
Yesterday, someone DM’d me with a question which kinda stuck with me.
I realized there are many people who might be wondering the same thing.
Here’s what they asked:
“I’m confused by Substack’s terminology — what’s the difference between a post, article, Note, and chat? I’m trying to grow my email list, not be redundant.”
YES. Finally. Someone said it.
If you’ve ever opened Substack and thought: “Wait… what am I actually supposed to do here?”
You’re not alone. You’re just navigating a new platform with layers.
Let me break it down for you.
Your Profile = your public identity on Substack. Kind of like a social media account.
Your Publication = your newsletter. This is where you collect subscribers and send emails. You can have many publications under your profile.
Posts (aka Articles) = long-form content sent to your subscribers. Can be email, blog, audio podcast, or video. You can paywall these. You can also publish them on your publication, and choose whether to send them as emails or not.
Emails = the long-form posts you send to your subscribers, a.k.a. posts. You can also send emails without publishing them to your publication.
Chat = private space with your subscribers only. You can paywall these too.
Notes = the social media element of Substack. It’s where you grow. It’s where you post short-form posts tied to your profile, not your publication. Think Twitter, but better. Because people can directly subscribe to your list with one click.
Followers vs. Subscribers: Your profile collects followers, your publication collects subscribers. Your followers can see your posts and Notes, but can’t see your emails. Your subscribers can see your posts, Notes, emails and join your chats.
The Notes?
That’s where the magic happens.
There's no other platform right now that allows you to get subscribers (yes, real emails, not followers) so fast and for FREE.
And not just any subscribers:
high-quality
convertible
engaged
...you can call them all that, because they are real people.
People you connect with.
People you can collaborate and make business with.
People you can offer your products and services.
But there's a way to do it. Took me about 6 months to figure it out. But I did.
I created a system and a tool that grants me the relief of growing with ±30 subscribers per day, investing just 15 minutes per day. (full disclosure: if you're just starting you'll need some time to get there, but it's doable. It took Daniel about two months.)
So now I give it to you. I'm holding nothing back.
It's called: Viral Notes Writer System
That guy thought Notes were just a confusion. Now he sees them as the gateway to scaling his list. You just need a list worth a fortune — one that wants what you offer.
Substack Notes can build that for you.
But only if you use them right.
Stay Unplugged!
Yana
👉 Find my story along with a dozen other stories from creators who built their own path to consistent $10k+ months through newsletters, courses, communities, consulting, and more, in this FREE 10k Secrets Book!
Kickstart Your Substack Growth:
Get a FREE 10-Day Substack crash course to grow your first 1000 subscribers
Join the One and Only Substack Quest to build a high-converting Substack
Work with me to get your Substack up and growing
Save Tons of Time! Use My Custom GPTs:
The Title Generator that gives me headlines that stop the scroll
The Notes Writer that writes Viral Notes, bringing me hundreds of subs
The Writer Pro that turns my Notes into >90% human drafts (here’s the free version).
Become an Affiliate:
Earn 30% from each sale. Apply here (I approve everyone).