I Analyzed 600+ Notes. Here's 25 Lessons That Will Help Your Notes Perform Better
Monthly Intelligence Edition #1 from the Notes Underground (April 2025)
Hey friends! What you’re about to read is a massive 3,000+ word mega-guide on how to get more traction on your Substack Notes.
To compile this, I analyzed all 600+ Notes shared in the Notes Underground to see what went viral, why it went viral, and what viral Notes were doing differently from the bottom 75% of Notes.
What I found kind of blew my mind.
It shocked me just how much a light touch on Notes can lead to posts that got thousands of likes. We think going viral = agonizing for hours over what we’ve written.
Nope. I truly think that many viral Notes we’re seeing right now were written in all of 10 minutes.
Anyway, as a community we’ve tracked over 31,000 likes so far, so we have some fantastic data to crunch.
I hope you enjoy this. As a paid subscriber, you get this monthly Notes intelligence as part of your paid subscription. There’s dozens of great Notes insights here that should help you 2x, 3x, maybe even 5x your Notes performance.
If you haven’t joined us at the Notes Underground yet, be sure to do so!
Here’s your links to access the Notes Underground
1. Notes Underground sign up page.
2. Notes Underground Slack Channel.
It’s been a wild first week in The Notes Underground—and the numbers back it up.
Total Notes Shared: 623
Total Likes: 31,614
Total Comments: 3,682
My favorite statistic, though? Members of the Notes Underground have commented on each other’s Notes 1,456 times. Yes, I’m tracking it. No, I’m not crazy.
That’s 1,456 additional comments we’ve generated as a community. MIND = BLOWN.
Let’s dive into all the other juicy data.
What’s Working on Notes Right Now
With over 600 Notes logged in the Notes Underground, I crunched the numbers to analyze what the top Notes are doing consistently. Here’s what I found..
1. Themes
The Notes that hit hardest in the Notes Underground focused on two things:
Rebellion, and finding meaning in the mundane.
Let’s talk about rebellion first.
shared how she started writing at 60:That Note got over 4,000 likes.
This is a post about rebellion. Rebellion against aging, and limiting beliefs.
This makes me believe that people aren’t just looking for insights. They’re looking for permission.
Actionable tip: Write about a moment when you rebelled and reclaimed something. Your voice. Your time. Your boundaries. The more personal it feels, the more universal it becomes.
2. Structure
The best-performing Notes this week didn’t ramble.
They didn’t chase complexity. They made one point — and made it clean.
Take
’s Note.She opens with a simple lesson.
Then she slowly unpacks it. Each line is a turn. Each paragraph builds tension without overwhelming the reader.
It’s 105 words, but it feels shorter — because there’s breathing room.
’s Note is another great example.She paints a vivid picture of a “gamer kid” being judged, then flips it.
“They made fun of the gamer kid who stayed in all the time.
But now I get it…
He wasn’t hiding, he was finding his people.”
There’s rhythm in her spacing. There’s surprise in the turn. And there’s clarity from start to finish.
Actionable tip: Don’t build up. Start mid-moment. Then pull us through one beat at a time. Use short paragraphs like stepping stones, and let people feel the pacing.
3. Tone
Our top-performing Notes so far had conviction. They weren’t asking questions, or floating ideas.
They KNEW something — and said it straight.
There’s a big difference between:
“I think rest is important…”
vs.
“I don’t care how busy you are — if you never rest, you’re wasting your life.”
These writers chose the second kind of voice.
Actionable tip: Cut the disclaimers. Say the thing. Own it. Readers want confidence, not hedging.
4. Strategy
No Note writer in the top 25% was trying to sell you anything.
No links. No “read more on the blog.” No pitch.
They just shared moments. Moments that felt real. Moments that revealed something small — that hit like something big.
Jeanette showed us how to write with zero agenda. Just a truth that wanted to come out.
Actionable tip: Stop trying to sound smart. Stop trying to teach something. Share one moment that felt important — even if it was small. Let it stand on its own.
5. Word Count: Shorter Is Winning (Hard)
The average word count of the top 25% Notes?
36 words.
None cracked 70. Two of them were under 25.
- wrote a 194-like Note that was 21 words.
Her second-best was 20.
- ’s 135-like banger? 50 flat.
Brevity = clarity = engagement. People aren't skipping short Notes—they’re stopping for them.
This is something I’ve realized in the last few months on Substack Notes, which, as someone who loves longer form Notes, is a bummer. But, if you want to get traction, you got to change along with it.
This actually might be great news for you.. Going viral on Notes requires less effort than ever. *shrugs*
TRY THIS: Write a Note this week under 40 words. If you can nail the tone, you might not need more.