How I Use AI to Write Dozens of Viral Substack Notes in Minutes

Let me be honest with you:

I've never been passionate about writing short-form content.

What I love is writing newsletters and long-form content.

But here's the thing...

Substack notes are one of the best ways to grow your email list on the platform.

So I had two choices:

Either force myself to write 50 notes a week (and hate my life)...

Or find a way to automate the process with AI while keeping the quality high.

I chose the second option.

And today, I'm going to share the exact workflow I use to create dozens of high-quality notes from a single newsletter.

This system works for notes, tweets, or any short-form content.

But before diving into the workflow itself, you need to understand what makes a note go viral in the first place.

What Makes a Note Go Viral?

There are many factors that contribute to a note's success...

But if I had to summarize it in one sentence:

You need a strong concept that challenges the popular opinion.

The notes that perform best are the ones that disrupt the status quo, that go against what everyone else is saying in your niche.

This requires some competitive research to understand:

• What people are already saying on the platform

• What's working and what's not

• What opinions dominate your niche

For example, in the AI space, my best-performing notes always share my philosophy that AI isn't binary.

There aren't just two camps (people who use AI for everything and will lose all their skills, and people who are completely anti-AI).

There's a third way:

Using AI intentionally.

I've declined this perspective into multiple notes, and it always performs well.

My biggest note on Substack (22,000 likes) said that contrary to what everyone was saying about "Substack not being a social network," yes, it IS a social network with the same patterns.

That contrarian take was the big idea that made it viral.

(And other factors that I've described in greater length in this newsletter)

The big idea is what determines whether a note succeeds or fails.

It doesn't matter how well it's written or structured.

Without a strong, contrarian idea, it won't go viral.

My AI Workflow for Creating Viral Notes

Now that you understand the importance of big ideas, here's my process:

Step 1: Start with a Newsletter

I always start from a newsletter I've already written.

Why?

Because my newsletters already contain the big ideas I want to share.

I simply copy my newsletter and paste it into Claude (my favorite AI for writing).

In Kortex, it's super simple.

I just mention the newsletter in the chat, and it's automatically used as context.

Step 2: Extract the Big Ideas

My workflow is divided into several stages.

(The complete workflow is in my course The Augmented Creator, so I won't share everything here).

But the principle is simple:

I ask the AI to analyze the newsletter and extract the most important big ideas and perspectives.

This allows the AI to identify which ideas have the potential to become viral notes.

It's a very important step in the process because it forces the AI to first focus on the big ideas before trying to write something.

I've observed that doing things this way usually improves the quality of the final output.

Step 3: Use a Reference Document

You have two options here:

Option 1: If you already have notes that performed well

Create a document in Kortex where you compile all your notes that got at least 10 likes (ideally more).

This document serves as a reference for the AI to:

• Learn your writing style

• Understand the words you use

• Identify the patterns and templates that work for you

This is what I do personally.

Option 2: If you're just starting out

Create a swipe file of notes from other creators in your niche that performed well.

Find creators you admire (ideally between 1K-20K followers on Substack) and save their best-performing notes.

Put them in a Kortex document and reference it in your AI chat.

One important note here:

Don't look at huge accounts like Hormozi as references.

Hormozi can tweet "drink water" and get 500 likes.

That's because of his authority and social proof, not because the content is revolutionary.

If you copy what big accounts do, it won't work for you because you don't have their authority yet.

Focus on smaller creators (1K-20K followers) who occasionally hit viral notes despite not having massive followings.

Those are the patterns worth studying.

Step 4: Generate Notes from Big Ideas

Once you have your reference document, ask the AI to create notes based on the big ideas from your newsletter, using the formats from your reference document.

I typically generate 3-5 notes per big idea.

Then I repeat this process with as many newsletters as I want.

Simple, right?

The Most Important Skill: Developing Unique Perspectives

Now you might be wondering...

"How do I develop these unique perspectives in the first place?"

This is THE skill that will determine your success with content in general.

That's why I created Noah's Ark Bank:

My library of templates, frameworks, AI prompts, and workflows for building a second brain in Kortex.

Inside, you'll learn the Zettelkasten method, a note-taking and knowledge acquisition system that helps you:

• Assimilate concepts and ideas faster

• Connect ideas together

• Develop your own unique perspectives

This is the system that has allowed me to systematically collect notes and develop my unique perspective for years.

It's what helped me grow my email list from 50 to 1,600 people in just 9 months.

The Curation Step (Don't Skip This!)

Here's where most people mess up:

One of AI's strengths is that it can create tons of content quickly.

This is also one of its weaknesses.

You can easily generate 30 notes where 80% aren't great.

That's why it's crucial not to be lazy and just ask the AI to "write me 20 notes at once."

You'll get overwhelmed and won't be able to identify what's relevant.

Instead, work idea by idea:

1. Ask the AI to identify the most relevant big ideas from your newsletter

2. Select the most important idea that's best suited for the note format

3. Generate 3 notes based on that specific idea

4. Select the best one and refine it (change some words, adjust formulations)

5. Repeat for the next big idea

This curation work is what will help you grow your account faster.

Why I Love Daily Emails + AI Notes

I write a daily email, which gives me tons of raw material to turn into notes with AI.

But even if you only write a weekly newsletter, this system works.

The advantage of daily emails is that I can test tons of ideas rapidly.

If you only write one newsletter per week, you might have 3-5 big ideas, with maybe 1-2 truly strong ones.

That gives you one week to test those ideas.

Maybe that week, your ideas weren't strong enough, so your account doesn't grow much.

With daily emails, I test new big ideas every day.

I can quickly see what works and what doesn't.

The Secret Leverage: Reuse What Works

Here's a final hack that most people ignore:

When you have a note that performs well (10+ likes minimum), save it.

Create new variations of it.

And don't be afraid to republish it 2-3 months later.

If it brought you 10, 20, 50, or 100 followers the first time, it can do it again.

Don't be afraid or ashamed to reuse content that works.

That's how leverage works on social media.

My note that got 22,000 likes?

It brought me 400-500 email subscribers by itself.

That single note, which took me 2 minutes to create with AI, brought me the equivalent of months of work with other content (YouTube videos, Twitter threads, etc.).

That's the magic of social media.

The time you spend is NOT equal to the quality of results you get.

When you find something that works, hold onto it.

Use it again and again.

That's how you'll reach financial freedom and accomplishment with your online business as fast as possible.

Simple but Not Easy

As always, the process is simple:

• Write at least one newsletter per week

• Extract big ideas with AI

• Generate notes based on those ideas

• Curate and publish the best ones

• Reuse what works

But simple doesn't mean easy.

The real skill is developing those unique, contrarian perspectives that make people stop scrolling.

That's what separates viral notes from invisible ones.

Also remember that not ALL of your notes will go viral.

And that's okay.

What matters is trying things out and finding what sticks.

Ultimately, you'll find some bangers that you'll be able to iterate from.

But first, you need to create volume so you have enough sample data for your next piece of content.

Thanks for reading,

And welcome back to the Ark.

Noah.