How to Build and Grow a Newsletter as a Business Model

[Oso]

Huge shoutout for the inspiration. Decided to take a break from the daily grind to work on my newsletter.

Decided to start with Substack and am currently going through setting it up (styles, theme, etc.). Once the setup is complete, I'll be writing my first ~3 articles worth of content. Haven't entirely decided on whether or not I'll be going down the "building a community" rabbit hole, however it appears to be the inevitable outcome, based on reading this thread and mild research.

I will be attempting to grow this rapidly, while providing as much value as possible, thus I'll be pairing the newsletter with a podcast. Currently considering adding a private Facebook group to it as well, however that's more management on my end. Jury is still out.

Thank you for sharing your journey!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Haven't entirely decided on whether or not I'll be going down the "building a community" rabbit hole, however it appears to be the inevitable outcome, based on reading this thread and mild research.

It’s not inevitable that you create a community. Newsletters are one-to-many not many-to-many.

 

[MTF]

It’s not inevitable that you create a community. Newsletters are one-to-many not many-to-many.

I agree with Andy. I thought that building a community was the only clear path for my newsletter but in the end people are on your list primarily for your content, not for the community.

I still call my newsletter a community because it is a community of people following my content, in the same way as YouTubers have communities. It's just not a "many-to-many" community like this forum.

 

[Andy Black]

I agree with Andy. I thought that building a community was the only clear path for my newsletter but in the end people are on your list primarily for your content, not for the community.

I still call my newsletter a community because it is a community of people following my content, in the same way as YouTubers have communities. It's just not a "many-to-many" community like this forum.

It’s soooo much easier just writing an email, hitting send, and reading the occasional reply.

No having to moderate member interactions.

No getting into back and forth conversations with people paying nothing or the tiniest of monthly fees. I love doing it in thefastlaneforum, but I can pick and choose which conversations to engage in, and I’m free to ignore comments and threads.

No building something that will take on a life of its own and need minding. Sure, that could be a good thing, but not if it’s not your goal.

Whenever I started a community I had the handbrake on. I had the limiting belief that the more successful (bigger) it got then the more of my time would be needed in the community answering questions.

Like this forum, a lot of questions asked in communities I created had already been answered or were already in my course lessons. It got old quick. Now people are forced to go through the lessons if they want the answers rather than being lazy and asking me.

Oh, and I kept getting feedback from busy business owners that they didn’t want to be in yet another forum. So my ideal paying members who had money but no time were selecting themselves out of a community, and those with more time and less money we’re selecting themselves in. Not ideal.

There’s ways to get round all of the above issues, but I found I didn’t want it at all, never mind badly enough.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Oso]

I agree with Andy. I thought that building a community was the only clear path for my newsletter but in the end people are on your list primarily for your content, not for the community.

I still call my newsletter a community because it is a community of people following my content, in the same way as YouTubers have communities. It's just not a "many-to-many" community like this forum.

It’s soooo much easier just writing an email, hitting send, and reading the occasional reply.

No having to moderate member interactions.

No getting into back and forth conversations with people paying nothing or the tiniest of monthly fees. I love doing it in thefastlaneforum, but I can pick and choose which conversations to engage in, and I’m free to ignore comments and threads.

No building something that will take on a life of its own and need minding. Sure, that could be a good thing, but not if it’s not your goal.

Whenever I started a community I had the handbrake on. I had the limiting belief that the more successful (bigger) it got then the more of my time would be needed in the community answering questions.

Like this forum, a lot of questions asked in communities I created had already been answered or were already in my course lessons. It got old quick. Now people are forced to go through the lessons if they want the answers rather than being lazy and asking me.

Oh, and I kept getting feedback from busy business owners that they didn’t want to be in yet another forum. So my ideal paying members who had money but no time were selecting themselves out of a community, and those with more time and less money we’re selecting themselves in. Not ideal.

There’s ways to get round all of the above issues, but I found I didn’t want it at all, never mind badly enough.

You're both amazing af, tbh. Thank you for the insight. I created a Facebook group and a quick little banner, but after reading these comments, I've decided to postpone the group, for now. I simply don't have the time to moderate/handle it. That said, I made a post in said group stating that anyone that's willing to be an admin/mod will get access to my newsletter for free for the duration of their admin/mod responsibilities. Just a little FYI, in case y'all are doing the FB group thing. Figured it was a decent way of getting dedicated mods/admins that I wouldn't have to babysit.

 

[Andy Black]

You're both amazing af, tbh. Thank you for the insight. I created a Facebook group and a quick little banner, but after reading these comments, I've decided to postpone the group, for now. I simply don't have the time to moderate/handle it. That said, I made a post in said group stating that anyone that's willing to be an admin/mod will get access to my newsletter for free for the duration of their admin/mod responsibilities. Just a little FYI, in case y'all are doing the FB group thing. Figured it was a decent way of getting dedicated mods/admins that I wouldn't have to babysit.

A better way to find moderators is to see who’s regularly logged in and interacts in a supportive way with other members. Then ask them if they’d like to be a moderator. It’s important to have moderators with the values and communication style that will create/maintain the right vibe in the community.

Look at who’s moderators in this forum. We’re all volunteers who @MJ DeMarco reached out to because we were already on his radar.

Oh, and moderators are so named because they *moderate* and keep the environment safe and friendly. They don’t start or fan the flame wars, they moderate them.

 

[StrikingViper69]

First article drafted. I'll get two more done next weekend and kick things off.

I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while and have a note on my phone with 40-50 ideas. It was quite enjoyable to sit and write for an hour or so.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DarkZero]

I have an Instagram account with almost 200k followers and decent engagement. Very niche in the travel sector.

I was thinking of ways to monetize that aren't just shoutouts. The newsletter idea seems appropriate. Guessing that once the CPM gets good enough, I can just focus on sponsorships/affiliates for the newsletter?

Just trying to brainstorm ways to monetize.

 

[MTF]

I was thinking of ways to monetize that aren't just shoutouts. The newsletter idea seems appropriate. Guessing that once the CPM gets good enough, I can just focus on sponsorships/affiliates for the newsletter?

I think it makes sense as long as your content fits the newsletter format. There are some huge travel newsletters with millions of subscribers.

 

[Andy Black]

I have an Instagram account with almost 200k followers and decent engagement. Very niche in the travel sector.

I was thinking of ways to monetize that aren't just shoutouts. The newsletter idea seems appropriate. Guessing that once the CPM gets good enough, I can just focus on sponsorships/affiliates for the newsletter?

Just trying to brainstorm ways to monetize.

What about a paid version of the newsletter too?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DarkZero]

What about a paid version of the newsletter too?

I've considered this actually.

Because the audience is through Instagram, there are so many options to monetize. Just wrapping my head around all the different ways because the market (travel) is so broad.

 

[ArmanK]

What about a paid version of the newsletter too?

Ghost.org is a great option for this (not an affiliate lol)

 

[Tammyanne]

What about a paid version of the newsletter too?

yes, sound's like a wonderful recommendation. If he has that many subscribers I am sure even a third would pay for that newsletter.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

yes, sound's like a wonderful recommendation. If he has that many subscribers I am sure even a third would pay for that newsletter.

I wouldn't expect more than 5-10% of any newsletter to become paid subscribers unless it's a newsletter that helps you make money (especially investing).

 

[MTF]

From the SparkLoop newsletter. A good reminder that it's all about quality of your list. Better grow slowly but keep high open rates.

 

[Andy Black]

Better grow slowly but keep high open rates.

Or grow fast with high open rates?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

Or grow fast with high open rates?

Yeah that would be ideal.

 

[Andy Black]

I'm trying to focus on DFY client work but writing online seems to be something I can't NOT do.

I renamed a test Revue newsletter I'd setup last year and sent the first issue today.

I used Revue as I could easily link to it via Twitter (yes, I'm popping in and out on Twitter again but will be careful not to go down that rabbit-hole).

Here's how Revue integrates nicely on Twitter:

 

[DarkZero]

I'm trying to focus on DFY client work but writing online seems to be something I can't NOT do.

I renamed a test Revue newsletter I'd setup last year and sent the first issue today.

I used Revue as I could easily link to it via Twitter (yes, I'm popping in and out on Twitter again but will be careful not to go down that rabbit-hole again).

Here's how Revue integrates nicely on Twitter:

Yup Revue is great for anyone that uses Twitter to grow a newsletter. It's very seamless.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Yup Revue is great for anyone that uses Twitter to grow a newsletter. It's very seamless.

I’ve seen people using ConvertKit just as seamlessly. I’m connected with a guy who’s creating a wee plugin that does that. I’ll stick with Revue for now as I remember spending waaay too long looking at tech in the past.

 

[MTF]

My Update on Instagram - Time to Drop It?

I started using Instagram more seriously on June 1. I spent $740 on shout-outs that got me to about 1290 followers now (ever since I stopped paying for shout-outs growth is almost non-existent).

My goal was to build a following for the sole purpose of getting more newsletter subscribers. And it looks like Instagram, like pretty much every social media so far for me, isn't very effective.

In the last 30 days I've gotten 40 newsletter subscribers from Instagram. If all of the people who are counted as direct/none in my analytics were also from Instagram (unlikely) then that number is 66.

Either way, my cost per subscriber is somewhere between $11.20 and $18.50. And that doesn't include the time I spend creating new content daily. Depending on the day, it takes me between 30-60 minutes a day. My hourly rate is definitely NOT a few bucks so that also adds up to quite a lot of money.

Let's put this into bigger numbers. Imagine I 10x this by spending $7400 on shout-outs (in reality, there would be diminishing results much sooner). That would give me at most 660 newsletter subscribers. It's hardly a life-changing number, particularly considering that I'm not making any money on this now.

So Instagram doesn't seem to be a great use of my time, particularly considering the pain in the a$$ it is to publish new content daily (the dreaded content treadmill).

I may keep up with this for a while longer and see if anything changes but I don't see how it could change. Throwing away money just to get more Instagram followers isn't appealing to me.

 

[Andy Black]

the pain in the a$$ it is to publish new content daily (the dreaded content treadmill).

I don't like content treadmills either. What about running ads to content you've already created? Be it on Instagram, Facebook, Google, YouTube, whatever.

I'm less interested in growing a newsletter at the moment and more in getting a few clients so have hopped off Twitter and decided to relook at LinkedIn. Sure, LinkedIn can be a bit of a content treadmill too but I've got decent clients from LinkedIn and it's less frantic than Twitter.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Here's some US search term volumes:




I was surprised this didn't say Blog, or Past Issues...




You could create Dynamic Search Ads pointing to each of your issues and let Google create ads for you based on whatever relevant keywords it finds on each page.

Put a low budget on it and let Google go find you visitors? Then look at the search terms and determine if any are decent and then potentially create specific campaigns targeting those keywords with potentially a better page to send folks to.

 

[MTF]

I don't like content treadmills either. What about running ads to content you've already created? Be it on Instagram, Facebook, Google, YouTube, whatever.

I can test that. My mental block now is that I'll be spending money on something that doesn't generate any money. At the same time, I'm not really ready (and don't have the resources) to create any products for my audience.

I was surprised this didn't say Blog, or Past Issues...

It used to say Past Issues but since then I changed the newsletter and past issues aren't available on the website. These are separate articles and since they're always based on books and many people are interested in that I decided to name it Book Notes.

You could create Dynamic Search Ads pointing to each of your issues and let Google create ads for you based on whatever relevant keywords it finds on each page.

I already tried this. Didn't work. I paid like $40 for a sign-up and then it stopped altogether.

 

[Andy Black]

I'll be spending money on something that doesn't generate any money.

The beauty of spending cold hard cash on ads is that it's obvious when we're unprofitable. When we "just" spend our time we often don't think we're losing money.

At the same time, I'm not really ready (and don't have the resources) to create any products for my audience.

What products did you have in mind? Can it be as simple as paid emails?

I'm a fan of value exchanges. The only reason I'd keep emailing people who would never buy anything is if they view content on platforms and get that content some initial traction.

What do YOU get out of sending emails to people on your free list?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

The beauty of spending cold hard cash on ads is that it's obvious when we're unprofitable. When we "just" spend our time we often don't think we're losing money.

It's obvious to me I'm unprofitable. Hard to be with a small list and no products.

What products did you have in mind? Can it be as simple as paid emails?

I don't want to regularly write more, unless you mean switching to a paid newsletter that for sure wouldn't work.

I guess an e-book or a course would be an option. At the moment I don't think it makes sense, though. I have too few subscribers. I'm not a fan of putting a lot of time into creating a product only to make a few bucks.

It's a catch-22 as my list is small because I don't want to spend too much money yet if it doesn't grow it won't be sensible for me to spend any money growing it (I've wasted way too much money on my last few projects).

Guess I need to figure out what I really want to do with this.

What do YOU get out of sending emails to people on your free list?

I get to think and share my thoughts on topics that I find interesting. I also better internalize the lessons I got from the books I cover on the website.

But otherwise it's not a business. Not in its current form at least. Not sure if it will ever be.

 

[MitchC]

You could run a competition on Instagram where you give away related books or something, tag your friends to win. Maybe sign up to the newsletter and tag your friends to win

That’s the way everyone grows their Instagram.

If you were paying g for shout-outs chances are you got a heap of fake followers from them and that’s why no one signed up to the list

 

[redshift]

I wouldn't use shoutouts on Instagram. You have no way of knowing the audience of the person who is shouting you out. Could just be a bunch of fake bots etc or a generic audience which doesn't care about your product.

Targeted ads would get you much better results. $740 is enough to get you 10-50k followers if you manage the campaign properly and let it take its time. It can take a few weeks to prime your account with targeting data, but over time you'll get much better results (vs with shoutouts you just have a one off promotion event).

I would just start with the promote button on IG to get an idea of how it works.

Also, you don't need to post as much. Once or twice a week is more than enough. You already have enough content to draw traffic to the newsletter. I would keep the focus there and just occasionally post on IG while running the FB ads.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

I wouldn't use shoutouts on Instagram. You have no way of knowing the audience of the person who is shouting you out. Could just be a bunch of fake bots etc or a generic audience which doesn't care about your product.

Targeted ads would get you much better results. $740 is enough to get you 10-50k followers if you manage the campaign properly and let it take its time. It can take a few weeks to prime your account with targeting data, but over time you'll get much better results (vs with shoutouts you just have a one off promotion event).

I would just start with the promote button on IG to get an idea of how it works.

Also, you don't need to post as much. Once or twice a week is more than enough. You already have enough content to draw traffic to the newsletter. I would keep the focus there and just occasionally post on IG while running the FB ads.

Thank you, I'll test what you said. If I can get the numbers you said (assuming it translates into subscribers as well) then that would make financial sense.

Do I run ads to my existing posts or how does it work?

 

[redshift]

Thank you, I'll test what you said. If I can get the numbers you said (assuming it translates into subscribers as well) then that would make financial sense.

Do I run ads to my existing posts or how does it work?

Definitely won’t translate directly to subscribers, most people on social media like to stay there. But it will build social proof and eventually over time they might convert. Also for the numbers above you would have to go worldwide, western countries are more expensive but still 10k+ is possible.

You can either just directly promote your posts from IG, you’ll see a promote button next to them, or use the FB ads manager and customise the content and audience (you can use existing posts here as well). It’s similar to how the twitter one works but has more options and gets better results.

There’s a FB marketing course they offer for free as well called blueprint. It can walk you through all the basics etc and how to setup lookalike audiences (basically find people who are interacting with content similar to yours)