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

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

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!

What's the ONE offer you keep thinking about building but haven't started? Drop it below — I'll give you my honest take on whether it's worth building.

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.