I use substack as my newsletter and I have heard it important to have a "start here" post. What should go in it?

Welcome to Day 5, the last one. What a fantastic week we've had here in the community! We crossed 200 members and had strong participation in the daily Notes exercises. My favorite part was seeing you all support each other. That's the main reason I created this group in the first place. What comes next: You just got into the habit of posting Notes daily, but my next-level Notes strategies that turn casual readers into subscribers without ever feeling like a pitch are found inside the Substack Note Secrets mini course inside this community's Classroom. I share every strategy I used to grow my substack to 10,600 in a little over a year. All week we've been boosting each other, and today's format turns that same energy turned into a Note. Generosity Notes rally your community, promote other people, and ask readers to share their own work. The structure: an optimistic opening, a giving-back statement, a specific call to action, and a genuine offer to support. One rule: only promise what you'll follow through on. If you ask people to drop their links, you must show up and read them. Your prompt: Write a Generosity Note. Celebrate something you saw this week, invite your readers to share their work or a win, and offer something back to them. Then go do what you promised. Post your Note, drop the link below, and give three final comments to your group. Catch-up reminder: Behind on any day? The threads stay open. Post your missing Notes and boost the ones already there. If you've participated every day, go back to the earlier days and see if there are any new posts to boost. This only works if we support each other!

This map shows the full arc of building a portfolio business, from a free newsletter all the way to diversified creator income. Five stages, in order. Each stage shows you the income stream to build, how to know you're in that stage, what the work looks like, and the milestone that tells you you're ready for the next one. Here's how to use it: 1. Download the map below. 2. Find the stage that describes where you are today. Be honest, not aspirational. 3. Look one stage to the right and work towards moving to that stage. If you don't know how, check the classroom for the course that aligns with what you need most. That's it. Don't build ahead, don't build three income streams at once, and don't skip a milestone because the next stage looks more exciting. Skipping stages is how creators end up with five half-built income streams and no paycheck. Once you know your stage, drop the number in the comments and let me know what would help you get to the next stage. Everything I post in this community maps back to these five stages, so knowing yours tells you exactly which lessons and threads to pay attention to first. Which stage of the Portfolio of Paychecks Map are you in right now?

Last week we had a fantastic Notes Challenge. Thank you to everyone who participated. Remember that benchmark you took before we started? Pull up your last 10 Notes and run the same count. Likes, comments, restacks. Compare it to your "before" number. Then post in the results thread (or reply to this email) with: - Your before-and-after engagement numbers. - Your subscriber count before the challenge and where it sits now. - A screenshot of the one Note that performed best. - The biggest thing you learned about your own audience. Even small numbers matter. A handful of new subscribers from five Notes is proof the method works, and your win might help someone else to start. If you saw progress with your Notes, you can take it further, the Substack Note Secrets mini course (find it in the classroom) has the all the Notes formats, hook structures, engagement strategies that compound, methods that help you find your people and grow your following, and the Conversion Bridge — the Note that turns readers into subscribers without pitching them. Check the classroom if you are ready for more. Thank you for showing up, posting, and boosting each other all last week. That part is what made it work and also what makes it more fun. Post your results below. I read every one. Carrie

@Carrie Loranger I really enjoyed and received value from the 5 Day Note Challenge. I've decided to use the templates of each day to continue creating Notes. I also appreciated the boost in engagement with the other members of this group. I'd love to keep that going. Thanks again!