I went viral on Substack twice in one week. Here's what I learned (and how you can apply it).

It took me by surprise, tbh.

I'm sure you've seen them in your feeds.

Buzzing with likes, restacks, and comments.

Sometimes, it's a simple, short, innocuous statement. So simple you may even wonder how it got ~there~.

Other times, it's a longer story... Something sentimental, often deeply personal, that makes you stop and think.

Most times, I would see them and wonder: Will it ever happen to me?

I am, of course, talking about Substack notes that go ~viral~.

When I joined this platform in September 2024, I didn't really get what Notes was about. Is it X/Twitter? Is it blogspot meets Tumblr meets Instagram Threads? How should I use this thing? Would anyone even care what I have to say?

I would see those notes—the viral ones—and assume such reach was, well, out of reach for little ol' me. I'd never tried or cared to go viral on any platform, you see.

So—unsurprisingly—I never had.

Until… I did.

Twice, of all things. Within one week!

The notes in question?

This one:

And this one:

And while, yes, it did result in an influx of new subscribers (hello, new friends!) my biggest learnings from it all have been somewhat surprising…

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