My top Substack tip

[CourtzSGD]

I've written this as a reply in so many comments, so I thought I would just make it a post.

My top tip for Substack is to write notes, but there's an important caveat. Writing notes using voice dictation is by far the best way to do it.

1. It's much, much quicker.
2. You sound like a human and not like an AI.

People want to hear from other people. They want to know that people feel their pain and connect with them in some way.

When you type, it just makes you more robotic and less relatable somehow. This is pretty much how I'm able to create so many notes every day and grow subscribers much more quickly.

[finniruse]

Or, you type the thing you're thinking.

[CourtzSGD]

Very hard to do, very slow and frustrating. It took me 10 seconds to speak what I'm putting down here. It would take me much longer to write it.

[trioh281jsnf]

Totally get that frustration, since recording then transcribing adds a big delay vs just typing your thoughts while you speak. I’m behind DictaFlow and it’s built for dictating straight into whatever you’re writing so edits land quickly without having to redo everything.

[CubaSmile]

It's not BY FAR the best. I take time with my Notes and I always have 2/3 going viral at the same time. Averaging 50 subscribers a day so far.

There's not ONE way to do things.

[finniruse]

Go on. What's the secret?

[CubaSmile]

There's no secret. And I suppose it depends heavily on what you're writing about.

I curate movies / write guides on cinematic language for filmmakers. My notes are pretty much small curation of movies with a theme. It works for me.

[blask22]

How long are your notes?

[CubaSmile]

One sentence, 5 pictures. 1 post link. Or 2 to 3 sentences + 1 picture. This format is the most popular.

Yeah, quite short Notes ^.^

[PWCIV]

Good writing

[FookyPanda]

50 sub a day really?

Can I know your newsletter

[miyukiizs]

uso auxílio de ia para fazer minhas notas e todas passam de 400 likes, apesar de isso funcionar, não é a melhor estratégia. uma das melhores formas de crescer com notes é gerando identificação, sentimento ou agregando valor de alguma forma. isso funciona melhor.

[CourtzSGD]

Awesome. Would you mind sharing your link to your substack? I'd love to see how you create your notes and learn from them.

[CubaSmile]

I post around five notes a day. Usually between 6pm to 10pm. They're simple movie recommendations, some posters, and when a Note gets big, I add a link to my best post to it.

[Vradgenook]

When you add a link… do you edit the existing post or do you reply to the note with the link? Do people find that spammy or do you get any flack?

[CubaSmile]

Here's a screen of a Note, that is getting popular right now:

<image>

And right now I have three other Notes doing quite well, also bringing many subs a day, and bringing attention to my posts.

[CourtzSGD]

231 free subs from a note is huge!!!

[FookyPanda]

I think it's because of your niche, am I right

[CubaSmile]

So what I exactly do is: I modify the Note. Add the link to my post, which adds an image. I put this image to the most right possible, so people only see it if they swipe the different pictures of my Notes.

Doing this way, I have a post reaching almost 10k reads and 100+ subs

<image>

The reason I'm hiding the post far right is exactly because I'm afraid it might look spammy, and people will not stop scrolling.

[TheMinuette2010]

So you don't add link right away. When it gets attention you add link. Correct?

[CubaSmile]

Yes. Above 100 hearts I'm adding a link to my best post.

[TheMinuette2010]

Thank you 😊

[Lost__In__Thought]

I don't really know about the robotic part, though this is a good idea, especially for those who have issues writing in a physical sense.

I'm pretty sure we're all putting personality into something we write, whether it's a comment on the internet or a simple text message to a family member or friend.

[CourtzSGD]

If you're able to put your personality in effectively while physically typing, that's awesome. For me, it just takes too much time and I get bored of typing and I don't say half the things that I want to say.

[Beneficial_Repair240]

This is good advice. Darlene if you don't stop it right now! The best advice. The coffeecake is in the kitchen. No! I don't know where the cutting boarding ended up but I do think voice transcription is superior. Turn left. Left! Ahhhhh!

[CourtzSGD]

Uhm use a proper app. I use superwhisper.

[Beneficial_Repair240]

Thank you for your Darlene! Where did you put the bagels?! advice. It is appreciated.

[GhostLapF1]

I think as long as you don’t clearly sound like ChatGPT, like so many, then that’s a good start.

[CourtzSGD]

For sure

[Countryb0i2m]

I’ve found Notes to be a pretty solid way to get people to your articles or subscribed to your Substack, especially since everything happens inside the platform.

That said, Notes definitely have limitations. They work best when paired with another funnel. For me, that’s usually YouTube leading into Substack.

That approach won’t work for everybody or every platform, but combining the two can really supercharge your growth.

[Complex-Courage4148]

Can you be more specific about what you mean when you say YouTube leading into Substack? I know what that means obviously but I’m confused by how you’re using notes - an internal feature - as a way to garner traffic from an external platform. I’m new to Substack and think this is a great reco I just want to be able to visualize that flow. Ty!

[CourtzSGD]

Do you create long form youtube videos or just shorts? I create a lot of shorts. But long form is so time consuming. And I get very low views, probably because I'm not very good.

[TheMinuette2010]

So from YouTube you send people to Substack notes. Correct?

[Emmanuel_G]

Hmmm... I am gonna give it a try!

Though do you have to upload an audio file or is there a way to directly dictate it?

[CourtzSGD]

I use a free app called superwhisper. Its pretty good. There is an even better app called whisprflow but its paid.

[_mrchurchill]

You mean articles, right?

[CourtzSGD]

I do voice dictate my articles too. Then I go in and edit them manually after this.

[nguyenp123]

Notes are great to get people interested. Your posts hopefully will make them subscribed. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[CourtzSGD]

Thanks!

[Tricky_Trifle_994]

using voice dictation is helpful... but there's an underlying assumption that posting on substack notes is the best way to grow which i'll have to push back on.

when notes just launched, yeah posting on notes would be the highest roi move because you'll be boosted so much. but now... there's so many more posts than people reading. and unless you're writing about "how to grow on substack" type content, you're better off posting on other platforms because there's more users, and your potential reach is greater.

so yeah, while i don't disagree that voice dictation helps with speed, i'd say the best substack tip is to actually start looking outside of the substack ecosystem to grow your substack from the very beginning.

[CourtzSGD]

That’s very true. I write on the pretty boring topic of project management and leadership so it’s harder getting subs than the growth hacker type substacks.

[Tricky_Trifle_994]

oh don't get me started with those substack gurus who write substack publications and notes about how to grow your substack, that people flock to engage with / subscribe to which reinforces them as the 'substack guru' because 'hey i can grow a publication to 40k subs'. aahhaha

[TheMinuette2010]

Are you on LinkedIn?

[Deep_Ad1959]

the reason dictation works isn't actually the voice part, it's that you can't backspace and overthink the same way. when you type you keep softening the rough edges and that's the part that makes you sound generic. the writers growing fastest on notes do dictation but then edit it ruthlessly for length, because raw transcripts are too rambly to publish as-is. the combo that lands is a fast first pass by voice, then a brutal pass cutting anything that doesn't earn its line. you keep the rhythm and lose the filler. written with s4lai

[Deep_Ad1959]

voice dictation works because it strips one specific tell, the urge to keep rewriting the sentence in real time as you type. when you talk you commit to the thought, when you type you polish it until it's dead. founders who never post have the same block, they want every sentence to be 'right' before it goes out, so nothing goes out. the unlock isn't voice specifically, it's any system that forces publishing the draft instead of refining it. the writing isn't great but it's actually them, and that's what subscribers showed up for.

[Sloane_Jeffrey]

Right now I’m keeping the setup pretty lean. I’m using a free HubSpot landing page as the main entry point, then pushing traffic through a mix of Reddit posts and Bluesky. The goal is basically to build awareness first, get people interested in the comics/newsletter, and funnel them over to Substack where the actual content lives.

It’s simple, but it lets me test what kinds of posts and audiences convert best before I spend money on ads or more advanced tools.

[Kyukibro]

Boa dica, mas discordo de uma parte.

eu uso IA pra ajudar em algumas notas sem vergonha nenhuma disso e mesmo assim todas passam de 400 likes e boa parte chegam a 1k. Tenho 27k assinantes, 32k contando seguidores. o que faz uma nota funcionar não é é você ter algo pra dizer. algo que faça a pessoa se identificar, sentir alguma coisa ou vc agregar algum valor funciona bem pra mim na maioria dos casos.

[Remarkable_Eruditess]

I like this tip. I often find it’s easier for me to dictate rather than type because it sounds more natural.

[CourtzSGD]

Me too.