My Substack Grows While I Sleep. Here’s the 20-Minute Morning Routine Behind That.
Every morning I wake up to new subscriber notifications. Here's the simple system that's been running on autopilot for over a year.
Most writers trying to grow on Substack feel like they’re pushing a boulder uphill every single day.
Writing posts. Trying different formats. Showing up consistently and still checking the dashboard to find the subscriber count barely moved.
The effort is real. The results aren’t matching it.
That feeling of working hard and going nowhere is almost always a system problem, not a talent problem. Most writers are doing the wrong things without a clear routine behind it and wondering why nothing ever compounds.
I was the same way until I built a simple daily Notes routine. Now my newsletter consistently grows by 20-30+ subscribers a day.
I wake up every morning to new subscriber notifications. This has been happening for over a year.
Every single morning, there’s new subscribers waiting on my phone before I’ve done anything that day.
Not because I did anything special overnight. Because I ran through my routine the morning before and the platform kept doing its job while I was completely offline.
I sit down for twenty minutes every morning, work through my Notes routine, and go on about my day.
The growth happens whether I’m at my desk or not because the system is already running and the algorithm already knows who I am and who my readers are.
That’s what a real system feels like from the inside.
After 1,000+ Notes I found only three types actually bring subscribers. Here’s what they are.
Story Notes — a specific honest moment from your own experience that your reader recognizes in themselves.
The more specific and real the better. These convert better than almost anything else because they create genuine connection before the reader has even clicked your profile.
Community Notes — genuinely inviting your audience into a real conversation rather than just broadcasting at them. These build the kind of engagement the algorithm rewards and the kind of trust that turns casual readers into loyal subscribers over time.
Motivational Notes — speaking directly to the specific struggle your reader is dealing with right now. Not generic inspiration but the kind of honest encouragement that makes the right person feel like you wrote it specifically for them.
Each type serves a different purpose and works at a different moment in the reader’s journey.
Today’s the last day to join June’s Notes Challenge. Here’s what’s available before tonight.
You can keep doing what you’ve been doing:
Posting on Notes occasionally without a clear system behind it. Spending another month showing up inconsistently, wondering why the subscriber count barely moves, telling yourself you’ll get more serious about it next month.
Or you can get the complete system today before the window closes tonight.
Tonight is the last chance to join before the Challenge starts tomorrow. After midnight you won’t be able to get in mid-challenge.
Here’s what you get when you join:
The Notes Growth Workshop — my complete 20-minute daily Notes routine behind 18,000 subscribers and consistent 10+ subscriber days. The three Note types broken down in detail with real examples so you know exactly what to write and why it works.
The June 7-Day Notes Challenge — starting tomorrow one proven Notes template lands in your inbox every morning for seven days. You open it, make it yours, and post it. One template per day built around the exact types that bring subscribers consistently.
Over 300+ writers have joined the Workshop in the last year alone, growing everyday with Notes. You can join them below:
In just a month from now you could be telling a story like Charlotte Stephens — a Substack bestseller who was skeptical of my system and then gained 10+ new subscribers every single day after trying it.
“I’m never convinced by these things but am so glad I trusted you on this, because I’ve literally gained almost exactly 10 subs a day since. Witchcraft! 😂” — Charlotte Stephens, Substack Bestseller
And even if the Workshop isn’t for you right now I want to encourage you to start writing Notes anyway.
I genuinely believe you’ll be in a completely different place this time next month.
Keep writing, Wes
Questions on the Challenge? Just drop them in the comments below or my DM’s are always open.
I’ve noticed a bit of an early pattern, in that people I’ve recently engaged with now occasionally pop up on my notes. I’m guessing this must be part of the algorithm, propping my name up on feeds?