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Substack Monetization Society
234 members • Free
6 contributions to Substack Monetization Society
13d •
The challenge is done. I want to see your numbers.
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
1 like • 12d
Hello all, and thank you Carrie for the challenge, it was great! :) Here are my results: I posted only one daily note during the whole week of the challenge (I used to post 2 daily) and that one note was reserved for the challenge. Sometimes I used to participate in Note Boosts, but this time I wanted to see the compound effect of the challenge, so I didn't do that during the week. I had also got a collab post coming up at night on 16/07, so in order to promote that post I didn't do the 5th day in the challenge (too many notes would dilute each other), so my data is up to 16/07 (Thursday). Before the challenge: Likes = range of 4-10 per post, average of 7 Comments = depends on the note, if conversation starter type then I got around 3-4 Restacks = 1-2 Subscribers = 116 on 13 July before the first note I published in the challenge. I usually got 2-4 subs per day till the challenge on average. During the challenge Likes = range of 18-98 Comments = 9-38 Restacks = 1 Subscribers = +24 (Substack gives credit for the challenge notes in case of 9 subscription but considering that I didn't do any other marketing activity during that week I credit the subscriber growth to the challenge) so at the end of the challenge I sat at 140 subs. Interesting observations: - One of the notes went viral (Personal Story + Data). 98 likes, 38 comments and still it brought the less subscribers considering the velocity it traveled (only 2 credited by the note stats, but on that date I got 7, so I take the 7). - The Quick Win type brought the most subs considering its much less reach. 38 likes, 11 comments. 3 new subs credited by Substack, but 7 altogether on that day) - the main takeaway from this note is naming one specific person in a note creates a relatable situation for people and they feel heard so they subscribe. After the Challenge I was not so busy on the platform in the weekend and it might effect my growth since the challenge. But it proved my view of growth too, that just by posting notes, it won't grow your publication. Even if that note goes somehow viral. What works is to reach out, to comment and to show up for others first - the thing we did in the challenge for a week. :)
19d •
Notes Challenge — Day 4: Behind-the-Scenes
Welcome to Day 4. Today you show the human behind the publication. Your process, your workspace, your routine, a failure, a win, a day in the life. These build trust faster than almost anything else you can post. Today's hook is The Confession. Open with vulnerability or an admission. "I almost quit Substack last March." No windup, no throat-clearing. Just the true statement. This is the day people are most tempted to polish. Don't. The mess is the point. The reader who sees you struggled with the same thing they're struggling with is the reader who subscribes. Your prompt: Write a Behind-the-Scenes Note that opens with a confession. Show one real piece of your process or one honest failure. Keep it short and keep it human. Post your Note, drop the link below, comment on three others. Catch-up reminder: Missed a day? Post it late in the right thread and go engage on earlier Notes. Late reps still count.
10 likes • 19d
This is about when by turning on my paid tier made Substack creating 3 more welcome emails without notifying me. And I assumed everything is alright :) https://substack.com/profile/510905254-gabby-gazdag/note/c-295767767?r=8g6h0m&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web
2 likes • 19d
@Karen Kasaba It was very interesting!! Thanks for sharing that picture :)
20d •
Notes Challenge — Day 3: The Conversation Starter
Welcome to Day 3. Comments and replies convert to subscribers better than likes ever will, so today we write a Note built to pull replies. The bar for a good question: specific enough to answer, broad enough that many people relate. Bait questions ("Agree or disagree??") get scrolled past. A real question you actually want answered gets real answers. Today's hook is the "You" Hook. Make it about the reader from the first line. "Your Notes aren't getting subscribers because..." Your prompt: Open with a "You" hook, share a small opinion or observation from your world, then ask one question at the end. Under 80 words. Make it easy to answer from experience, not research. You can set it up with multiple choices, which works too. When the replies come in, answer every single one. That's how a conversation starter becomes a relationship. Post your Note, drop the link below, engage with three others. Catch-up reminder: Behind a day? Drop your earlier Notes in the previous threads and go boost the Notes already posted.
0 likes • 20d
@Joan of Angels Hangarter Many thanks <3
0 likes • 20d
@Nicole G This was a great one! thanks :)
21d •
Notes Challenge — Day 2: Personal Story + Data
Welcome to Day 2 of the Notes Challenge. Today we're writing one of the highest-performing Note format on Substack right now, and it's the one that turns readers into subscribers. The formula: moment → action → noticing → result → meaning. A real moment from your life, 5 to 10 lines, tied to a specific number or result. Today's hook is the Mini-Story Opener. Start in the middle of a moment, not at the beginning. "My daughter asked me why I'm always on my phone." You're already inside the scene. The rule is specificity. Not "I struggled early on," but "In my first month I made $0 and refreshed my subscriber dashboard nine times a day." Your prompt: Write a Personal Story + Data Note about one real moment from your work. Include at least two concrete specifics: a number, a time, a place, a quote. End on what it meant, said plainly. It has to feel lived-in, not manufactured. If it feels made up, it reads made up. Post your Note, drop the link below, and comment on three others. Catch-up reminder: Missed yesterday? Go post your Day 1 Note in that thread too, and leave some love on the Notes that came in before yours. Catching up counts.
15 likes • 21d
Here is my note about a moment where I felt so bad about growing slowly. And I rewired my brain :D https://substack.com/profile/510905254-gabby-gazdag/note/c-294366160?r=8g6h0m&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web
22d •
Notes Challenge — Day 1: The Quick Win
Welcome to Day 1 of the notes challenge! Let's get you moving. First, the ground rules, because they're what make this work. Every morning this week, Monday through Friday, I'll post one prompt with a Note format to try. Your job is to write your Note in that format, post it to Substack, then come back here and drop the link in this thread. Then comes the part that matters most: engage. Read the Notes your fellow challengers dropped in this thread and like, comment, and restack the ones that land with you. The more you show up for other people here, the more they show up for you. A group of us boosting each other early is what gets these Notes traction, so don't just drop your link and run. Hang out, be generous, and it comes back around. We'll be doing this every day with a different notes format, so check back in this section called "Notes Challenge." I will be starting a new thread for each day of the challenge. One step before you write. Using your own data is the most valuable tool you have. Pull up your last 10 Notes and jot down the likes, comments, and restacks each one got, then drop those numbers in a spreadsheet. That's your "before." On Friday you'll check again and see what five days did. Totally optional, but the people who track it are the ones who get to brag later. Today's format is the Quick Win. You solve one specific problem for your reader in under 60 seconds in one Note. Here's what goes into a good one: The hook. Your first line has to stop the scroll before anyone taps "more." Today we're using a Number Hook: open with a specific, surprising number. Not "a lot of people," but something like "I posted 16 Notes last week and one brought in 514 subscribers." The problem. Name one real thing your reader is stuck on. Just one. Be specific enough that the right person reads it and thinks "that's me." Give them the answer in a step or two. This is a Quick Win, so keep it to something they can do in about 30 seconds. No 12-step framework, no "it depends." We're giving them one clear move.
1 like • 22d
@Kim Murray This is awesome :)))
0 likes • 22d
@Joan of Angels Hangarter it goes to a chat for subscribers only :)
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@gabby-gazdag-3790
I share side income strategies for the 45+ crowd who spent decades building someone else's dream.
Active 12d ago
Joined Jul 9, 2026
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