(Live Replay) Let's batch schedule some Substack Notes + Understand your Substack Content Buckets!

“We literally can’t consume anymore.

We’ve consumed all of the internet, guys. We win. We win a medal. We know what to do on Substack Notes, we don’t have to over think it and we don’t have to share our breakfast.”

Hi folks,

Thanks for joining me for my impromptu live yesterday. I wanted to break down the importance of jumping on this WONDERFUL opportunity of scheduling your notes this month. Drop me an emoji in the comments if you’re going to try it out?

I’ll pop back in on a live at the end of the month ahead of our Notes engagement thread.

Ai Summary - thanks Claude.

This is an impromptu live session hosted by Claire (of Sparkle on Substack), aimed at her community of Substack writers — particularly women who want to write and grow online without burning out.

The session covers three main areas:

1. Curating Substack Notes for Your Wellbeing Claire opens by urging viewers to aggressively mute and block content on Notes that feels overwhelming or news-heavy. She frames Notes as a space that should feel like a creative retreat, not a doom-scroll. She emphasises that the algorithm learns your preferences quickly, so liking and muting deliberately shapes what you see.

2. Content Buckets & Ideal Reader Before diving into scheduling, Claire explains her approach to editorial planning. She uses 2–3 “content buckets” — broad theme categories that all her writing fits into (e.g. Self-Seed Your Business, Wholehearted Living). She ties every piece of content back to a clearly defined ideal reader: what they feel on the inside, what they think on the outside. The goal isn’t to force topics, but to develop an embodied sense of what that reader needs.

3. Scheduling Notes (the Practical Demo) Claire walks through Substack’s new Notes scheduling feature, showing how to draft, save, and schedule notes in advance — useful for holidays, busy periods, or reaching audiences in different time zones. She advises putting links in the comments rather than the note itself (for better reach), tracking which notes convert to subscribers (not just likes), and not obsessing over vanity metrics. She plans to experiment with scheduling notes overnight to reach international audiences.

“We don’t need to go viral. We need to be connecting with the one human — this person — who isn’t already subscribed to our work and would love to be.”

Her Story Towards the end, Claire shares her personal origin story: she started her Substack in 2020 during postpartum, with three hours of childcare a week, while her husband was seriously ill. Writing was her lifeline, and she describes discovering a raw, poetic voice she didn’t know she had. Three people paid in her first week.

Sparkle on Substack 💎Diamond membership tier is available with a £50 discount expiring April 3rd, and you are invited to our free book writing group, 12 Chapters Club!!

Key Quotes

“On Substack Notes, you need to be imagining that you are walking into a retreat that is gonna fuel your creativity — who’s there, what have they got to say, what’s on the wall, are there fresh flowers, is the coffee good... That is the best environment for our creative practice. Don’t consume stuff that is going to upset you.”

“We don’t really need the vanity metrics. Like we don’t need the likes... The purpose really with notes is discoverability — for new people to find our work.”

“I always connect everything I write back to the audience. And I hold the audience that I know in my head.”

“It’s not about blueprints — it’s about what feels really good to you. That’s how we don’t burn out. It’s not a job, it’s a response to a calling guys!”

“People are constantly making judgements and constantly deciding in their nervous systems whether you’re the right person for them.”

“We can ditch all the social media stuff about hooks and grabbing attention and just know that the right people will seek us out. We just have to kind of fly our flag a little bit.”

Top tips

If you put a link in a note, it doesn’t do as well. Like it isn’t shown to as many people. So put the link in the comments below.

✨

Helpful screenshots on how to schedule Notes (desktop) ✨

Join 💎Diamond Membership, get my eyes on your Substack for a whole year - payment plans available!

* Work on your Substack goals and strategy with a wonderfully supportive community. Get accountability and eyes on your blind spots.

* Align your Substack home with your business and content ecosystem across all platforms and your website!

* Get Access to my updated Substack 0-$10k framework and run through it live with us in June! or jump into our telegram chat group NOW!

* Live Monthly coaching and mentoring calls. (These are either 9.30am or 3pm UK time - I tend to alternate month on month). I hot seat your Substack so we can peer learn together!

* Access to masterclass replays, guest teaching replays and advanced Substack tutorials to convert more free subs to paid subs and set up a home here you are SUPER proud of.

* An annual Substack audit with me where a kind and supportive critical friend (that’s me) for your Substack and we work on new strategies and design to increase free and paid subs and align with your wider writing and visibility goals!

Join us, comment below or dm me, email [email protected] with any questions.

Hit reply if you have questions, I love hearing from you.

Claire

✨

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sparkleon.substack.com/subscribe