So you want to repurpose your content from blog posts to Substack Notes?
Smart move. Most content creators make the mistake of creating everything from scratch. They’re constantly on the content creation hamster wheel, burning out while their best work stays hidden.
Why you should repurpose from blog posts to Substack Notes
Think about all the hours you’ve spent crafting those detailed blog posts. The research. The writing. The editing. The promotion.
What if those same pieces could reach an entirely new audience with just 15 minutes of work?
That’s the power of repurposing content. You’re not just saving time—you’re maximizing your content’s ROI.
The truth is, you never really know what content is going to resonate until you put it out there.
For example, I had YouTube videos about note-taking and the Zettelkasten that didn’t take off, but the same information/content on Medium did and helped me launch a profitable course and added almost 3,000 new subscribers to my email list in 4 months.
This difference is due to various factors such as the audience, the algorithm, the timing, and so on…
The main differences between blog posts and Substack Notes
Blog posts are typically:
- Longer (800-2000+ words)
- More structured with headings, subheadings
- SEO-optimized
- Intended for deeper dives
Substack Notes are:
- Short (up to 999 characters)
- Casual, conversational
- Often more personal
- Perfect for quick insights or observations
- Interactive with quick replies
Why you should post on Substack Notes
Substack Notes is Substack’s answer to X—but with a crucial difference: it’s designed to help writers grow their newsletter subscriber base.
Unlike traditional social media where your content gets lost in the algorithm void, Notes connects directly to your monetization engine—your newsletter.
It’s still relatively new, which means less competition and more organic reach. Early adopters are seeing significant engagement that directly translates to subscriber growth.
Build Your Swipe File Of Winning Substack Notes Content
Okay, so the best way to actually find or actually write for Substack Notes is to find content that is already performing well. The reason is because each platform has its own rules.
For example, while your blog posts might perform well with comprehensive how-to guides, Substack Notes might reward pithy observations or provocative questions instead.
So you want to find specific examples to understand what exactly to extract and rewrite.
PRO TIP: One of the best ways is to always find creators who are new to the platform and actually get a lot of traction. The reason why you don’t want to model the gurus is because they already have traction so they can actually get away by doing things that might not necessarily work for you as a small account.
Yes, this requires a bit of upfront work. But it will be well worth it.
And in case you want a shortcut…
There’s a free social media swipe file that you can grab here. (yup, it’s free.)
Set up an automation to turn blog posts to Substack Notes
Okay, so now that you’ve have these laid out, what you can do is use AI and automation tools to make this process as smooth as butter.
As soon as you post on your blog it will then actually perform and actually use this for Substack Notes.
You can start creating automations that utilize specific prompts to save your time.
Tools like n8n, Make (formerly Integromat), or Zapier are perfect for this. Here’s a simple workflow:
1. When a new blog post is published (trigger)
2. Extract the title, main points, and key insights
3. Send to an AI tool with a specific prompt
4. Automatically post the result to Substack Notes
Here’s a sample prompt you could use:
Transform this blog post excerpt into a compelling 250-character Substack Note that asks a thought-provoking question or shares a single valuable insight. Include one emoji and make it conversational. Don’t include links or hashtags.
This simple automation can turn your 1,500-word blog post into an engaging Substack Note in seconds.
If your blog post contains multiple key points, you can even set up the automation to create 3-5 Notes from a single post, scheduling them throughout the week.
When repurposing blog content to Notes, focus on:
- Extracting single, powerful ideas
- Turning how-to sections into thought-provoking questions
- Sharing surprising statistics or counterintuitive insights
- Teasing your deeper content without being overly promotional
For more tips on how to repurpose your content and grow your audience with less work, sign up for my free emails below: