You're Posting Notes For The Wrong Reason

Notes aren’t for only what you think they’re for

You probably see lot of people writing about Notes (and even some complaining about Notes 😂), but one thing is clear: Notes are important, and Substack wants you to use them.

Many “Pro Notes” people are like “here’s my formula, copy these and go viral” (missing the point.)

The “Anti Notes” people are like “wahhhh Notes suck I came here for long form” (missing the point again.)

We know this: the platform greatly benefits from you using Substack Notes — it’s faster, it’s more like social media, it keeps people on the platform longer.

That’s great! USE IT.

Because you know what? This ain’t your first rodeo.

If you’ve ever used any other social medial platform, you know one thing you can always count on with them: they change.

And when you use platforms, you have to roll with their changes if you want to be successful on it.

But here’s the thing you need to know: sure, Notes are important for Substack.

But they are also great for YOU.

Mostly people who are on Team Notes talk about how much their subscriber numbers go up from well-performing Notes. And yes, it can.

But just yesterday, I read Kim Doyal’s post about Substack analytics, and how to tell where your subscribers come from. Let’s just say, in the stats section on Substack, it’s a bit vague. It’s hard to tell if someone subscribed directly from a Note.

So thinking about them just to get subscribers, it’s focusing on only one of the points.

The way I like to think of Notes is like a little cocktail party. 🥂

Every single Note is a 30-second opportunity where someone meets you and decides if they want to stick around for a longer conversation.

And when someone gets that snapshot of who you are and what you bring to the table — not for you, for THEM — that’s when everything shifts.

When they read your Note, how did it make them feel?

What did it help them get for their life?

The Notes that actually work? They're not about you. They're about what the reader walks away with.

Because the reader won’t do anything if you shared your random thought.

Notes are micro-engagement opportunities with the entire goal being to build trust and connection quickly. How you do that is by making someone feel something, realize something, do something.

Just like a real cocktail party, the mingling you do in Notes is an opportunity for someone to decide if they want to keep talking to you, and they get to find out a little about you.

So… what can you reveal about yourself in those little micro-moments?

Notes can reveal…

1. Your taste — what you curate, recommend, highlight, and refuse to endorse reveals more than any bio ever could.

2. How your brain works — the weird connections you make between unrelated ideas. That’s what makes someone want to read your long-form stuff.

3. Your actual opinions — not the safe, hedge-everything takes. The ones where you plant a flag.

4. That you’re paying attention — to what’s happening in your space, to what readers are struggling with, to conversations other people are having.

5. Your sense of humor — and I don’t mean “be funny.” I mean: are you dry? Self-deprecating? Do you find absurdity where other people find seriousness? That’s personality leaking through.

6. What pisses you off — frustration is underrated as a trust signal. When someone sees you get genuinely annoyed about lazy advice or gatekeeping, they know where you stand.

7. That you’re in the arena — sharing what you’re actively building, testing, getting wrong. Mid-process thinking, not just polished conclusions.

8. Your generosity with credit — who you boost, quote, reshare. People notice whether you’re a connector or a solo act.

9. The gap between conventional wisdom and what you’ve actually experienced — this is where your best reframes live. “Everyone says X, but here’s what I found when I actually did it.”

10. Your rhythm and energy — some people are intense and precise. Some are warm and meandering. Notes are short enough that your cadence becomes unmistakable within a few lines.

So, it has to be two things at once.

It’s like when people are in the Notes feed, they’re “shopping for friends”. Imagine you’re at a party. People are walking around, mingling.

What do you want to say that represents you (why they would want to stick around and talk to you) but still make it about them (something that they care about.)

That’s the whole trick.

So much advice out there makes it seem like the whole goal of Notes is to turn someone into a subscriber. Sure, that’s a great goal.

But I say, back the truck up.

What you really want is for someone to read your Note, laugh, spark an idea, restack it, resonate with it, instigate a comment and to start a conversation. Because that makes the Notes feed fun. Then keep doing that and people will associate you with that feeling: the realizing, the interesting hot take, the eye-opening truth-bomb about something they care about. (and 🙊 that usually turns someone into a subscriber… but better than that, a true fan that interacts with you!)

“Writing Notes because your subscriber number will go up” is the wrong thing to be focused on from the get-go. Start with what makes them want to subscribe and you’re on the right track.

So how do you actually write Notes that get people to do something?

First, you want to get clear on the actions you’d want your readers to take.

Check out this list. You’d want them to:

1. Comment with their own experience — not “great post!” but an actual story or reaction. Your Note becomes a prompt that unlocks something in them.

2. Quote-restack it with their own take — which puts your name in front of their audience with a built-in endorsement.

3. Click through to your profile — this is the real conversion event. Not subscribing from a single Note, but getting curious enough to go look at the full picture.

4. Tag someone in the comments — “you need to follow this person” is the highest-trust recommendation on the platform.

5. Argue with you (respectfully) — because disagreement means they cared enough to engage. A Note that generates pushback often outperforms one that generates applause.

6. Come back tomorrow — not from one viral hit, but because you’ve become someone whose Notes they don’t want to miss. Habitual attention is the real asset.

7. Think differently about their OWN Notes — when someone reads yours and immediately rewrites the draft they were about to post, you’ve changed their standard.

8. Screenshot it and send it to someone — the “oh my, this is SO you” moment. That’s organic reach no algorithm can replicate.

I mean… maybe that’s kind of obvious, I don’t know. But with all the talk being “write Notes because they help your subscriber count go up”, this isn’t front-and-center… so I decided to spell it out. 😂

Now that we have that ironed out, your POV is shifted (hopefully), let’s drill down on what kinds of Notes DO that. :)

FIRST… LET’S talk about Notes that don’t do that.

Notes that are:

• random

• vague

• leave you guessing about what it’s about

• too instructional or doesn’t “read the room” because it feels like the writer is yelling at me

• nothing to grab on to — no story, etc.

These are Notes that don’t give people something to share or comment on.

Things that DO do that is a wholeeeee topic, the topic of many of my posts (like this one and my upcoming post on Wednesday.)

But for this post, I want to give you something you can do right now to make this happen. One simple step. One GREAT NOTE.

Great Notes make the reader:

• feel something they can relate to: something that’s grinding their gears, something that’s making them laugh or roll their eyes… SOME REACTION in their life

• make them think of an example from their own expertise and experience — enough to inspire them to make a comment

• makes them share because they agree so much they want to add their two-cents and share it with their followers.

So — what’s the BEST WAY to do that??

Let’s pick ONE of my favorite Note types… one that I’m going deeper on Wednesday’s post because it’s HOT 🔥 … but also because it’s one of the best category types you can possibly write in.

The concept is called Ride The Wave.

Think of your feed as a wave, already in motion with the world’s conversation a-buzz in the brains of all of the people scrolling the Substack feed.

And you land in the feed with something that is resonating big time. A hot topic, a newsflash.

Here’s an example:

Substack has a whole sub-culture of people with anti-guru feelings. People are super tired of the same old OGs from all the other platforms coming on every new platform and getting all the attention.

And sure, they’re famous for a reason. They’ve done the work growing their audiences. But many, many writers and readers alike on here are ready to see some fresh faces and get some new perspectives. It’s a collective thought out there.

So, when I post about that, it hits.

If I posted that on Instagram or Facebook, it would not have hit like that. I guarantee it.

But here on Substack, it’s a wave of people feeling the same thing. So I rode the wave.

And just to be clear — the “wave” isn’t only about stuff on Substack as the platform.

There are many waves to ride.

I’ll give you a hint on a few… AI slop, over-computerized everything (do we need to have a smart fridge, a car that needs updates to work, Ring doorbells??) or even ‘90s nostaliga. So often, they go back to a collective experience in life.

And they work in every niche with a little tweaking!

There’s something in the collective about all of these things and there’s SO MUCH CONTENT IN THERE.

The content well is GIANT, AND DEEP and open for any niche, because it’s life.

And writing on them is practically guaranteed to turn your post into a conversation.

It’s honestly my favorite Notes category and I’m just zeroing in on it, after reflecting and realizing this based on my best performing posts and the ones I see crushing it from other writers.

And on Wednesday, I’m going deep with it.

That post will have a complete list with nearly 40 examples you can use to write Notes that generate big reactions (with examples!) PLUS idea lists in three other categories that will make your Notes pop.

Ready to go deeper on the HOW to do it?

Subscribe now so you don’t miss my next post coming on Wednesday called The 5 Types of Notes That Actually Resonate (And Why Yours Might Not Be).

In that post you’ll find out…

• The subtle shift that turns a “good post” into something people feel compelled to repost like it came straight out of their own brain

• The 5 emotional categories behind every high-performing Note — so you stop guessing and start writing things people feel instantly

• And my favorite thing of all… the best ideas list you’ve ever seen for successful Notes based on viral themes that are guaranteed to rock the feed from ideas I am constantly seeing on Substack (and all over the internet!)

I’m curious… can you think of any Ride The Wave examples? Share it in the comments below. What topics do you see positively hitting every time you see a Note on them?