Notes not working? Here's why
Smarter Substack | Apr 8, 2026
Wednesday. 3 resources. No fluff. Here’s what Substackers need to know today:
🧠 Strategy
Listen to This Before You Go All-In on Substack — Four things most new creators misunderstand about the platform: why slow early growth is normal, why information alone no longer builds an audience, why niche clarity isn’t optional, and why growth requires active effort — not just good content. Worth a listen before you double down.
🛠️ Tools & Features
The One Page 99% of Substack Creators Overlook That Kills Subscriber Growth — Every single visitor lands on your welcome page before they see your content. Most creators leave it on default, which means they’re losing subscribers every day without knowing it. This post covers a 3-part framework to make the right reader think “this is for me,” plus how to add testimonials through a hidden Substack feature.
📈 Growth
I Used Claude to Find Out Exactly Why Notes Didn’t Work and Fixed It — This creator audited a subscriber’s Substack Notes using Claude and identified four patterns killing performance: broadcasting instead of connecting, weak format, no promotion strategy, and never asking readers anything. The post includes the exact prompts used and a step-by-step process to run the same audit on your own Notes in 20 minutes.
P.S. Going all-in on Substack without a clear growth strategy is how most creators waste months. This free live Masterclass covers exactly what's working right now — audience growth, paid conversions, and the system behind it.