6 ways to become notable on Substack by boosting your visibility

Get your Notes soaring skyward.

➡️ If the thought of promoting your writing gives you the heebie-jeebies, make sure to download my free 3-page guide, Sharing Without The Cringe.

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It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Substack.

I’ve been on the platform for close to 2 years. In that time, I’ve grown my audience to around 23,000 subscribers across 3 publications (with thousands more followers on top of that).

If you want to build an email-based audience, Substack is the place to be.

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Becoming Notable

One of the most effective ways to grow your audience here is through Notes.

Notes is, for all intents and purposes, the social media wing of Substack. It’s essentially a Twitter feed built into the platform where you can post short-form content and interact with content shared by other users.

Notes has been the primary driver of my audience growth on Substack, along with Recommendations.

However, like every attention-economy-based system (and that’s ultimately what Notes is), some users rise to the top of the visibility pool while others feel like they’re sinking to the bottom.

And nobody wants that.

So what can you do to increase the likelihood of your Notes gaining as much visibility as this one on Substack?

Here are a few simple approaches I use on a daily basis to achieve these kinds of results.

1. Share and share again

First up, don’t be afraid to give your Notes a second wind. I’ve been doing this for years on Twitter.

After a few hours, regardless of how well your Note’s performing, hit the Restack button. I like to wait around 5 hours before sharing it again.

Your audience will invariably be spread across multiple time zones, so it’s helpful to give your Notes a chance to reach as many of your followers as possible. Always give your content a second shot.

2. Me likey

This one always feels a little cringe, but I do it anyway.

After you’ve posted a Note and it’s had some time to settle, hit the Like button on it.

I honestly don’t know how much of an impact this has, but I’ve heard from others that it can give you a marginal bump with the algorithm. Psychologically, it also makes your Note look that little bit more popular upon first glance, and it’s a clear signal for you later on that you’ve already interacted with that Note.

Again, I’ve been doing the same thing on Twitter for years, and before Musk took over and everything went in the toilet, my growth there was steady and impactful.

3. Embed time

If one of your Notes does particularly well, embed it into a post further down the line.

You can use it as an example, as I’ve done here.

To embed a Note in a post, just click the three dots at the top right, hit Copy link, and paste it into your next article.

You can also embed a Note on your website by clicking < > Embed and copying the code.

Screenshot.

Embedded Notes remain in your posts forever, giving them ongoing opportunities to reach new readers.

4. The preview show

I often share previews of upcoming articles as Notes.

It’s a simple way to drum up some extra interest in your writing, and it gives you some nice, attractive content for your Notes feed.

Screenshot.

5. I’m gonna put ya in the pictures, see?

Notes already had an image-sharing option when I first arrived on Substack, and they’ve recently added a video feature to their repertoire.

I’ve seen plenty of users making good use of both by posting photos and short video clips for their followers.

Screenshot.

Users value authenticity above all else these days, so sharing behind-the-scenes content from your personal life is a good way to foster connection.

6. Freedom to format

One of the benefits included in Twitter’s current Premium subscription is the ability to format your tweets. Fortunately, Substack allows you to do this for free.

Make good use of bold, italics and strikethroughs to help your Notes stand out from the crowd.

Screenshot.

Shake things up with some bullet points. Keep things succinct and digestible.

The more eye-catching you can make your content, the greater visibility you’ll receive.

More visibility = more followers = more subscribers.

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Stay Notable

Notes is a fantastic feature on Substack.

It’s changed the game for many writer-creators like myself, and it’s easy to replicate what others are doing.

Experiment with your Notes approach. When you identify what works, double-down on it.

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What’s next?

I’m ready and waiting to support you in the next stages of your creator journey. Here’s how I can help:

1. Start Your Podcast on Substack: A complete course guiding you from concept to launch, based on everything I’ve learned so far during my own podcasting journey. Learn to plan, brand, record, edit, publish, and promote your podcast while building an audience. Perfect for creators eager to share their voice with the world.

2. Sustainable Scalable Social Strategy: This 6-part, online, self-driven course will guide you through the same process I used to develop a strategy for my social media management. When you finish, you’ll have a sustainable social strategy in place that will help you scale your business properly.

3. One-To-One Coaching: Live coaching sessions over Zoom plus a full video audit of your Substack publication. Ideal for those who want to grow their online presence, identify their key strengths, and develop a long-term business strategy. Upgrade to VIP Membership for full access.

4. Promote to 18,000+ readers: Get yourself in front of a highly-engaged online audience via email, podcast and social media.

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