⚡ #109: 7 newsletter mistakes you're making—and how to fix them.
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This is GC⚡ #109 — helping you make that newsletter moolah
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[GC & Industry News & Announcements]
What You Need To Know
beehiiv introduces unsubscribe forms and automation updates
Yet another feature update from one of the fastest-growing newsletter businesses.
Substack releases "State of SEO on Substack"
One major claim in this post: "Your [Substack] post pages now get 60% more subscriptions from search than they did this time last year—no plug-ins required."
Need a catalyst for your newsletter?
Kieran wanted to scale his newsletter in 2023. He booked a 60-minute newsletter strategy call with me to get some direction:
(Or book a 30-min strategy call »)
[GC Editorial]
7 Newsletter Mistakes—and how to fix them TODAY
On a podcast recently, the host asked me an often-overlooked question about newsletters:
I came up with a few mistakes I’ve made — and a few I’ve seen others make:
- Your newsletter is too hard to find
- Trying to be active on every platform
- Having an ineffective Welcome Email
- Forgetting about a monetization strategy
- Writing a newsletter for everyone
- Expecting big bucks & quick results
- Not promoting your newsletter enough — or at all
Now we have our diagnosis, let’s prescribe some fixes.
[GC Curated: Start + Grow + Improve + Monetize your newsletter]
Your Growth Currency ⚡ This Week
"Knowledge is the currency of growth."
START YOUR NEWSLETTER
⚡ How to Launch Your Indie Newsletter by Dan O'Shinsky
My Take: Dan's put together a detailed 10-step checklist to launching your indie newsletter.
GROW YOUR NEWSLETTER
⚡ How Arvid Kahl grew his newsletter to 7,600 subscribers & $3000/mo revenue by Ciler Demiralp
My Take: Arvid's grown his newsletter to over 7k subscribers. And his most impactful growth strategy is FREE. Take notes ;)
IMPROVE YOUR NEWSLETTER
⚡ Rebranding a newsletter (to 38k subs) by Darwin Binesh
My Take: Loaded article! You’ll learn:
- Pivoting newsletter content and branding (and managing the following friction)
- Using your business + career to power a standalone newsletter
- Strategies to increase subscribers and engagements”
MONETIZE YOUR NEWSLETTER
⚡ 9 tip jar examples to inspire you to set up your own by Marijana Kay
My Take: A simple, effective way to start monetizing your newsletter—and one of the first ways I monetized my newsletter with a few $5 tips :)
(Newsletter Of The Week)
The GC NOTW 🤘
Refind by Dominik Grolimund
A powerful & customizable content resource.
Every day Refind picks 5 links from around the web that make you smarter, tailored to your interests. Refind is a must-read newsletter loved by 100,000+ curious minds. Sign up for free today.
Thanks for making it to the end—I try and save some personal ramblings for this space.
Writing well is *kind of* an important skill.
And likely the most important newsletter skill.
Which is why I recently picked up Ann Handley's new & revised edition of her popular Everybody Writes (get your copy here with my referral link).
I couldn't make it through the introduction without sharing an instant gem on Twitter:
February 24th 2023
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How would you rate this edition?
⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ Electrifying!
⚡⚡⚡ A decent jolt.
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And in case you missed it, here are last week's TWO most popular links:
#1: I stole 9 unconventional newsletter growth strategies from the top creators by Alex Llull (118 clicks)
#2: 5 Types of Newsletters for Solopreneurs by Robert Hacala (91 clicks)
Other resources to help you:
→ The 1KS Roadmap: A Free Course To Your First 1,000 Subscribers
→ The Ultimate Creator Database of Awesomeness
→ Advertise in this newsletter
Peace and platonic love,
Dylan