How I Got My First 1,000 Substack Subscribers

The surprising secret that finally unlocked REAL Substack growth

Are you frustrated with your Substack’s stagnant growth?

Wondering why your subscriber count isn’t budging despite pouring your heart into your writing?

If so, you’re not alone. I know exactly how that feels.

I launched this exact Substack, the one you've been reading all along, this exact one you're reading right now, Meals-n-Minutes, on January 3, 2024, briming with hope and high expectations.

I clearly remember that day because I was so excited. My dream to be a writer was finally coming true.

I had researched and looked at all the possible creator platforms. I looked at Medium. I looked at Patreon.

Then bingo, I found Substack.

This was the ONE.

I told everyone.

I was convinced that if I just showed up each week with solid food content—quick, delicious recipes that people could eaaily make on a busy Tuesday—I’d grow fast and subscribers would pour in.

I was sorely mistaken.

I gave it my all.

I did everything the Substack “experts” recommended.

I followed Substack’s “Help* guide to a tee.

No paywall at first.

Ĺots of FREE cooking tips and recipes. All of my best cooking content for FREE.

Smart recipes.

But nothing seemed to move the needle.

Worse, I started losing subscribers. A slow downward drip at first. Then a little more.

And before long, I was asking the question every struggling writer fears: Is this even worth it?

The struggle: a year of stagnation

In the beginning, I was all in.

I posted every week. Sometimes two to three times a week.

I focused on what I loved—sharing my enthusiasm for cooking, clever shortcuts for busy nights, panrty and food prep tricks that saved me time and money.

I wanted my readers to feel like they had a close friend whispering time-saving advice in their ear.

And right there at first, I thought I was doing everything right.

But the numbers told a different story.

Every time I opened my dashboard, I saw red. Not metaphorically—literally.

My subscriber graph dipped downward month after month. I’d get a new subscriber here and there, but I'd lose two the next day.

There were no comments, ever. Nobody was sharing anything. I never even got a single like. And most weeks, it felt like I was writing into a void.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: it was exhausting. I was failing.

I started dreading newsletter days.

What was the point?

I was spending hours pouring my heart into my writing, editing—only to feel like I was shouting into a canyon.

After almost a year of seeing no growth at all, I wasn’t just tired. I was starting to get bitter. Resentful. I wanted to quit.

And then, one of those happy accidents happened.

The turning point: discovering Substack Notes

It was November 2024. Just before Thanksgiving.

I was poking around my Substack dashboard—more out of habit than hope—when I noticed a feature I hadn’t explored much: Notes.

I’d seen it before but assumed it was just a throwaway feed. I figured it was Substack’s version of Twitter and dismissed it. I wasn’t there to “post”—I was there to write, to be a serious writer.

But for whatever reason, that day, I clicked in.

Within a very short time, I realized I’d made a mistake ignoring it.

Substack Notes wasn’t just a casual scroll—it was alive. People were sharing, swapping feedback, posting spontaneous thoughts.

Readers were chiming in. People were actually talking to each other. And unlike social media platforms where your voice gets lost in the algorithm, this space felt real.

Human. Reachable.

I tried something small.

I posted my first note —just two lines and a picture.

It wasn’t perfect.

It didn’t go viral.

But someone actually commented. Then someone else liked it. Then another person liked it.

That was the day I stopped feeling alone on Substack.

The path to 1,000 subscribers

Everything changed once I started using Notes.

Really.

It was that life changing.

I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel. I just needed to show up there.

Every day or every other day, I’d share something short—quick ideas, half-finished thoughts, a joke, a question.

I made it a point to engage with other writers too, commenting on posts I enjoyed or supporting creators I admired.

And slowly, the needle moved.

It wasn’t explosive at first. But for the first time in months, the numbers were heading in the right direction.

It was a little slow at first.

Most of my Notes in those first few days got very little response.

A lot, in fact, got 0 responses.

But I stuck it out.

Slowly, my subscriber count started heading upward.

One new subscriber a day turned into three. Three turned into seven.

The more I posted on Notes, the more people responded. The more I showed up, the more they showed up for me.

I stopped worrying about perfecting every note. I stopped obsessing over open rates and started thinking about relationships instead.

And that shift changed everything.

By mid-January 2025, I’d crossed the 1,000-subscriber mark.

Not with ads.

Not with giveaways.

Not with gimmicks.

But by using Substack Notes to connect—genuinely, consistently, and imperfectly.

Today on Substack Notes

Today, I get thousands and thousands of likes, comments, and restacks on my Substack Notes. I get so many comments, in fact, that I literally don’t have enough hours in a day to answer them all.

It’s a good problem to have, I admit.

My current Notes performance:

• Over 100 Notes with more than 50 likes and comments (which I call high engagement)

• 75+ Notes with more than 100 likes (which is huge on Substack)

• 50+ Notes with more than 200 likes (which many call viral)

• 25+ Notes with more than 1,000 likes

• 1 with 8k and 1 with 10k likes (those I call viral)

And tons of others with moderate and low engagement.

I’m not showing this to brag, but just to show you what’s possible in just a few minutes a day if you follow a few simple rules.

Substack Can Give You a Second Chance

If you’re in that painful middle place—where you’re doing the work but seeing no results—I want to say this:

Don’t quit yet.

I almost did.

I almost pulled the plug just before everything started working. What saved me wasn’t some perfect Note post or flashy viral moment. It was something simple: I started connecting instead of broadcasting.

Substack Notes gave me a second chance to be seen.

It gave me the space to test ideas, build trust, and stay motivated when the long-form posts felt like too much. It reminded me why I started meals-n-minutes in the first place—not to grow an empire, but to help busy people get something on the table faster.

So, if you’re still waiting for your growth moment, go explore Notes.

Show up. Be generous. Be honest. Drop the polished act. Give your readers a peek behind the curtain. Say something real. Ask questions. Leave comments. Be part of the conversation—not just another voice in the void.

You never know who might be listening. And you might be one note away from your first 1,000 subscribers too.

I’ve been there. I see you. And I’m cheering you on.

You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone

Notes can be the fastest way to grow your Substack, but there's definitely a strategy to doing it effectively and sustainably.

That's why I created my “Skyrocket Your Substack” Notes Growth Hack + AI Prompt—so you don't have to figure out the nuances of Notes growth through trial and error like I did.

Inside, you'll learn my exact Notes strategy that brings in 10+ subscribers every day consistently. This isn't about chasing viral moments; it's about building a sustainable system that grows your newsletter steadily over time.

You'll get my content frameworks, posting strategies, engagement tactics, and the psychological triggers that make Notes irresistible to your ideal readers.