Notes Brought Me 770 Subscribers in the Last 30 Days. Here are the ones that worked best.
770 new subscribers in the last 30 days, all of it from Substack Notes.
No big viral moment, no lucky week, just two or three Notes written every morning before I get on with my day.
But when I went back through the numbers to see which Notes actually brought those people in, the answer wasn’t what I expected.
The Notes that get the most likes are almost never the Notes that get subscribers
I could post something clever and watch a few hundred likes come in quickly.
Something like a quote, hot take, or just a funny observation.
It feels great. And it brings me almost nobody.
I posted a Note last month that did close to 300 likes. Genuinely one of the better lines I’ve written. It brought in two subscribers.
Think about what a like actually costs a person, maybe half a second. They agree, they tap, they keep scrolling. It’s the cheapest thing they can give you.
However, subscribing is a completely different decision. Subscribing means someone read something of yours and decided they want to hear from you again.
Nobody makes that decision because you were clever. They make it because they read something and saw themselves in it.
Story-driven Notes are the only ones that consistently bring in new people
It took me awhile to figure this out…
When a someone’s scrolling the feed and hit the “like button, it takes them maybe half a second. There’s not real commitment there.
They see it, think it’s clever, hit like, and move on.
However, hitting that “subscribe” button is a completely different decision. When someone subscribes, they’re connected with the reader in some way.
I’ve found that story-driven Notes are what make that connection.
Two kinds of stories work best for me:
My own story, like a specific moment, usually one I wasn’t sure I should share. The doubt. The thing I got wrong. The small win that mattered more than it should have.
Or someone else’s story. A writer in my community who did something worth telling people about. These work for a reason I only recently understood, which is that I’m not the hero of them.
Readers can feel the difference immediately when you’re pointing at someone else instead of yourself.
Here are a few of the ones that brought people in this month:
None of these taught anyone anything. There’s no advice in them, no framework, nothing anyone could screenshot as a tip.
They just told the truth about something, and the right people recognized themselves in it.
My Challenge to you: Write the Note you’re slightly nervous to post
That’s usually the one.
The moment that felt too small to matter. The thing you’re not sure you should admit. The story you’d tell a friend but not an audience.
Stop writing Notes to be liked. Write the thing only you could have written.
The Note that gets 100 likes and the Note that brings 10 subscribers are almost never the same Note. Once you stop chasing the first one, the second one starts happening on its own.
📌 Let me show you how to grow your Substack with Notes (& a Special Summer Challenge)
Knowing that story Notes work is one thing. Sitting down at 7am and actually writing one is another.
That’s the part I can help with.
My Notes Growth Workshop teaches my exact system for growing with Notes, including my morning 20-minute routine and the specific types of Notes that work best.
Plus, I’m starting a brand new 7-Day Summer Notes Challenge starting July 15th. You’ll get a new Notes template in your email inbox every day for a week, PLUS a new special community for support.
The Summer Challenge is included this week only when you join the Workshop.
Here’s exactly what you get when you join:
The Notes Growth Workshop — my complete 20-minute daily routine behind 18,000 subscribers and consistent 10, 20, 30+ subscriber days.
The Summer Notes Challenge — starting Monday, July 15th. A new Notes template in your inbox every morning, built around these exact types.
Plus a community and accountability piece I’ve never done before, where you’ll be writing alongside other writers, supporting each other’s Notes, and growing together.
The Challenge starts Monday and you won’t be able to join once it begins. So if you want in, this is the week.
Over 500+ writers have joined the Workshop so far, and you can join below:
And even if the Workshop isn’t for you right now, start writing story Notes anyway. Tell the truth about something small.
Do it every day for a month and give the algorithm time to learn your voice.
I genuinely believe you’ll be somewhere different this time next month.
Keep writing, Wes
I really appreciate your insights and your empathy when writing. This part really made me feel a little less anxious about Notes and Substack visibility in general: "Stop writing Notes to be liked. Write the thing only you could have written."
Thank you, Wes! ❤️🩹🙏🏻
One insight that really stayed with me was your distinction between Notes that collect likes and Notes that earn subscribers. That’s a mindset shift many writers need. I’m building a publication in a completely different niche, but I’ve started seeing the same pattern—readers subscribe when they recognize themselves in a story, not when the writing is simply clever. Thanks for sharing your process so openly.