Do Substack Notes actually drive growth? Let's find out!

Follow my Substack Notes experiment to find out more.

I’m currently running an experiment to see if Substack Notes actually still work for driving growth. If you’ve seen more Notes from me in the last 24 hours than usual, now you know why.

In my two years on the platform, I’ve received more than 1,000 total subscriptions from Notes alone. But that’s in the past — many of these were from more than a year ago.

These days? I’m less convinced. People do go viral, but it feels like that’s either with random luck or because the platform rewards AI slop.

So I’ve decided to run a test: Is it slop or inspirational BS that works on Substack for growth now? Or can you actually write authentically and boost your growth?

The details of this experiment, plus results, are solely for paid subscribers. So if you want to see whether what I’m doing can help you grow, you’ll need to upgrade to the full plan.

Why am I doing this?

Because I don’t trust my own assumptions anymore.

For months, I’ve seen people say everything from ‘Notes are dead’ to claims that Substack’s feed is full of recycled advice, AI junk or engagement bait, while other creators grow from it, supposedly without viral slop.

But to be honest, I can’t work out what’s true and what’s not. So we’re going to find out together.

This experiment is my way of doing that. If Notes can still drive real, authentic growth, great! I’ll be able to explain exactly how, and provide clearer avenues to achieve it. If not, at least we’ll have some data instead of guesswork.

My Substack Notes Experiment

So here’s how it’s going to work.