Everyone's Panicking About the Algorithm. I'm Making $20K/Month.

Everyone’s freaking out about Substack’s Algorithm. Meanwhile, I work less than 2 hours a day and earn $ 20,000 a month. Here’s what they’re missing.

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Every week, someone’s posting about how Notes isn’t working anymore.

“The algorithm changed!”

“My engagement dropped!”

“Personal stories aren’t getting shown!”

“Small creators are being suppressed!”

“Nothing I post gets traction anymore!”

And then they do what everyone does when they panic: they write an entire newsletter analyzing what’s wrong. They go live to discuss the changes but end up speculating and stirring up drama. They post Notes about why Notes stopped working (which is ironic if you think about it).

They’re treating it like the sky is falling.

And I’m sitting here thinking: if you’re panicking about an algorithm change, you don’t have a business. You have a house of cards that was always one update away from collapsing.

Because here’s what nobody’s saying that I’m going to say right now: I haven’t experienced any slowdown. In fact, my business has grown.

Not because I cracked some secret algorithm code. Not because I’m posting at the perfect time or using some magic Notes format.

Because I built an actual business. One that doesn’t fall apart when a platform makes a change.

Let Me Tell You What My Days Look Like

Yesterday, I worked for an hour and forty-five minutes.

I spent twenty minutes reading and responding to messages from my community. Another twenty checking on my digital product sales and updating a few things in my store. Thirty minutes creating content. And the rest reviewing my upcoming Notes-To-Subscribers masterclass and making a few tweaks.

That was my workday.

This month, I’m on track to make about $20,000. Some months, it’s $ 25,000 or $ 30,000.

And it comes from multiple sources: paid newsletter subscriptions, digital products, masterclasses, coaching calls, my course, as well as done-with-you and done-for-you services. All of it feeds into what I call my portfolio of paychecks.

I don’t work weekends unless I feel like it. I don’t hustle twelve-hour days. I don’t wake up stressed about whether the algorithm will show my content.

I work less than two hours a day. And my income keeps growing.

So when I see people freaking out about algorithm changes, I know exactly what the real problem is: they never built a sustainable business in the first place.

There’s A Big Difference Between a Business and a Hustle

Let me show you what I mean.

Most creators have a strategy that looks like this:

Post on Notes → Hope it goes viral → Get subscribers → Hope they upgrade to paid → Repeat

That’s not a business. That’s a slot machine. You pull the lever (post a Note), hope for a jackpot (virality), and when it doesn’t pay out, you blame the machine.

And when the casino changes how the slot machine works? You’re done.

The business model I built looks completely different:

Use Notes strategically → Build trust with your voice → Create a community → Nurture them with value → Guide people to your newsletter → Offer multiple ways to work with you → Serve them well → They tell others about you

See the difference?

One depends entirely on the platform doing what you want. The other works regardless of what the platform does.

One treats every post like a lottery ticket. The other treats every post as part of a larger system.

One falls apart when things change. The other adapts because the foundation is solid.

What Real Business Growth Looks Like

Last month was my highest subscriber growth month this year.

This month is on track to beat last month's record.

While people are analyzing why their Notes “stopped working,” my subscriber count continues to climb by hundreds every month. While false gurus are dissecting Substack’s algorithm and speculating (because nobody really knows how it works, right?), I’m serving my customers and building new products they’re asking for.

And here’s the thing: I’m not special. I’m not doing anything complicated or secretive.

I’m just building a business the way businesses are supposed to be built. And it comes from building 7 successful businesses over the last 20 years (5 while working full-time). I’ve go the essentials dialed in: marketing, sales, customer service, relationship building, and much more.

I understand what my audience needs, create solutions that address their problems, and guide them from free content to paid offerings. I deliver so much value that people tell others about me, restack my notes, and share links to my (-To-Thrive Newsletter, homepage, content and offers.

That’s it. That’s the whole formula.

No algorithm hacks. No growth secrets. No magic posting times.

Just a real business rooted in a solid foundation with efficient systems to run it.

So Why Is Everyone Else struggling?

The creators who are panicking right now all have the same problem: they built their entire strategy around what Substack’s algorithm was doing at one specific moment in time.

When that moment changed, so did their ability to grow.

They were posting a certain way because it “worked” in August. But they never understood why it worked or what they were actually building.

So when October rolled around and things shifted, they had no foundation to fall back on. No system. No real business.

Just tactics that stopped working.

And now they’re scrambling. Posting about how unfair it is. Analyzing what Substack “should” do differently. Trying to reverse-engineer the new algorithm.

Meanwhile, I’m doing the exact same things I was doing six months ago. Because I wasn’t relying on the algorithm in the first place.

I was building relationships, creating value, serving customers, and running a real business with a P & L and balance sheet.

And you know what? Businesses don’t panic when technology changes. They adapt. They keep serving their customers. They keep growing.

What Hamish Actually Said

Here’s what makes this whole panic even more ridiculous: last week, Hamish McKenzie (Substack’s co-founder) hosted an event in New York specifically about Notes.

Over a hundred Substack bestsellers showed up. He explained exactly what Notes is designed to do.

Want to know what he said?

Notes is built to help you own your audience, own your content, and build real relationships. The app is now the number one source of subscriber and revenue growth for publishers. Over the last three months, the app has driven more than 32 million free subscriptions and nearly half a million paid subscriptions.

He said Substack built its entire business model around one principle: it only makes money when you make money.

Everything I teach about building a portfolio business is precisely what Substack was designed to do.

The people panicking aren’t paying attention to what Substack actually built. They’re too busy analyzing and speculating about what they think changed and what’s going to happen next.

How I Do It (And Why It Works)

So, how did I build a business that requires less than two hours a day and generates over $ 20,000 a month, while everyone else is struggling?

It’s a complete system. And it starts with Notes.

Not because Notes is magic. Because Notes is the mechanism that gets people into your world. It’s how they discover you exist. It’s how they start to trust your voice. It’s how they move from stranger to subscriber to customer.

However, here’s the key: you must use Notes correctly, logically, and strategically. You need to understand what you’re building and stop treating it like other social media; instead, treat it as the entry point to your business.

That’s where most people go wrong. They think Notes is about getting likes, going viral, or posting at the right time.

It’s not.

Notes is about starting relationships that lead to revenue. It’s about demonstrating your value in a way that makes people want more. It’s about building trust, so when you offer something for sale, people don’t hesitate.

When you understand that, algorithm changes don’t matter. Because you’re not chasing the algorithm. You’re building a sustainable business model.

My Portfolio of Paychecks Strategy

Here’s what my business actually looks like:

I have one newsletter. That’s my foundation.

From that one newsletter, I’ve built multiple income streams:

Paid subscriptions for people who want my deep-dive content every week.

Digital products for people who need specific solutions they can implement right away.

Masterclasses & Bootcamps for those who wish to learn a specific part of the systems I use.

Coaching for individuals who require personalized support tailored to their unique situation.

My Substack 360 course + group coaching for people who want access to everything I know, organized and ready to implement.

Done-with-you Substack Setup for those who don’t have time to watch endless YouTube videos figuring out how to set up their Substack

Done-for-you services - For people and companies that want to hire someone knowledgeable to do the work

Same audience. Multiple ways to serve them. Multiple ways to earn.

And it all starts with Notes. That’s the entry point. That’s where people discover me. That’s where the system begins.

But most people never build the system. Instead, they just post Notes and hope something happens.

That’s why they panic when things change, because hope isn’t a strategy.

Where This All Starts

If you’re tired of worrying about algorithm changes...

If you’re tired of posting content that goes nowhere...

If you’re tired of working twelve-hour days and barely making progress...

Then you need a system. Not tactics. Not hacks. A complete system that works regardless of what platforms do.

And that system starts with Notes.

I’m teaching exactly how I use Notes to build subscriber growth that leads to real revenue in my Notes-To-Subscribers Masterclass on November 4th.

This isn’t about going viral. This isn’t about gaming the algorithm. This isn’t about posting twice a day and crossing your fingers.

This is about building a real business. The kind that works less than two hours a day. The kind that generates multiple income streams. The kind that keeps growing while everyone else panics.

I’ll show you:

• The specific Note formats I use to convert browsers into subscribers

• How to get consistent engagement that actually matters (not vanity metrics)

• Exactly what to post (and when) for real results

• The complete system that turns Notes into revenue

Investment: $37 - regularly $97

Paid Subscribers get it free.

Not a paid member yet? Upgrade now to get free access to this and all future masterclasses, weekly deep dives on monetization strategies, my Creator Tool Vault, and first dibs on my premium offers.

This Masterclass is limited to 20 people, allowing for quality Q&A and addressing your specific questions about your situation. I want you to leave with a plan you can implement immediately.

There are only 6 spots left, so register now → https://substack360.com/notes-masterclass

You’ll also get The Substack Engagement Playbook as a bonus—20 fast tactics to boost your reach and convert lurkers into paying customers.

The replay will be available if you are unable to attend live.

But here’s what I really want you to understand:

While everyone else is freaking out about algorithm changes, you could be building something that doesn’t need to worry about algorithms.

A real business with a real system that works.

That’s what this masterclass is all about.

See you at the masterclass,
Carrie