Welcome to Day 1 of the notes challenge! Let's get you moving. First, the ground rules, because they're what make this work. Every morning this week, Monday through Friday, I'll post one prompt with a Note format to try. Your job is to write your Note in that format, post it to Substack, then come back here and drop the link in this thread. Then comes the part that matters most: engage. Read the Notes your fellow challengers dropped in this thread and like, comment, and restack the ones that land with you. The more you show up for other people here, the more they show up for you. A group of us boosting each other early is what gets these Notes traction, so don't just drop your link and run. Hang out, be generous, and it comes back around. We'll be doing this every day with a different notes format, so check back in this section called "Notes Challenge." I will be starting a new thread for each day of the challenge. One step before you write. Using your own data is the most valuable tool you have. Pull up your last 10 Notes and jot down the likes, comments, and restacks each one got, then drop those numbers in a spreadsheet. That's your "before." On Friday you'll check again and see what five days did. Totally optional, but the people who track it are the ones who get to brag later. Today's format is the Quick Win. You solve one specific problem for your reader in under 60 seconds in one Note. Here's what goes into a good one: The hook. Your first line has to stop the scroll before anyone taps "more." Today we're using a Number Hook: open with a specific, surprising number. Not "a lot of people," but something like "I posted 16 Notes last week and one brought in 514 subscribers." The problem. Name one real thing your reader is stuck on. Just one. Be specific enough that the right person reads it and thinks "that's me." Give them the answer in a step or two. This is a Quick Win, so keep it to something they can do in about 30 seconds. No 12-step framework, no "it depends." We're giving them one clear move.

Welcome to Day 2 of the Notes Challenge. Today we're writing one of the highest-performing Note format on Substack right now, and it's the one that turns readers into subscribers. The formula: moment → action → noticing → result → meaning. A real moment from your life, 5 to 10 lines, tied to a specific number or result. Today's hook is the Mini-Story Opener. Start in the middle of a moment, not at the beginning. "My daughter asked me why I'm always on my phone." You're already inside the scene. The rule is specificity. Not "I struggled early on," but "In my first month I made $0 and refreshed my subscriber dashboard nine times a day." Your prompt: Write a Personal Story + Data Note about one real moment from your work. Include at least two concrete specifics: a number, a time, a place, a quote. End on what it meant, said plainly. It has to feel lived-in, not manufactured. If it feels made up, it reads made up. Post your Note, drop the link below, and comment on three others. Catch-up reminder: Missed yesterday? Go post your Day 1 Note in that thread too, and leave some love on the Notes that came in before yours. Catching up counts.

Wow, we've grown by more than 50 members this week. Welcome to all of you who recently joined the Society. I thought it would be a great for us to get to know each other a little better. What were you doing 5 years ago vs. today? And how is your life different because of any changes you made intentionally or unintentionally? I was deep in corporate marketing with zero plan to leave. Now I run my portfolio businesses from my couch. Your turn.

I'm preparing my newsletter for Tuesday and I'm really excited about it because it's all about visual branding. This is something I don't really talk about, but I've been using AI for image creation since the early days of Midjourney. I went live with Pinkie from AI Meets Girl Boss last week and we talked about visual branding and how it lead to more subscribers for both of us. In the comments, I'm sharing a few prompts that will be included in Tuesday's paid subscriber issue so you can try them out. I'm wondering what the members of this community have done for their visual branding. Please feel free to share your style and drop some images in the comments. There are a total of 20 image prompts like these in Tuesday's issue. Would you like me to turn it into a guide and include it in the classroom?

Which best describes your current stage: just launched, under 500 subs, 500–2,000, or 2,000+?