| If you’re reading this, you’re one of the reasons I was able to grow this newsletter. My profound thanks! It still means the world to me when someone tells me they read this every Friday. Since the newsletter hit a pretty major milestone recently 🎉 10,000 subscribers 🎉 I wanted to share exactly how we got here, what it took and some of the specific people who reached out to offer tips and support along the way. Now, let’s dig in. I’ve broken this post down into: Just start. It took me almost a year to get into the groove and find my voice. And I didn’t have a real logo, turn on paid subscriptions or start accepting sponsors for almost two years. But when my full time job came to an end in January 2023 and I decided to take the newsletter more seriously, I already knew where I was going and what the audience wanted to see. It was much easier to pick up the pace than start from scratch. Know your audience. Having a specific audience in mind is helpful for knowing what to include and what to ignore. I’m happy to have as many people as possible reading but ultimately I write for people in the early stages of their career (or who are new to social media and influencer marketing). They don’t have mentors or large teams supporting them. I want my newsletter to be a resource for these creators and social media managers. I want them to read it and feel confident walking into a meeting or negotiation session. I want them to feel like they have the tools they need to succeed. Because of this, I don’t worry about being judged by peers or other marketing executives. Getting crystal clear on your audience helps remove impostor syndrome if you’re worried about friends or colleagues judging the content you produce.
Write as if you already have 10K subscribers. Create for the audience you want, not the audience you have. I had about 900 subscribers when I started writing as if I had 10K subscribers. I stuck to a weekly schedule; looked at other newsletters to see if there were improvements I could make (Café Anne, Big Technology, Morning Brew and Publish Press were all sources of inspiration for tone, formatting and promotional tactics); and I kept refining the content I was creating even though very few people were reading at the time. Set goals for yourself Subscriber growth can be a goal but it shouldn’t be the only one. I’m constantly updating the goals I have for myself, whether it’s consistency, trying to keep my open rate at 50%, getting mentioned in blogs or by media outlets, launching paid subscriptions or attracting sponsors.
You get out what you put into it. I’ve doubled the time I spend on my newsletter since January 2023 and increased subscribers by 165%. It’s not necessarily longer but I am putting more effort into identifying unique trends and case studies and adding more thoughtful insights. The more original content I produce, the better this newsletter performs.
Pick a newsletter platform with a recommendation feature There are a lot of good email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Hubspot, etc.). What attracted me to Substack was the built-in recommendation feature which enables writers to promote and support one another. Now, other ESPs (email service providers) like ConvertKit and Beehiiv are offering similar recommendation engines to help creators leverage the community aspect of their platforms. And getting on other people’s recommendation lists helps a LOT. My newsletter is recommended by 38 other Substack newsletters and I’ve gotten 3,000 subscribers out of those recommendations.
Promote other newsletters and newsletter creators Along with automatic recommendation features, make sure you’re collaborating with other writers and promoting each other’s work. Cross-platform promotion is hard — it’s like getting people on YouTube to follow you on Instagram and vice versa. About 45% of my subscribers have come through other Substack newsletters. People are already there and receptive to the format. Get your newsletter in front of journalists, bloggers, and key tastemakers As I mentioned, getting included in a ‘best of’ round-up was a major goal for me this year. It helps provide social proof, reinforces credibility and increases visibility, all key building blocks of social influence. Being included in Buffer’s best marketing newsletters' list in March has driven 548 subscriptions for me so far and is a bragging point I’ve added to my bio. Consistency AND quality is key You’re asking for people’s time and attention on the reg, make it worth their while to click in. As Katelyn Bourgoin recently pointed out, inboxes are getting very crowded. Make sure you’re delivering outstanding value if you want to keeping earning an open from readers.
Starting the year with 137 subscribers The newsletter is a bullet point list of headlines with very little commentary May 26, 2021 Link In Bio’s Rachel Karten recommends my newsletter to her audience and I go from 357 to 686 subscribers overnight I begin to pay more attention to who’s recommending me and set up my own recommendations
Starting the year with 1,070 subscribers I start promoting the newsletter each week on Twitter and Instagram I start doing mini interviews with other creators and marketers to include in my newsletter, creating unique content that also encourages sharing I begin doing podcast interviews with other creators to reach potential new subscribers
Starting the year with 4,045 subscribers My full time job comes to an end so I double the amount of time spent on the newsletter, going from about half a day of research and writing to at least a full day
I launch a version of my newsletter on LinkedIn, thanks to Alice Moon’s encouragement. LinkedIn alerts your audience when you launch the newsletter and when you publish each issue. It also appears in people’s feeds. I worried about audience cannibalization but it doesn’t seem to be a factor. Based on consistent open rates and anecdotal evidence, people who want to read the newsletter in their inbox don’t sign up on LinkedIn and vice versa
Buffer’s Tamilore Oladipo adds me to a list of top marketing newsletters. Getting named on a round-up of best newsletters was a goal I set for 2023 so I’m thrilled. I wish I could take credit for this but it’s actually by accident. Based on the referral traffic I can see, it becomes a steady source of subscribers
Another creator friend shares an exclusive look at the new Instagram app. Based on what happened the last time I almost bury the news. At the last minute, I decide to make Instagram’s new app the subject line Overnight I get 800 new subscribers The newsletter gets mentioned in more than 20 articles and I’m interviewed by Bloomberg and CBS News
And as always I want to continue creating something every week that convinces you to click in, read and feel like ICYMI is your secret weapon for success at work! Thanks again! | |