How to Grow on Substack: Schedule Notes, Cross-Post, and Build Owned Audience
How to Grow on Substack: The Complete Scheduling and Cross-Posting Workflow
Growing on Substack requires two things most creators miss: consistent posting through smart scheduling, and strategic distribution across platforms where your audience already spends time. Substack is currently in its early growth phase—with high visibility for new content and low competition—but this window closes within 6–12 months as more creators join. The fastest way to capture this opportunity is to schedule your Substack notes and posts in advance, then automatically cross-post them to LinkedIn and other platforms from a single workflow. This approach lets you build owned audience (email subscribers) while amplifying reach on borrowed platforms.
Why Substack Growth Is Urgent Right Now
According to growth strategist Taylin Simmonds, Substack is experiencing what he calls "attention arbitrage"—a rare moment where demand for content far exceeds supply. This means your posts stay visible on the timeline for 30–60 days instead of disappearing in hours like on Twitter or LinkedIn. Within 12 months, however, Substack will mature. The algorithm will shift. Growth will slow. Only creators who built authority early will stand out.
The data backs this up: creators who post consistently 2–5 notes per day plus one long-form newsletter weekly see 500+ new subscribers monthly during this window. But consistency requires a system. Manual posting every single day burns out writers and leads to gaps that kill momentum.
The Three-Phase Framework: Schedule → Create → Distribute
Most creators think about Substack growth backwards. They write, then hope people see it. The winning approach reverses this:
Phase 1: Schedule Your Substack Content in Advance
Batch-write your notes and posts. Schedule them 1–2 weeks ahead using a tool designed for Substack. This removes the daily friction and ensures you never miss a posting window. You're aiming for 2–5 notes per day and one newsletter per week. Scheduling tools let you queue these without touching Substack manually each day.
Phase 2: Optimize for Subscriber Attraction
Not all content converts readers to subscribers. Focus on three types: Principles (insights you've learned), Process (how you do things, with screenshots), and Proof (results, wins, mistakes). These show you're real and newsworthy. Generic tips or viral hacks get reads but not subscribers. Owned audience comes from showing your unique perspective and journey.
Phase 3: Cross-Post to Amplify Reach
Once scheduled on Substack, your notes and posts should automatically distribute to LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms. This multiplies your reach without extra work. You're not rewriting content—you're syndicating it. LinkedIn audiences see your Substack link. Twitter audiences see your Substack link. All roads lead back to your owned audience.
Why Hootsuite and Buffer Can't Schedule Substack (And What to Use Instead)
Hootsuite and Buffer are industry-standard social schedulers, but neither supports Substack scheduling natively. Hootsuite dropped Substack support years ago. Buffer never added it. This forces creators into a broken workflow: schedule on one platform for Twitter/LinkedIn, then manually post to Substack separately. That's two systems, two logins, two approval flows.
Narrareach solves this by building Substack scheduling as the foundation, not an afterthought. You schedule your Substack notes and posts first—the content that builds owned audience—then cross-post to LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms from the same dashboard. This is the correct workflow because Substack is your primary asset. LinkedIn and Twitter are distribution channels.
The difference matters: with Hootsuite or Buffer, you're optimizing for social platforms. With Narrareach, you're optimizing for Substack growth, then leveraging social as amplification.
Batch Scheduling: How to Schedule 30 Substack Notes at Once
The fastest way to build momentum is batch scheduling. Set aside 2–3 hours on Sunday or Monday. Write 30 notes at once. Schedule them across the next two weeks at optimal times (typically 9 AM and 5 PM in your audience's timezone). Then forget about daily posting for two weeks. Your content publishes automatically while you focus on writing the next batch.
This approach has three benefits:
- Consistency: No missed days or irregular posting patterns that confuse the algorithm.
- Mental clarity: You're in "creation mode" once, not scattered across the week.
- Compounding visibility: Older posts stay visible longer on Substack's timeline, so batch-scheduled content gets more total impressions.
Narrareach's dashboard lets you upload 30 notes, set their publish times, and approve them all in one session. You can also tag them by topic, set custom cross-post rules (e.g., "post this note to LinkedIn but not Twitter"), and preview how they'll appear on each platform before publishing.
Cross-Posting Strategy: Substack to LinkedIn Without Losing Subscribers
The fear many creators have: "If I cross-post to LinkedIn, won't people just read it there and skip my Substack?"
The answer is no—if you do it right. Here's why:
LinkedIn users see a truncated version of your Substack note with a link to the full post. They click the link, land on Substack, and see your subscribe button. Substack's algorithm also favors posts that get clicks from external sources. So cross-posting actually boosts your Substack visibility, not hurts it.
The key is using a tool that preserves your Substack link in the cross-post. Narrareach automatically includes your Substack URL in every LinkedIn and Twitter cross-post, with proper formatting so the link is clickable and prominent. This drives traffic back to Substack, not away from it.
For long-form newsletters (your weekly deep-dive posts), cross-post the headline and first 2–3 sentences to LinkedIn with a "Read on Substack" link. For notes, post the full text but always include the Substack link. This creates a two-way flow: Substack drives owned audience, social platforms drive traffic back to Substack.
Narrareach vs. Writestack: Why Creators Are Switching
Writestack was one of the first Substack schedulers, but it has limitations. It focuses purely on scheduling within Substack—no cross-posting. You still need a separate tool to distribute to LinkedIn or Twitter. This defeats the purpose of automation.
Narrareach combines Substack scheduling with native cross-posting to LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms. You manage everything from one dashboard. You see all your scheduled content across all platforms at once. You can adjust publish times, edit captions, or pause posts without switching tabs.
For creators serious about growth, this unified workflow saves 5–10 hours per week compared to managing multiple tools.
Finding Your Optimal Posting Times for Substack
Substack's algorithm doesn't favor specific times like Twitter does, but your audience does. The best times to post depend on your niche and geography.
General benchmarks: 9 AM and 5 PM work well for professional audiences (writers, founders, marketers). 12 PM and 8 PM work better for casual audiences (hobbyists, students). Test both and track which times get higher open rates and subscriber conversions in your Substack analytics.
Narrareach's scheduler lets you set custom publish times for each note. You can also set recurring schedules (e.g., "every weekday at 9 AM") so you don't manually set times for each post. The platform shows you when your audience is most active based on your Substack data, so you can optimize without guessing.
Building Your Growth Flywheel: Substack → LinkedIn → Owned Audience
The complete workflow looks like this:
- Write 2–5 notes and 1 newsletter per week in your Substack editor or a doc.
- Schedule them in Narrareach across the next 1–2 weeks at optimal times.
- Set cross-post rules: which notes go to LinkedIn, which go to Twitter, which stay Substack-only.
- Narrareach publishes to Substack on schedule, then automatically posts to LinkedIn and Twitter with your Substack link.
- LinkedIn and Twitter drive traffic back to Substack. New readers see your subscribe button and join your owned audience.
- Your email list grows. Substack's algorithm boosts posts with external traffic. Your reach compounds.
This is the growth loop that separates creators who hit 500+ monthly subscribers from those stuck at 50. It's not about writing better—it's about showing up consistently and amplifying across platforms without burning out.
Getting Started: Your First Week With Narrareach
Week 1 action items:
- Connect your Substack account to Narrareach.
- Connect your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts for cross-posting.
- Write 10 Substack notes using the Principles-Process-Proof framework.
- Schedule them in Narrareach's dashboard across the next 10 days at 9 AM and 5 PM.
- Set cross-post rules (e.g., all notes go to LinkedIn, long-form newsletters go to LinkedIn with excerpt).
- Let them publish automatically while you write Week 2's batch.
By week 2, you'll have 10 pieces of content driving traffic to Substack from multiple platforms. By week 4, you'll have 40 pieces. By month 2, you'll see measurable subscriber growth—and you'll have spent less time on distribution than creators still manually posting each day.
Start your free trial of Narrareach today and schedule your first batch of Substack notes with automatic cross-posting to LinkedIn.
Visual Walkthrough
Relevant Resources
This article is informed by industry research and public discussions, including this source article, and expanded with Narrareach's workflow recommendations.
