27 Comments
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The Hype Ledger's avatar

You definitely deserve a like for this. Man I should subscribe too but I’m trying not to get too caught up on the “growth” side of substack

Juliette's avatar

Wow Yana this post is super helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your insights and experience. I just had one note go completely insane and it got me around 300 new subscribers. I didn’t really know what to do next because I didn’t expect anything like that to happen. This post can help me with my next steps!

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Hi Juliette, thank you so much! And congrats on the Note! And yes definitely, you need to act on it so that you keep momentum and build on it. Can you share a link to your Note?

Sam Ahmad's avatar

The finding that your highest-converting notes come from analyzing your own archive rather than copying viral formats is the part I keep coming back to. Most growth advice treats templates as plug and play, but your data suggests the template only works because it matches what your specific audience already rewards. That distinction matters. Did you notice any of the five templates performing worse for paid conversion even when the subscriber numbers looked strong?

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

can’t say because most of the paid conversion happens on the posts after they subscribe. Notes are really top of funnel

Sam Ahmad's avatar

The 0.27 correlation is honestly the most useful line in this whole piece. It explains why some people rack up likes and stay small: the note's job is the profile tap, not the dopamine hit. I suspect the personal story template converts best because readers click to see who the person is, not just to like the lesson.

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

I think so too :)

Drew English's avatar

Yana this is WAY good and full of great, actionable advice. This is what bringing value is all about.

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Thank you so much, Drew! Curious how it works for you :)

Drew English's avatar

Will report back!

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Thank you!

MrkTecha's avatar

10% profile-to-subscribe is capture, not revenue per note.

Free subs can look strong while paid sits on a different template.

Which note type produced the highest paid revenue per 1,000 impressions?

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

They didn’t produce a direct revenue, it’s my conversion engine working behind all this.

Aniket Chhetri's avatar

Analyzing your own archive for patterns is smart. Those results speak for themselves.

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Yep :) All the answers are in the data :)

Benjamin Elvis's avatar

Thank you for these awesome insights. Just started 2 days ago and will absolutely use this to grow as fast as I can. I want to show my love for the work I do to as many people as possible.

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Can't wait to see how this works for you :)

Benjamin Elvis's avatar

Me too:)

Raise in Harmony by Clare's avatar

Thank you for sharing this article, it’s great advice.

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Thank you so much!

Anfernee's avatar

Another masterpiece Yana. I’m going to ingest all the learning!

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Thank you, Anfernee! Curious how it works for you

Anfernee's avatar

I will go analyse and update you :)

Lisa Garvey's avatar

And here is the latest information. 67,229 Impressions and 391 new subscribers! @Yana G.Y. your notes writer course is the reason this note and now my others are doing so well! Thank you for your guidance and suggestions. You are AMAZING! Now I am back at the Substack Quest to help me with the conversions and every other golden nugget you provide!

Yana G.Y.'s avatar

Oh wow!!! That's amazing! Now time to convert them, yes :) I'm here when you're ready to talk about it