Substack, you have a built-in promotional channel — the Notes feed.

Notes are such a vital tool because they allow for organic discovery. 🌱🔎

When I first started this newsletter, I overlooked Notes completely. I already had an existing email list and decided to promote it almost exclusively on YouTube. And, while this did work for attracting new subscribers, I had the uphill climb of introducing them to a new platform.

My early newsletter posts didn’t garner much engagement because many of my subscribers weren’t on Substack. And, since I wasn’t interacting with users on the platform, I had no idea what my readers wanted to read.

So, I started posting Notes. And, everything changed.

---

Best practices for writing viral Notes.

In the name of transparency, I don’t deem myself to be a Substack expert. And, no, I’ve not yet written a truly viral Note.

But, I’ve begun leveraging Notes as part of my Substack growth strategy. And, have seen a significant increase in my:

• Overall subscriptions

• Newsletter engagement

All by posting 1-2 Notes each time I sit down to write.

Not only is this a great low-effort way to grow on Substack, but it helps you develop as a copywriter — and, understand what topics Substack readers are interested in. As of today, my internal traffic has officially surpassed that of my 15K YouTube channel.

So, if you’re looking to find your footing with Substack Notes, here’s exactly what I did. Please feel free to copy me…

Start with this mindset. 🏁

One of the most popular questions I get asked is, “What topics should I write about?”

In life, we’re often drawn to quick fixes. But, if you’ve lived any small part of life yourself, you understand there is no one-size-fits-all approach. You are unique. And thus, your thoughts are unique.

Yes, following trends and topics may garner initial success.

But, if you want to attract long-term readers who are interested in your writing, it’s always best to write from a place of genuine interest.

So, instead of looking to hack engagement, start by writing about topics you’re genuinely interested in. Then, use these 4 tips to package your ideas in a way people will read, like, comment, and share.

Which, is the basis of growing on any platform…

1. Write vertically: ⬆️⬇️

Like it or not, just about everything on the internet is now social media.

Social media has proven itself to be such a valuable business tool that all popular platforms will leverage it in their user interface. Substack, for example, originated as a free newsletter service.

But, with many writers finding it difficult to grow an audience, it adapted. And, in the past year it has exploded in popularity.

Largely, due to its focus on the Substack app.

As a healthier alternative to Twitter, Substack Notes allows users to share content on a scrolling feed. Which, if you’ve ever been on social media, is a game changer for engagement.

Scrolling is largely an unconscious behaviour. We turn our brains off and give in to our base instincts. So, formatting your writing to meet the vertical nature of the Notes feed is perhaps the most powerful habit you can adopt.

Keep things simple. The easier your content is to consume, the better it will perform.

Although great writing may be read left to right, great Notes are read up to down. Stop the scroll, encourage engagement, and let your reader continue their scroll.

2. Share photos: 🖼️

The nuances of social media success can seem very complicated. But, the smartest people in the world, keep things very simple.

When posting anything online, your goal is to:

1. Stop the scroll

2. Encourage engagement

Because social media is a visual endeavour, pictures are a great way to stop your readers’ scroll. Don’t worry about image quality. Instead, authentically share moments from your life with engaging takeaways.

With that said, epic photos are impossible not to engage with. And, some of the most viral Notes I’ve seen are epic pictures of nature.

Image via @davidspinks (on Substack)

3. Tell personal stories: 🙋

Although the Notes feed is often compared to Twitter, in my experience, it’s more of a cross between Twitter and LinkedIn.

Yes, short posts with strong hooks perform well. But, Substack also has a small-town community feel. This makes personal stories perform particularly well.

This post, for example, is one of countless posts I’ve seen announcing sobriety milestones. These stories are inspiring and highly shareable.

Image via @amandajaynethrives (on Substack)

Contrary to popular belief, the world wants to root for you. So, give them a reason. Share your wins. Share your losses. No matter how small.

What’s obvious to you may be amazing to someone else.

4. Ditch the emojis: 🚫

This is a little bit of an anecdotal tip, but I think it’s a good one.

When I first started posting Notes, I used lots of emojis as a way to stand out from the crowd. Eventually, feeling as though it looked tacky, I stopped.

And, what I found was, people started reading my words.

Without the distraction of emojis, my words were forced to stand on their own. And, readers began to identify with my thoughts. Unlike most social media platforms, Substack readers are… well, readers.

They come to Substack to read nuanced thoughts. And, will follow your bite-sized words to your newsletter posts.

Bonus: don’t overthink it. 🤔💭

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received regarding Substack Notes is to not overthink it.

Notes are meant to be an ongoing conversation. 🗣️👂

So, not everything you post needs to be polished, particularly insightful, or fully fleshed out. In fact, posting ideas you’re unsure about is a great way to test them. You’ll be amazed at what speaks to people.

And, how your voice changes when you’re not worried about who’s listening.

---

How to develop your own style.

Like most advice, the list you have just read may look great… on paper. But, how do you actually use it?

Personally, I’m a huge proponent of trial and error. So, I would urge you to set a posting schedule, use these tips as guidelines, and begin seeing what works for you.

If that’s a little too vague for you, here are the exact steps I took to find my footing with Notes…

1. Set a schedule: 🗓️

Success doesn’t happen overnight.

So, when setting a plan to succeed, consistency should be at top of mind. Instead of thinking about what you can accomplish this month, imagine you had to do it for the rest of your life. This will stop you from overloading your schedule.

Personally, I always like to set my goals in a range to allow myself flexibility. So, I aim to write 1-2 Notes every day I sit down to write. Which, usually looks something like this:

• First thing in the morning: post a Note

• Before I take my first break: post another

• When ideas come to me: write them down

That’s basically it.

This general schedule allows me to stay in the algorithm and continue honing a set of best practices. I also respond to all of my comments at the same time to avoid burning out.

As for where I store my ideas, I like to use Notion:

👉 I’ve built a custom workspace to house all of my writing. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of building your own, you can download mine.

Steal like an artist: 🥷

This is a newfound habit for me. And, truthfully, quite a fruitful one.

In the past, my ego didn’t allow me to benefit from others’ success. And, I would spend far too long learning solely from my own trial and error. But, frankly, not having the time to waste, when prioritizing Notes, I decided to learn from others.

By stealing like an artist. 🥷✅

If you scroll through your Notes feed, you will inevitably be met with viral posts. This is because, well, they’ve gone viral. And, Substack’s algorithm is sending them to anyone who may be interested.

Although I don’t condone copying other people's ideas, you can use them to help shape your own. Personally, I created a tab in my Notion workspace simply named “Notes that work.”

Image via The Writing Dashboard

These are posts that have, in fact, worked. And, by collecting them, you can gain an intuitive understanding of why:

• Format

• Topic

• Hook

• Etc.

As a disclaimer, I only recommend doing this until you find your footing. Once you understand what works, take off the training wheels and continue developing on your own.

Stop worrying: 🤙🚫

Like most things in life, it’s easy to overthink.

But, the drawback of overthinking is it prevents you from focusing on what truly matters. Which, in the case of Notes, is to post content that is easy to:

• Like

• Share

• Comment on

Regardless of the algorithm, your content, or how many subscribers you have, the success of a Note is solely dependent on how easy it is to engage with. 💡

There are a million different ways to spark up engagement — all of which, are rooted in developing a set of best practices. So, try not to worry about specifics that may pull you off course. And, instead, focus on:

• Posting a lot

• Recreating your top 10%

• Avoiding your bottom 10%

If you do this, growth is inevitable. And, you will be well on your way to writing your first viral Note.

---

Final thoughts: what’s next?

When writing these posts, I always try to be respectful of your time.

So, I hope this quick guide has given you an introduction to leveraging Notes as part of your Substack strategy. For more in-depth learning about growing on Substack, I recommend this course.

I’m an affiliate, so if you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I do my best to respond to all comments every week.

Happy writing!

Hudson :)

---

You’re invited to join Writer’s Hub! 💌

Hey, I’m Hudson! I created Writer’s Hub to help you make more money as a writer. To unlock my full library of content, consider becoming a paid subscriber. 🙋‍♂️✍️

Writing resources:

💸 FREE $100+ article template

🙋 New to Writer’s Hub? Start Here

If you found this post valuable, share it with a friend! ❤️