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Growth experiments, with numbers.

What actually moves subscribers on Substack — Notes, replies, articles and honest results, straight from building Subshack in public. Looking for the method rather than the diary? Start with the guides.

Two Notes Brought Me 63 Subscribers. Then I Stopped Using the Strategy Behind Them.Aug 28, 2026Two Notes Brought Me 63 Subscribers. Then I Stopped Using the Strategy Behind Them.I removed the tactic behind my fastest Substack growth to see whether original content could replace it. I ended up publishing more, reaching fewer people, and discovering my real bottleneck.Read the post →19 Subscribers Came Through Notes. Not One Was Attributed to a Note.Aug 26, 202619 Subscribers Came Through Notes. Not One Was Attributed to a Note.Both numbers were correct. They measured two different layers of attribution.Read the post →I Built a Tool to Detect Reciprocal Growth. Then It Flagged My Own Article.Aug 23, 2026I Built a Tool to Detect Reciprocal Growth. Then It Flagged My Own Article.The mistake forced me to separate organic, community-driven and reciprocal growth—without changing the raw numbers.Read the post →My Subscriber Count Grew. My Open Rate Fell From 34% to 18%.Aug 20, 2026My Subscriber Count Grew. My Open Rate Fell From 34% to 18%.Across my first nine articles, later posts clustered between 18% and 23% while my subscriber count continued climbing. A bigger list did not automatically create a more engaged audience.Read the post →I Checked the Data Behind My Own Growth Advice. It Was Worse Than I ThoughtAug 19, 2026I Checked the Data Behind My Own Growth Advice. It Was Worse Than I ThoughtI analysed 105 Notes. Two of them accounted for 56 of the 62 subscribers Substack attributed to individual Notes — 90%.Read the post →How I Got 34 Replies on My First Substack Chat ThreadAug 13, 2026How I Got 34 Replies on My First Substack Chat ThreadThe exact setup I used—and why community may be the missing piece in growing without subscribe-for-subscribe.Read the post →I Stopped Subscribe-for-Subscribe. Here’s the Growth System I’m Testing InsteadAug 12, 2026I Stopped Subscribe-for-Subscribe. Here’s the Growth System I’m Testing InsteadFor seven days, I’m replacing reciprocal subscriptions with original Notes, meaningful replies, useful articles, a custom domain, and SEO. This is day two.Read the post →I Tested 3 Substack Growth Strategies for One Week. Here Are the Results.Aug 10, 2026I Tested 3 Substack Growth Strategies for One Week. Here Are the Results.I used subscribe-for-subscribe, Notes, and original articles. The data surprised me.Read the post →I Hit 100 Substack Subscribers in My First Week. Then I Added 50 More Before the Week Was Even Over.Aug 7, 2026I Hit 100 Substack Subscribers in My First Week. Then I Added 50 More Before the Week Was Even Over.I started from zero. Reaching 100 felt like the milestone. What happened immediately after was even more interestingRead the post →Why My Most Contrarian Substack Post Outperformed My Growth ReportsAug 7, 2026Why My Most Contrarian Substack Post Outperformed My Growth ReportsMy most opinionated post got the most views, opens and discussion—but the practical post was the only one that directly generated a subscriber.Read the post →How I Grew From 25 to 67 Substack Subscribers in Four DaysAug 5, 2026How I Grew From 25 to 67 Substack Subscribers in Four DaysReciprocal-support Notes helped create momentum, while original Notes gave people a reason to understand my work.Read the post →Aug 3, 2026Why Subscribe-for-Subscribe Is Not Really Win-WinIt can help you leave zero, but it can also fill your publication with people who never intended to read it.Read the post →The Fastest Way I Found to Get My First 25 Substack SubscribersAug 2, 2026The Fastest Way I Found to Get My First 25 Substack SubscribersI’m now at 41 subscribers in under a week. Reciprocal-support Notes solved the cold start—but they won’t build the audience I want.Read the post →26 Subscribers Before My First Newsletter PostAug 1, 202626 Subscribers Before My First Newsletter PostNo email list. No published article. The first 17 subscribers came through the Substack network. Here’s the experiment I’m running to reach 100.Read the post →