How to Build and Grow a Newsletter as a Business Model

[MTF]

That's odd. The automated reviews don't take long. It must be caught by something. Can you get into a chat/message with someone in Google to follow up?

I can but I don't think I even care at this point. My first campaign was also never approved.

I'll do it to satisfy your curiosity. I expect a broken English copy paste response that makes no sense or doesn't answer my question.

 

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[Andy Black]

I can but I don't think I even care at this point. My first campaign was also never approved.

I'll do it to satisfy your curiosity. I expect a broken English copy paste response that makes no sense or doesn't answer my question.

I've had some very good and helpful responses from Google in the past.

Take inspiration from your avatar and tagline @MTF...

 

[MTF]

I've had some very good and helpful responses from Google in the past.

Take inspiration from your avatar and tagline @MTF...

It's not about not giving up. It's about dealing with a company who doesn't give a F*ck about their clients. I'm not going to persistently go to a shitty restaurant hoping that one day they'll finally offer me good service and give me good food. And particularly if there's an alternative that does care and does offer good food.

 

[JoeyF]

It's not about not giving up. It's about dealing with a company who doesn't give a f*ck about their clients. I'm not going to persistently go to a shitty restaurant hoping that one day they'll finally offer me good service and give me good food. And particularly if there's an alternative that does care and does offer good food.

Have you tried calling them?

There's a free phone number, you should be able to get live support.

Google has decent customer service these days IMO, not like the old days where they would just shut down accounts and provide no reason.

I've never seen ads just sitting unapproved in my entire time running ads on google which is 10+ years at this point, continuously.

Usually they'll get rejected if there's something wrong. Very weird, but I'm certain that someone at Google will be able to solve this for you.

In terms of a potential win, getting something going on the GDN could open you up to thousands of relevant clicks to your landing page very rapidly so prob well worth pursuing even if you're having some teething problems at the outset.

 

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[JoeyF]

Update from me:

I've gone back to the drawing board in terms of a topic to focus on.

I've had some good experience writing and learning how to use Substack but I just don't have the desire to write about that topic going forward I've discovered.

You don't know until you try putting pen to paper for a few days I guess?

So back to brainstorming ideas.

To aid in the process, I'm deliberately consuming more blog/newsletter content and reading outwith my usual goto authors to open my mind to new ideas, writing styles and opportunities.

I read this last night which I found was a nice read: Preventing Burnout: A Cautionary Tale

Great style of writing and a great message contained within. I ended up going over to Charlie's blog and learning more.

Good stuff.

 

[MTF]

Have you tried calling them?

There's a free phone number, you should be able to get live support.

Google has decent customer service these days IMO, not like the old days where they would just shut down accounts and provide no reason.

I've never seen ads just sitting unapproved in my entire time running ads on google which is 10+ years at this point, continuously.

Usually they'll get rejected if there's something wrong. Very weird, but I'm certain that someone at Google will be able to solve this for you.

In terms of a potential win, getting something going on the GDN could open you up to thousands of relevant clicks to your landing page very rapidly so prob well worth pursuing even if you're having some teething problems at the outset.

No, I haven't. I only saw the option to message them or live chat (which wasn't available at that moment). My situation is probably a bit complicated because I'm not advertising in the country where I'm based so I'm not even sure where I should call. I'll wait for the response to my ticket since I don't want to run the ads before the redesign anyway.

You don't know until you try putting pen to paper for a few days I guess?

100%. This is also why I generally don't recommend writing about things that weren't of interest to you just a few days or weeks ago. I'd give it at least a few months but ideally it's best to find things that have always interested you.

It doesn't necessarily mean not writing about any new topics but more about writing about things that share the essence of what interests you. So for example, I've always enjoyed nature but writing about eco tourism would be new to me. Still, it shares the essence of my interest dating back many years.

To aid in the process, I'm deliberately consuming more blog/newsletter content and reading outwith my usual goto authors to open my mind to new ideas, writing styles and opportunities.

I'd also suggest picking up new hobbies and trying new things, not just reading. I find action helps clarify thoughts, often more than hours upon hours of research.

 

[JoeyF]

No, I haven't. I only saw the option to message them or live chat (which wasn't available at that moment). My situation is probably a bit complicated because I'm not advertising in the country where I'm based so I'm not even sure where I should call. I'll wait for the response to my ticket since I don't want to run the ads before the redesign anyway.



100%. This is also why I generally don't recommend writing about things that weren't of interest to you just a few days or weeks ago. I'd give it at least a few months but ideally it's best to find things that have always interested you.

It doesn't necessarily mean not writing about any new topics but more about writing about things that share the essence of what interests you. So for example, I've always enjoyed nature but writing about eco tourism would be new to me. Still, it shares the essence of my interest dating back many years.



I'd also suggest picking up new hobbies and trying new things, not just reading. I find action helps clarify thoughts, often more than hours upon hours of research.

Yeah solid advice, esp about getting out and taking action rather than just reading!

My thinking right now is to engage in communities/forums/sub reddits for things I'm interested in writing about and read/interact/make some posts, to see how that feels.

Once I find something I'm enjoying reading and writing about I can go all in with my marketing knowledge and have a proper crack at it with landing pages and ads and all that good stuff.

 

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[MTF]

Yeah solid advice, esp about getting out and taking action rather than just reading!

My thinking right now is to engage in communities/forums/sub reddits for things I'm interested in writing about and read/interact/make some posts, to see how that feels.

Once I find something I'm enjoying reading and writing about I can go all in with my marketing knowledge and have a proper crack at it with landing pages and ads and all that good stuff.

That's an excellent idea. It'll definitely help. You'll also get a feel for different communities and whether you like the people who participate in them.

 

[Andy Black]

My thinking right now is to engage in communities/forums/sub reddits for things I'm interested in writing about and read/interact/make some posts, to see how that feels.

Once I find something I'm enjoying reading and writing about I can go all in with my marketing knowledge and have a proper crack at it with landing pages and ads and all that good stuff.

You beat me to it.

Not only do you find out what people are interested in and whether it's a subject you enjoy, but the act of engaging starts building an audience/visibility.

What's worked for me:

1. Talk about XYZ.
2. Help people with XYZ (in online communities ideally).
3. Be seen helping people with XYZ (this happens naturally when you help people in online communities).
4. Get noticed by owners that I'm helping their community and get asked to help the community with XYZ.

I probably already linked to this, but just in case:

• How to use forums (and Facebook groups)

 

[Andy Black]

It's not about not giving up. It's about dealing with a company who doesn't give a f*ck about their clients.

You didn't contact them though?

You could get a lot of volume from Google, the Google Display Network, and/or YouTube ... and if dialled in it could be very consistent. (And if you're trying to get visitors via SEO then that's mostly from Google anyway.)


Remember what I said before:

• Be curious, not furious.
• Hurdles are stepping stones in disguise, and barriers to entry when you get over them.

 

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[MTF]

You didn't contact them though?

I sent them an email today.

 

[Andy Black]

I sent them an email today.

Work your way through it and you should be able to get into a messenger/chat thing with someone.

Be aware they'll try to send you off to an article to solve your problem. If I recall you have to select "Other" somewhere in the flow.

 

[MTF]

View attachment 42801

Work your way through it and you should be able to get into a messenger/chat thing with someone.

Be aware they'll try to send you off to an article to solve your problem. If I recall you have to select "Other" somewhere in the flow.

Yeah I went through that to send a ticket as live chat wasn't available.

 

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[MitchC]

I don’t want you to feel left out MTF

 

[MTF]

View attachment 42805
I don’t want you to feel left out MTF

LOL that's funny.

 

[MTF]

I reached out to Google Ads again as I saw the live chat option available now. Turns out that in some rare cases it can take way more than 2 business days to approve a campaign.

My old dynamic search campaign is now live (I published it on March 14). I decided to let it run and see what happens over a day or two.

The new campaign is with keywords I chose myself and it's search only. Maybe it will be approved tomorrow.

 

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[seraphine]

I used to write a column for my college newspaper and had quite a few people who sent me emails on articles I’d written, so I’ve been thinking of starting a newsletter for a while, and this was really encouraging! Thank you for the great information

 

[MTF]

I used to write a column for my college newspaper and had quite a few people who sent me emails on articles I’d written, so I’ve been thinking of starting a newsletter for a while, and this was really encouraging! Thank you for the great information

Stop thinking about starting it and figure out how to start! What's the first step you need to take?

 

[MTF]

I reached out to Google Ads again as I saw the live chat option available now. Turns out that in some rare cases it can take way more than 2 business days to approve a campaign.

My old dynamic search campaign is now live (I published it on March 14). I decided to let it run and see what happens over a day or two.

The new campaign is with keywords I chose myself and it's search only. Maybe it will be approved tomorrow.

Update on that:

Turns out some kind of a super rare error sent my campaign into a never-ending "under review" status. The Google Ads expert said to change something in the campaign to send it back for review (I changed it from search only to search and display). The campaign was finally approved yesterday.

So far I've spent $89.53 on 43 clicks and Google reports 2 conversions. Will give it a few days more to see if I can identify any well-performing keywords.

 

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[Andy Black]

Update on that:

Turns out some kind of a super rare error sent my campaign into a never-ending "under review" status. The Google Ads expert said to change something in the campaign to send it back for review (I changed it from search only to search and display). The campaign was finally approved yesterday.

So far I've spent $89.53 on 43 clicks and Google reports 2 conversions. Will give it a few days more to see if I can identify any well-performing keywords.

Glad you got it sorted. It did sound like it got stuck somehow.

Seems a very high CPC for what I presume are info-seekers.

Tip: keywords are what we bid on, search terms are what people actually searched for (unless it’s a search partner triggering ads).

Check the search terms and headlines. From memory, go to Dynamic Ad Targets and view search terms. You should have the option to see search terms and headlines.

 

[MTF]

Glad you got it sorted. It did sound like it got stuck somehow.

Seems a very high CPC for what I presume are info-seekers.

Tip: keywords are what we bid on, search terms are what people actually searched for (unless it’s a search partner triggering ads).

Check the search terms and headlines. From memory, go to Dynamic Ad Targets and view search terms. You should have the option to see search terms and headlines.

It's a regular campaign, not Dynamic Search since I couldn't figure it out.

Most of my traffic comes from targeting people googling David Goggins as I assumed they would be interested in my content. I assume that's the reason for high CPC because the CTR for this search term is 0.91%.

Would you stop running ads if you saw such high CPC and such low CTR? But out of the two conversions, one is from this search term.

 

[JoeyF]

It's a regular campaign, not Dynamic Search since I couldn't figure it out.

Most of my traffic comes from targeting people googling David Goggins as I assumed they would be interested in my content. I assume that's the reason for high CPC because the CTR for this search term is 0.91%.

Would you stop running ads if you saw such high CPC and such low CTR? But out of the two conversions, one is from this search term.

Yeah I would pause that and go after other search terms.

You've got to give people what they want when it comes to search, the closer the ad and landing page are to the exact term they've typed in, the more success you're going to have.

Having a search ad for David Goggins keywords and then offering them something else in the ad copy and lander isn't gonna work.

I can see what you were doing, but it's kind of a Display advertising mentality being deployed with Search.

With search, just think of what they would be typing in if they were specifically looking for what you offer and you'll be closer to the mark.

 

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[MTF]

Yeah I would pause that and go after other search terms.

You've got to give people what they want when it comes to search, the closer the ad and landing page are to the exact term they've typed in, the more success you're going to have.

Having a search ad for David Goggins keywords and then offering them something else in the ad copy and lander isn't gonna work.

I can see what you were doing, but it's kind of a Display advertising mentality being deployed with Search.

With search, just think of what they would be typing in if they were specifically looking for what you offer and you'll be closer to the mark.

Cool, I'll pause the Goggins ad group for now then. The other campaign (targeting self-help for men) has a much lower CPC and more direct search terms.

 

[MitchC]

It's a regular campaign, not Dynamic Search since I couldn't figure it out.

Most of my traffic comes from targeting people googling David Goggins as I assumed they would be interested in my content. I assume that's the reason for high CPC because the CTR for this search term is 0.91%.

Would you stop running ads if you saw such high CPC and such low CTR? But out of the two conversions, one is from this search term.

My advice would be to go long tail keywords.

It takes more time to set up but the thing with google is once it’s set up and profitable it’s done and works forever.

I’d be doing long tail high intent terms like

How to stop being lazy
How to stop being soft
How to become more adventurous
How to develop grit and discipline
How to get out of your comfort zone
How to build confidence

These are probably quite high competition words so you might have to get a bit more creative than that

Once you have some words somewhat working you can build a landing page specific to that search term.

The ads should be specific to it as well

Eg.
Someone searches “How to build confidence”
The ad says “how to build confidence - the most effective and fun way to build confidence”
The landing page says “how to build confidence - the most effective and fun way to build lasting confidence”

Then just play around with the messaging.
Eg Effective and fun vs easy and fun

 

[seraphine]

Stop thinking about starting it and figure out how to start! What's the first step you need to take?

I got a website because I didn’t want to use Substack or any of the other things and have been working on designing it. I also have a few ideas for things to write about, so I just have to sit down and write them. I’ve been working on building an audience through Tumblr because I’ve found more like-minded people there and there’s a greater sense of community, even though people consider it a “dead” social media.

 

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[MTF]

My advice would be to go long tail keywords.

It takes more time to set up but the thing with google is once it’s set up and profitable it’s done and works forever.

I’d be doing long tail high intent terms like

How to stop being lazy
How to stop being soft
How to become more adventurous
How to develop grit and discipline
How to get out of your comfort zone
How to build confidence

These are probably quite high competition words so you might have to get a bit more creative than that

Once you have some words somewhat working you can build a landing page specific to that search term.

The ads should be specific to it as well

Eg.
Someone searches “How to build confidence”
The ad says “how to build confidence - the most effective and fun way to build confidence”
The landing page says “how to build confidence - the most effective and fun way to build lasting confidence”

Then just play around with the messaging.
Eg Effective and fun vs easy and fun

Thanks, will keep testing this. I'll have to create separate pages then, perhaps with long form articles answering these questions first. Need to look into which long tail keywords have enough traffic to be worth this much work.

 

[Andy Black]

I'll have to create separate pages then, perhaps with long form articles answering these questions first. Need to look into which long tail keywords have enough traffic to be worth this much work.

I do keyword research, run campaigns, *then* build out specific pages if the actual volumes/potential justifies it.

 

[JoeyF]

I do keyword research, run campaigns, *then* build out specific pages if the actual volumes/potential justifies it.

This is the way. Start of with a big/general campaign and then when you start to see traffic you can create ad group off shoots which focus on the more promising keywords and have ads/landing page tailored to them.

From experience, if you start building all this out at the start, you'll end up wasting quite a bit of time on ad groups that go nowhere.

Don't forget to use answerthepublic.com alongside google's keyword planner for maximum ideas.

 

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[MTF]

I do keyword research, run campaigns, *then* build out specific pages if the actual volumes/potential justifies it.

This is the way. Start of with a big/general campaign and then when you start to see traffic you can create ad group off shoots which focus on the more promising keywords and have ads/landing page tailored to them.

From experience, if you start building all this out at the start, you'll end up wasting quite a bit of time on ad groups that go nowhere.

Don't forget to use answerthepublic.com alongside google's keyword planner for maximum ideas.

That makes sense and is way more time-efficient. So I'll keep running ads for now to see what keywords generate volume and conversions.

 

[Andy Black]

@MTF … search terms. You’re interested in which search terms do well, not keywords. ; )

• The Single Biggest Reason People Lose Money With AdWords

This might help:

• How to get profitable or fail fast with AdWords

And this is a replay of a workshop I did for a paid group:

• Google Ads Workshop Replay