Figuring Out Newsletters

[Andy Black]

I think subscriptions to paid email "newsletters" is an amazing first subscription business, or step for a budding subscription business.

For instance:

• One of my neighbours cycled in the Olympics
• He's a businessman now, selling bike gear to shops.
• He wants to create a subscription box or app for cyclists.
• I asked him to consider a free and a paid email newsletter.
• He's got tips and stories coming out of his ears.
• And what a great way to build up a following and authority... before he's even thought about sourcing products and getting stuff shipped.
• He can use those initial lists (and revenue!) to then add a subscription box later.

Anyway. I thought I'd document me trying to figure this out.



EDIT 10-Mar-23:

Changed title of this thread from "Figuring Out Paid Email Newsletters" to "Figuring Out Paid (and Free) Email Newsletters".

 

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[Lex DeVille]

The other part of this I like is the transform with vs transform from aspect.

When I learn from Andy I'm limited to knowledge or insights he's already mastered and shared.

When I learn with Andy I can apply new insights and get results in real-time.

In learning from Andy I'm almost limited to growing to the level he's already at based on his knowledge of narrow subject matter (maybe that's enough).

In learning with Andy I'm unlimited. Instead we can grow together or I can even grow beyond. Instead of a single aim of focus, I tap into his personal perspective on ideas and life.

If you learn from Elon Musk, you might build a flame thrower or a rocket ship. People might even buy it.

If you learn with Elon Musk, you might do something nobody else has ever done and go down in the history books side by side.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

To me a paid email list makes more and more sense. Maybe I'm biased because I have one, but when you think about how technology transforms the speed of change, email becomes very relevant.

Courses and books take time ..

Even when they launch they can be outdated in a month. Maybe that's not true of evergreen content, but in a field like paid ads, things can change overnight. To make matters worse, some courses never get updated, so you might pay for something useless.

Why would you do that when you can get up-to-date info from the same source you would've bought a course from?

In my case the list doubles as a way to connect and share things I wouldn't normally share elsewhere (as Andy described above). It's more personal. But also as a way to teach things I don't have time to write a book about or create a course on.

In this way I can teach a little bit of all the things people want. Instead of $3k for 3 months of 1:1 coaching on one subject, or $2500 for a 12 module course, it's under $100 for a year's worth of all the subjects, up-to-date, and delivered in a more personal setting.

My guess is the results get even better if you niche down by subject. I'm not doing that, but it's worth considering for anyone who tries this out.

 

[Andy Black]

(Still finishing this post...)
Almost got my paid email list setup. Finally!

I had to get my developer to login to my gmail account so I could read and send emails from andy@freelanceandbeyond from within gmail.

Then MailCheat(Chimp) verification emails weren't getting through for me to be allowed to use andy@freelanceandbeyond.com as my "From" email address. Again, had to get my dev to sort that out.


Anyway, here's how to set this up simply with MailCheat(Chimp) and CampaignZee.

1) Link your CampaignZee account with your MailCheat(Chimp) account
I can't remember how I did it, but it was dead simple.


2) Link you CampaignZee account with your Stripe account
Again, I can't remember how I did it, but it was dead simple.


3) Create a List in MailCheat(Chimp)
The list name is important as it will be the heading in the CampaignZee shopping cart.

4) In CampaignZee, select the MailCheat(Chimp) list you want
If you update anything within MailCheat(Chimp) you just click the "Sync" button within CampaignZee.
The "Create Plan" button is where you can create and price your different options.

The "Settings" button is where you can add some text that will go above the shopping cart itself. I've added enough content to make this my initial salespage, doing away with the need for a landing page for the minute.

5) Here's the top and bottom of my shopping cart, which doubles as my sales page
Note that the MailCheat(Chimp) list name is the headline for the page. It's a bit restrictive, but you can make it work.

blah blah blah

 

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[Andy Black]

In case you haven’t noticed...

I’m documenting my journey in such a way that others can follow the breadcrumbs. Sure, I’ll go down some cul-de-sacs, and sure, it may end up not working out.

But if it does work out (and especially if other people follow the breadcrumbs, create their own paid email newsletter, and start making revenue), then what do you think I might do next?

Package the thread up nicely and create some paid eBook or course on it? (Serving the DIY market.)

Document it as an internal procedure so we can offer this as a service for clients? (Serving the DFY clients.)

Apply it again and again for our own internal projects?


If there’s a business case we might develop our own paid email newsletter solution so we don’t fork out 10% of revenue to CampaignZee.

Maybe it starts as an internal tool?

Maybe we start offering it to the folks following this progress thread, or who’ve bought the course or hired us to do it for them?

Maybe this becomes part of a package where we help “startups” get initial revenue and an initial audience?

Who knows? We’ll cross those bridges when we come to them, and in the meantime I’ll cross one bridge at a time and document how I crossed it.

 

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[Andy Black]

I recently joined a friend's paid email list.

We've been chatting about setting up a paid email list for a while, and I've been looking at all the different technologies out there instead of just starting. (There's reasons and I'll get to that later.)

My friend has Thrivecart and ActiveCampaign and whipped up a signup cart and configured things so that people are added to his paid email list when they checkout. He promptly forgot about it until he had a "you've got money" email from Paypal and went looking to find out where it had come from. It turns out that someone found his cart and signed up, even though he wasn't promoting it, and the cart was hard to find!

He tells me and another friend this story and we both promptly signup too.

Now he's had THREE shut up and take my money moments, where the money has ended up in his account.


Why did the first person signup? Why did two friends signup?

1. It's cheap.
   He has a monthly option and an annual option. The monthly option is $9.99. The annual option is $83.88. All three of us took the $83.88 option.
   
   
2. It's simple.
   I'm going to get an email. I don't have to log into a new membership site, a new forum, or yet another Facebook group.
   
   
3. It's low commitment.
   The monthly option is especially low commitment. I consider "The first purchase is a test." People could quite simply signup to "check it out".
   
   
4. Curiosity.
   He's delivered a ridiculous amount of value from his free content. What will he put in these super cheap paid emails?
   
   
5. Support.
   I think this could be big thing for him. By giving him some money I'm showing him there will be others, and I'm showing my support. Consider this another form of Kickstarter or Patreon.
   
   
6. Gratitude.
   It's a thank you for all the great value he's added to date. Sometimes it's a case of just giving people a way to give you money and getting out of their way.

Are you letting people give you money if they wanted to?

 

[Andy Black]

Would be very curious to know how you‘d balance your free content and paid email content. Oh, and what the open rates for them are like compared to a free email list...

I actually don't post free content to any email lists. I post out in the wild (in forums and Facebook/Discord groups).

When people signup to free trial or buy my AdWords course, I send them a manual email. Often there's a few emails back and forth where I learn more about what they're trying to do, and where I try to add value regardless of whether they're going to buy the course.

After that I don't follow up. I maybe should, but I've never got round to automating anything. Maybe I'll let those folks know I've created a paid email list?

Why haven't I automated? It's not painful enough, and I like learning why people signed up and what they're hoping to achieve. Some would argue to send a survey to everyone who signs up to find out why they signed up etc. Well, I do that manually.


Sooo, for me, the paid emails will likely be:

• A summary of the best free content I create on my daily travels online. My "aha" moments, or replies to someone that I want to store for posterity for myself even.
• More in depth chatter about what I'm doing, and WHY - because I know it's not indexed by Google and that only people currently subscribed will get access to it.

I'm curious how it will pan out. I'm going to do it for myself first, and partly because people ask for it. And I'm interested in how it could be applied to other verticals where I'm not the subject matter expert.

 

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[rpeck90]

There was a great course on this stuff (that may serve you well) called "Membernaire" by Jimmy D Brown: membernaire

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zUnwpbxcX0

It's not sold anymore, but I bought it at the time and it was a great eye-opener. He advocates the creation of "fixed term membership sites" (which is similar to what you're looking at) - simply an autoresponder email series that you sell as a "drip feed" membership site.

The model isn't as open-ended as what you're trying to look at (IE "sign up to our newsletter and we'll send you interesting stuff") - but it might give you some options as to how to monetize the more potent aspects of your friend's cycling knowledge/experience.

For example:

• 1 year to your first X in cycling
• 12 months' PROFESSIONAL cycle coaching via email from ex-Olympian ______
• 24 months of cycling Italy (each episode will simply be a travel guide to Italy via bicycle... essentially like Michael Portillo's "great railways journeys")
• 8 week cycle training program for optimum progress
• Tour de France training guide - 12 week's INTENSE training via email

--

In terms of the cycling world, I would suggest one of the CORE things to appreciate when people get into the sport is the way they can "rediscover nature". I'm not a cyclist, but I continually see the following from others who are involved with it:

• Getting out into the wilderness allows you to clear your mind
• Going on huge bike rides keeps you fit/healthy (brings you back to nature)
• Using cycling as a way to discover new places (rich in beauty / nature)
• The big one for me (and really the only reason I would get involved with it) would be the draw of going to Tuscany / France / Spain etc on "elite" rides. The pursuit of discovery would be the big thing (going from small Tuscan village to small Tuscan village)

If you wanted to attract a wider audience, I'd look at leading with stories about different ways your friend was able to go on his "voyages of discovery" --- "The Day Mont Blanc Almost Took Me" or similar.

--

Finally, you *may* have fallen into a MAJOR mistake with this.

You've suggested that because 3 people wanted to pay you money up front, you presumed the underlying idea would be sustainable/successful.

Membership sites (and most SAAS services) are notorious for churn - people will sign up for 3 months then simply stop paying because the initial buzz ran dry.

To avert this, you need to keep people wanting to pay each month. I've not given it enough thought to even begin creating a solution but the key is to make whatever you're doing like crack to your audience.

In the software world, the "crack" is huge interactive "game" type experiences. 99% of software guys dream of developing their own games, and thus if you're going to give them something they cannot resist - wrap it in "game" level immersion (this is where copywriting gets super interesting -- and relatively difficult).

Difficult to explain, but this series I watched recently was absolutely demonstrative of it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBbbTB1B02w&list=PLP268ZfwD7Hm-TjOt1qtTS-bvFe7t7aPI

Listen to the "roleplay" aspect of the first ~2 mins of that video. The story associated with the game is what draws people in. I watched one to get an idea of the way it worked - and then continually had to watch the next episodes (to see if he could defeat the "ancient Dreadnought" and conquer the "Crusader Empire").

This level of immersion is what most software guys can't resist. The idea you can control your own galactic fleet, build alliances and destroy enemies is irresistible.

Thus, if you were to create a "software" eZine, wouldn't you think it better to wrap it in some sort of lore? What lore you use/build, how you present it, and how the whole thing fits together is what takes YEARS of creative honing.

If you had the balls/budget to do it, you'd then LEAD with the lore. Everything else becomes part of it.

--

PS - call it an "eZine" - 'I've set up my own cycling eZine with premium membership for those who really want to fall in love with cycling again'

PPS - for the sub box, maybe some wine people would be able to provide deals for your readers (I might be wrong, but I just get the sense that people who like these cycling things are generally the types who enjoy to kick back with a glass) - this could tie in with the "travel" aspect.

PPPS - one of the big inspirations I used for an old product was "Living with Birds" - these guys send my mother a "catalogue" every single month to which she sends them upwards of £45 for some bird food.

When questioned why she spends so much on seed that you could just as easily get from a supermarket, she replied that 1) it was superior quality and 2) she wanted the brightest, most exotic birds in the garden. This last point is what pushed me down the whole "people buy results, not products" idea.

 

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[Andy Black]

Woohoo! One in a row!

Someone just signed up this morning to the paid version of The Freelance And Beyond newsletter.

This is my FIRST paid subscriber ever.

To my FIRST paid email newsletter ever.

Thank you (you know who you are).

The signup page for the free version of the newsletter is in my signature.

It’s on Substack, which I’m really liking so far.

I’ve been posting free issues daily (for all of 3 days ... lol) and plan on doing it for 30 days till I’m in the habit.


I’m figuring out how to setup a paid Google Ads email newsletter. I don’t know whether to do it on Substack. I think I prefer to use MailCheat(Chimp) or ActiveCampaign as the backend email service, rather than be tied into Substack.

Although I do recommend Substack now for people who want to get started quick and focus on the writing and marketing side.


Why do I want to use MailCheat(Chimp) or ActiveCampaign rather than be tied to Substack?

1. Control. There are some workarounds I’ve applied to make Substack fit MY vision for a newsletter and not theirs. There are some I can’t quite get round, and it bugs me. I’m in email convo with the CEO, but I don’t want to bring all my thoughts to light because it’s pulling them away from their vision, and it’s educating them on my vision.
2. Control. What if this new platform disappears? I can download all the email addresses I’ve got, and I have all my content as emails in my inbox. Still, it would be a bit of a pain to load into some new platform.
3. Email services like MC and AC have much more functionality (autoresponders, tagging, automation, etc).
4. MailCheat(Chimp)’s userbase is MASSIVE. What if I figured out the marketing and business side of paid email newsletters using MailCheat(Chimp)? Do you think any of their userbase might be wondering how to monetise the subscribers to their free MailCheat(Chimp) newsletters?
5. Why ActiveCampaign? It’s supposedly much more powerful than MailCheat(Chimp). I don’t need that power (yet?), and would prefer to use MailCheat(Chimp) because of 3. above.

PS: Celebrate each of these firsts.

• Woohoo! One in a row!

 

[Fox]

How did you make those sweet screenshot graphics???

 

[Andy Black]

There was a great course on this stuff (that may serve you well) called "Membernaire" by Jimmy D Brown: membernaire

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zUnwpbxcX0

It's not sold anymore, but I bought it at the time and it was a great eye-opener. He advocates the creation of "fixed term membership sites" (which is similar to what you're looking at) - simply an autoresponder email series that you sell as a "drip feed" membership site.

The model isn't as open-ended as what you're trying to look at (IE "sign up to our newsletter and we'll send you interesting stuff") - but it might give you some options as to how to monetize the more potent aspects of your friend's cycling knowledge/experience.

For example:

• 1 year to your first X in cycling
• 12 months' PROFESSIONAL cycle coaching via email from ex-Olympian ______
• 24 months of cycling Italy (each episode will simply be a travel guide to Italy via bicycle... essentially like Michael Portillo's "great railways journeys")
• 8 week cycle training program for optimum progress
• Tour de France training guide - 12 week's INTENSE training via email

--

In terms of the cycling world, I would suggest one of the CORE things to appreciate when people get into the sport is the way they can "rediscover nature". I'm not a cyclist, but I continually see the following from others who are involved with it:

• Getting out into the wilderness allows you to clear your mind
• Going on huge bike rides keeps you fit/healthy (brings you back to nature)
• Using cycling as a way to discover new places (rich in beauty / nature)
• The big one for me (and really the only reason I would get involved with it) would be the draw of going to Tuscany / France / Spain etc on "elite" rides. The pursuit of discovery would be the big thing (going from small Tuscan village to small Tuscan village)

If you wanted to attract a wider audience, I'd look at leading with stories about different ways your friend was able to go on his "voyages of discovery" --- "The Day Mont Blanc Almost Took Me" or similar.

--

Finally, you *may* have fallen into a MAJOR mistake with this.

You've suggested that because 3 people wanted to pay you money up front, you presumed the underlying idea would be sustainable/successful.

Membership sites (and most SAAS services) are notorious for churn - people will sign up for 3 months then simply stop paying because the initial buzz ran dry.

To avert this, you need to keep people wanting to pay each month. I've not given it enough thought to even begin creating a solution but the key is to make whatever you're doing like crack to your audience.

In the software world, the "crack" is huge interactive "game" type experiences. 99% of software guys dream of developing their own games, and thus if you're going to give them something they cannot resist - wrap it in "game" level immersion (this is where copywriting gets super interesting -- and relatively difficult).

Difficult to explain, but this series I watched recently was absolutely demonstrative of it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBbbTB1B02w&list=PLP268ZfwD7Hm-TjOt1qtTS-bvFe7t7aPI

Listen to the "roleplay" aspect of the first ~2 mins of that video. The story associated with the game is what draws people in. I watched one to get an idea of the way it worked - and then continually had to watch the next episodes (to see if he could defeat the "ancient Dreadnought" and conquer the "Crusader Empire").

This level of immersion is what most software guys can't resist. The idea you can control your own galactic fleet, build alliances and destroy enemies is irresistible.

Thus, if you were to create a "software" eZine, wouldn't you think it better to wrap it in some sort of lore? What lore you use/build, how you present it, and how the whole thing fits together is what takes YEARS of creative honing.

If you had the balls/budget to do it, you'd then LEAD with the lore. Everything else becomes part of it.

--

PS - call it an "eZine" - 'I've set up my own cycling eZine with premium membership for those who really want to fall in love with cycling again'

PPS - for the sub box, maybe some wine people would be able to provide deals for your readers (I might be wrong, but I just get the sense that people who like these cycling things are generally the types who enjoy to kick back with a glass) - this could tie in with the "travel" aspect.

PPPS - one of the big inspirations I used for an old product was "Living with Birds" - these guys send my mother a "catalogue" every single month to which she sends them upwards of £45 for some bird food.

When questioned why she spends so much on seed that you could just as easily get from a supermarket, she replied that 1) it was superior quality and 2) she wanted the brightest, most exotic birds in the garden. This last point is what pushed me down the whole "people buy results, not products" idea.

Wow @rpeck90. Rep for this amazing and helpful response. I'll study this a few times for sure.

You've suggested that because 3 people wanted to pay you money up front, you presumed the underlying idea would be sustainable/successful.

Agreed. This is precisely why I'm creating a paid email "list" (I don't quite know what to call it).

I intend it to be more of a "pay to follow me" as a quick way of proving whether people will signup and hand over money (regularly), and then to find out what they want more of by emailing them individually by hand and getting into conversation with them.

I second that. I have an email course which is basically an autoresponder email series. The benefit of this approach (vs a paid newsletter) is that you set it up once and it does the rest for you. With a paid newsletter, you constantly have to create new content.

I like the idea of recurring income, but like @rpeck90 mentioned, churn is an issue. You can sell your 30-day email course for, say, $97, or send a weekly newsletter for $5 or $10 a month and have most people churn in 3 months or less. Revenue-wise, a course is most likely better. Value-wise, an email course is more structured so it can be more actionable, too.

But I still like the idea of a paid newsletter, particularly in an industry that evolves rapidly.

The initial idea is for people to just follow what I'm up to, and get insights and updates I don't want indexed by Google. (I'm actually following @Lex DeVille 's business updates to his paid email list and love the format!)

I love the whole idea of free and paid courses delivered by email (and now see that Gumroad will keep those lessons online in a library - how cool!).


I currently see the content I create as a by-product of the work I do and want to add the extra twist to the end and leverage it better.

I post content dozens of time a day in TFLF, Facebook groups, and in my own mastermind. Some of that content I repurpose and post as free content to my blog, Soundcloud, YouTube channels, Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram test account (but not LinkedIn currently).

Some of that stuff, and some of what's rattling around in my head, I don't want to post where Google can find it, and where tyre-kickers can find it.

Over time a lot of that content will be packaged up and I *could* create courses out of them. I may not for a while though, because I'm not currently in the business of creating courses or writing books. (If anyone asks then I tell them I'm growing a marketing technology company.)

Creating content regularly isn't a problem for me. Tidying it up and doing something with it is something I've not done much of to date.


I also think firing up a paid email "list" with simple sales page and 1 welcome email is a *great* (potential) way to find out if anyone out there is willing to put their hand in their pocket, and regularly. Then it's a case of letting people know about it and seeing if someone signs up. If someone does then it's game on and I immediately engage my market in hand-to-hand combat. (This is the subject of the welcome email to my own paid email list btw).


This recent desire to create a paid email list comes from having had a paid Facebook group and currently having a paid Xenforo forum. The (limiting?) belief I have about my paid forum is that the more successful and busy it gets then the more of my time it will take up.

The vision that appeals about a paid email list is that it's a one-way-conversation. People don't expect me to reply to every email they send. I don't have to moderate people spamming each other or giving people incorrect advice (not that that happens in my small paid forum, but that's what we see in many free forums and Facebook groups).

I can imagine 1,000 people on a paid email list isn't much more overhead than having 100 people on the list.


I definitely see automated free and paid email courses in the future.

The most amazing emails I get are the Paypal/Stripe notifications when someone buys my course, because I've no more work to do after they've bought!



By the way... THANK YOU for everyone's input into this thread. It's been super helpful, and even me clarifying why I'm doing what I'm doing has been a big help to me.

 

[Andy Black]

I think that does help. Calling it an "INSIDERS Subscription" or "Paid Ezine" or anything will work better than "Paid Email List" in my opinion.

Thanks. 100% agreed. "Paid Email List" is totally the wrong thing to call it for the person subscribing. It's what *we* might call it as the producer, but even then it's not great.

I like the "INSIDERS Subscription" angle. Giving it a unique name to make people feel they're joining a club. James Schramko has his "Silver Circle" coaching. MJ has his INSIDERS and his Sidewalkers/Slowlaners/Fastlaners. Lex has his War-Room. Smarter producers name their tiers so people can identify themselves.



Doing some keyword research, I can see that no-one is really searching for "paid email newsletters", and the search volume for "how to setup paid email newsletters" probably doubled this last month due to me searching for information.

We can also see which has more search volume (brand awareness) between Getrevue and Substack, and which is growing monthly.

We know that Substack is a startup that's been through Y-Combinator, and that they had $2m funding:

• Hey Writers, Here's a New Way to Make Money Online
• Substack | Crunchbase

We can see from their home page what they call these:

(Negligible search volume for "paid newsletters" too btw.)

I'd assume that Substack and their investors want to grow this market and be the leaders in it.

I'd assume this will gradually increase the search volume for "paid newsletters".


See the featured writers with thousands of subscribers?

This is what I meant in an earlier comment that GetRevue and Substack are not just technical solutions, but are channels - like Udemy and Amazon are.

Substack has a discovery feature, where you can find popular writers/creators (see the image above).

It's a CHANNEL. They will be bringing subscribers if you can get featured or found.

They will be spending some of that $2m funding to get YOU new subscribers, get YOU more revenue, so they can grow their own revenue.

I think if I'm serious about paid email newsletters then I need to at least get onto Substack and figure it out, and maybe get ahead of the curve. It's like getting onto Instagram or Medium early before the crowd get in there.

Maybe Substack isn't the one that will make it. Maybe GetRevue will become the dominant one, or maybe something else will.

I DO think there's a market/need for regular paid content that is delivered, and I think these startups are smart because (at least in GetRevue's case) they force you to create a free newsletter that also posts the content to their platform as articles that Google can index (so they're creating a platform like Medium, but with the ability for creators to create a paywall for some of their content).


It's funny... I've been thinking of two paid email newsletters from me actually:

• One paid email newsletter for people to follow along as I figure stuff like this out (like a paid progress thread with some more details and how-to docs I create along the way). Like a personal "Andy's Paid Newsletter".
• And one, more formal, paid email newsletter for people who want to go freelancing and separate their time from their income. The "FreelanceAndBeyond Paid Newsletter".

Maybe the paid newsletter I'm creating on Gumroad is "Andy's Paid Newsletter".

Maybe the one on Substack is the "FreelanceAndBeyond Paid Newsletter".


If I do use Substack then I need to remember it's a CHANNEL - I'm using someone else's platform. I need to remember CENTS and CONTROL.

 

[Andy Black]

[UPDATE]

So here's where my head is at currently.

Substack is interesting, but not much of a channel that will grow a newsletter at present. I'd have to do the marketing to get people to their platform, to signup to my free newsletter, and to then become a paid subscriber, so I can give them 10% for their paid newsletter functionality.

I'm keen to deep dive a bit more into Substack because I think they're onto something, but not necessarily doing a great job of it. The marketing piece is missing, where they use their funding to generate free and paid subscribers for publishers on their platform (and in turn convert that to their own monthly revenue stream ... using other people's content).

I'm uneasy putting all my content on their platform when I could just as easily put it onto my own domain. Maybe I duplicate the for a while as I get my head round Substack.



Overall, there's a serious lack of information on how to technically setup a paid email newsletter, and NO information on how to grow one. Not that I've found from doing a lot of Googling.

This could be an opportunity for later.



The search term "MailCheat(Chimp)" has 2.7 MILLION searches a month worldwide. Holy moly. They've wiped the floor with everyone else! It's the email service I want to get my head round because there's soooo many people using it, and they also have the most users who want to monetise their emails somehow.



The paid email newsletter I currently want to "properly" create is for Google Ads. I've a decent amount of people who've already spent money with me buying my course, and a decent amount who've signed up for a free trial with it.

I much prefer to deliver emails to paid subscribers via MailCheat(Chimp) than via Substack.

I'll send an email to all those people soon (which will be amusing since most of them are probably TFLF members).

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I like the idea of this model, but I have one problem with it.

Usually I like the thought that you don't have to be an expert to start something. Here it's different because I can't see why anybody should subscribe if I'm not a real expert in any particular subject.

How do you think about that?

At the very least you're an expert in the following:

- Your own family
- Your own jobs
- Your own trials and tribulations
- Your own progress and failures
- Your own opinions
- Your own beliefs
- Your own relationships
- Your own personality
- Your own life

But even if we skip all of that, people buy perceptions and not usually actual expertise. How would they even start to define "expertise"? Is it how much you've studied? How much experience you have? How many people you've taught? The results your customers got?

People usually buy based on the following:

- Perceived solution to their problem (which is established through good marketing)
- Perceived authority (which is established through strong credibility markers)
- Perceived value (which is established through proof of results or good marketing)
- Or they just plain want what you have and don't give a shit about anything else

You don't have to be a pop sickle guru to make money selling ice pops from a creepy a$$ van on a blistering summer day. You just have to be in the right place (park, ball field neighborhood) at the right time (when people are out and about) in front of the right people (kids with money, kids with parents with money etc.).

I guarantee you there are things that can be sold with very little prior expertise if you really give it some thought. If you're adamant on expertise, take a $10 Udemy course!

 

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[Andy Black]

Apparently we can create paid email newsletters with ConvertKit now:

• ConvertKit launches paid newsletters

Interesting article too:

• Open Subscription Platforms

(Credit to Kevon Cheung for pointing me towards these.)

 

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[Andy Black]

I'm on various free email lists, and it would be hard for me to envision what sort of content could possibly be in an email that I would feel good about paying for. It would have to be immediately profitable information, like here are today's arbitrage opportunities or today's trading tips or today's INSIDERS knowledge about something I could use immediately.

Funny you say that, here's a great podcast I listened to a year ago:

• 227 – How To Set Up A Profitable Recurring Paid Newsletter Subscription Business

I just can't see how that would apply to cycling.

Off the top of my head (and I'm not a cyclist at all), I think cyclists might want to subscribe because they'd like to get:

1. His opinion on major news and events in the sport.
2. Stories he has from his training, racing, and Olympic days.
3. Tips he has. He tells me how he can see a group of cyclists out on a Sunday going the other way and how he wants to take them aside and tell them so many simple things that could really help them, or keep them safer.
4. Especially nutrition and training schedule tips.
5. Training tips for the season we're in (if you're planning to compete in summer races for instance).
6. How to determine what you want out of cycling and create a training programme to get you there.
7. The mindset stuff that keeps you sticking to the schedule when it's wet and cold out there.
8. The small performance enhancing tricks some of the top riders use (like wearing a brand new pair of white socks before each training session and each race). And “Hey, maybe you'd be interested in getting a box of brand new white socks delivered to your door every month?”
9. What's wrong with the training apps out there, and the workarounds using the major apps. And “Hey, maybe you'd be interested in the app we're working on that will deal with all these major deficiencies?”
10. Great places to go on cycling holidays, and how to plan the day trips. He tells me how he's always the one planning the trip: from listening to the weather the night before and figuring out which way to go so the tailwind is there on the way back to base. He tells me this is hard work and means everyone else is enjoying their evening or breakfast while he's poring over maps. He says this is often done via a map and getting the weather news. Maybe he can help plan trips for groups from his home here in Ireland, based on their goals, the local weather, and the local maps? And “Hey, maybe you'd be interested in an app that updates the cycling routes worldwide based on the local weather and traffic/road conditions?”

Maybe people might like my cyclist friend so much, or they support his mission so much, that they'll signup just to help him get started in all of the above. Kind of like a Kickstarter or Patreon where you'll get regular email updates as well as tips, tricks, and stories.

 

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[Andy Black]

How do you create the following for your paid newsletter?
Part 2

This isn't what I meant to post for Part 2, but what the heck. I'm moving fast and trying to leave breadcrumbs.

...

Gary Vee said once (or many times knowing him) that:

1 > 0​

Link: One is greater than zero.

...

Paul Graham in one of his excellent essays said that:

"startups take off because the founders make them take off"​

Link: Do things that don't scale.

...

Blaise Brosnan, one of my mentors here in Ireland, summarised it nicely when he said:​

​

"Spend your money on diesel and coffee"​

I talked about that here:

• "Spend your money on diesel and coffee"

...

Dan Norris said:

"You don't learn until you launch."​

...

I even created a thread about how I do this by default anyway:

• Learnings from 700+ PMs with fellow forum members

...


TL;DR?

For the love of God, please stop trying to automate and scale too soon!

Grow your paid newsletter by MAKING it grow.


An Example:

Someone signed up to the free version of my Freelance And Beyond newsletter this morning. I figured it was probably a TFLF member following this progress thread.

I did what I always do. I sent a personal email.

Here's how that email conversation started off.

See what I'm learning already?

See what content I can copy/paste into my next newsletter issue?

Here's the public issue I posted last night, that enticed him to click through, to read, and then to signup:

I’ve a good idea of who's currently checking out the Discovery page.

• People checking out Substack so they can start their own paid newsletters.
• People already on Substack publishing their free newsletter and wondering how to get people onto their paid newsletter.
• People already with subscribers to their paid newsletter, who are wondering how to grow their subscribers.
• The founders of Substack, and their investors.

Why are they checking out the Discovery page?

• They want to see their own listing and feel proud they have a free issue listed on the Discovery page. “Look what I did mom!”
• They want to see how their listing compares to other listings. How does my logo stand out? What type of subject lines are people using? What names have people got for their newsletter?
• They want to check out free issues and see how people are trying to convince readers to signup to the paid newsletter (although I suspect less people are doing this than there should be).
• They want to see if there’s anything interesting or useful for them to subscribe to.
• They want to see who’s using the platform, what they’re using it for, and how well they’re doing.

​

What's your biggest takeaway?

What will you do different going forward?
​

 

[jpmartin]

I'll figure it out and update this thread.

Andy great to see you start a progress/execution thread. Newsletters are big business, and we're talking multi-million dollar business (I'm in touch with one group that I discuss with occasionally). I've got a fair amount of experience, so can help you save some trouble.

1. It's not really passive, unless you automate even curation/discovery (like Matt Paulson) or have a team working on it later on. But it is scalable.

2. Again, multi-million industry behind this. You need good copywriters if you want to scale this. James Altucher moved away from his normal writing to publishing - in fact if you search google hard enough, you can find a pdf of Altucher on this industry. The financial newsletter is probably the biggest, because there is no dearth of actionable stock / trading tips. Then there are what we call back offers that will boost your sign ups (i.e. the thank you page is offered as a sign up bonus - you have to share your first year revenue etc)

3. It's slightly similar to membership sites, ultimately if you're providing evergreen content - you might want to go the course/masterclass/membership route. Effectively, most email list/newsletter subscriptions are nothing but memberships that have fresh content pushed to email. Talking about email, not all email will go through - as deliverability becomes an issue, and you can have people complain that they're not getting the emails because of strong spam filters.

4. While it is an initial drip, it will take a lot of time to build up and keep people's attention. Providing useful/curated stuff on a regular basis, is more like a full time job. Unless you love doing it, I would advise against it.

5. As you scale, cost of email will go up. The guys who make the money in this business, are the ones building the software behind it - Madmimi (acquired by Godaddy), MailCheat(Chimp). And new models are coming up. Check this one out by Jason C (vc investor) if you read the pitch, you'll see they burnt through $26 million (God knows how). While on this funding topic - check out The Hustle. I was really impressed by the rates they were charging for sponsorship, and boy do they have amazing open rates.

6. The question is of paid vs. sponsorship. And honestly, I think you'll have more success like The Hustle (which is a great read) if you focus on building free subscriber numbers, and focus on open/click rates. However, there are sites like https://stratechery.com/ who pretty much hit the nail on the head in terms of quality and price. You don't get to see the latest, he gives that to those who subscribe. Then its released to public, which allows for SEO to pick up the page. This is going to be important, as you are an expert in SEO, I don't need to preach to the choir. Also check out David Pell - he's a master at curation - and I honestly don't know how he does it NextDraft - and of course there's Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball fame (who relies on sponsorship via the site).

7. I was reading your justification of closing your forum - yes, they require a lot of work. Hats of to @MJ DeMarco for managing this forum for so long. Again, I understand why he's thought about this model as an income stream - but would love to get his insight on the real money behind it - sponsorships vs. memberships. If he's willing to share it

I'm always reminded of The Ferrari Newsletter - which reminds me of how much he made. There are many more examples of this, being run with one or two people. But he wasn't selling just curation, he was building a hard to find database of all ferraris in the world.

People will pay a premium for the value you deliver. Today, curation is being crowdfunded, so I wouldn't just rely on that - unless you're bringing some insight to it. Yes, we have an avalanche of information - so people 'might' pay. But I think technology is already there which can sort AND even PUBLISH content that you won't recognize (i.e. its done by AI but looks like a human wrote it!).

This is not to discourage you in anyway, just saying... it's a tough thing. I don't wish to see you fail, so you have to be really committed to it.

 

[Andy Black]

[UPDATE]

I took my three sons and one of their cousins to a kids “Jungle Den” this morning for a couple of hours.

I sat at a table checking emails and Basecamp on my phone, and then wrote up the Substack post below and hit publish.

Seriously... it’s amazing being able to work from your phone. What an incredible time we live in.


Given how I’m able to get free subs easier than paid subs I’m focused on providing them value and giving them an incentive to become a paid subscriber.

I’m now trying to write each free email/post so it adds value in its own right, and so it naturally continues onto a paid issue/post.


This morning’s free post:

• When €250/mth is more than €250/mth

I now have to write a continuation post for my paid subscribers to expand further on what I wrote about.

Is this a potential new process emerging out of the haze?

 

[Andy Black]

I like the idea of this model, but I have one problem with it.

Usually I like the thought that you don't have to be an expert to start something. Here it's different because I can't see why anybody should subscribe if I'm not a real expert in any particular subject.

How do you think about that?

Super question! Thanks for asking.


Firstly, check these two threads/videos out and let me know what you think:

1. You don't need to be an expert
2. People listen to experts, they follow leaders

Now you’re back, ask yourself why you’re following this thread when I’m not an expert on paid email newsletters? ; )


Quite a few people follow threads where I deliberately show at the start that I am not an expert, but just go for it and document my journey.

Examples:

1. EXECUTION - Adventures of an Instagram newbie
2. NOTABLE! - [Progress] #AndyTalks

Secondly, what would Richard Branson do?

What if he spotted millions of searches a month for XYZ and was of a mind to build yet another business? Would he need to become an expert in XYZ before he helped people with it? Or would he, as a smart businessman, come up with another way of adding value and getting paid? (Like getting an expert to write that content for him for instance?)


Thirdly, in your first sentence, how would it read if you swapped “but” for “and”?

“I like the idea of this model, but I can’t see why anyone should subscribe if I’m not a real expert in any particular subject.”

vs

“I like the idea of this model, and I can’t see why anyone should subscribe if I’m not a real expert in any particular subject.”

In the first variation my brain throws its hands up in the air in defeat when I hit “but”. In the second variation my brain feels like it’s been thrown a gauntlet.

“Now then” says my brain, “why should anyone follow me if I’m not an expert?”

You’re brain is a super computer that will solve the challenge you give it. Make sure you give it a good challenge to solve.

HTH

Thanks for the great question.

 

[Andy Black]

I had a sudden realisation last night (@Bekit... you'll like this):

• I'm using New Zenler to host the videos and lessons for my Google Ads courses.
• People pay a monthly subscription to access those courses.
• We can email people from within New Zenler, and it has pretty sophisticated segmentation.
• With New Zenler we can email those paying a monthly subscription.
• Which means we can use New Zenler as a paid email newsletter platform!

New Zenler could be better than Substack and other paid email newsletter solutions:

• New Zenler hosts courses, lessons, quizzes, discussions.
• Paid subscribers get immediate and continued access to the library as soon as they subscribe.
• I can send emails to paid subscribers when new content is added to the library.
• I can also send emails with news and other musings that people only get when they're subscribed (exactly like an email newsletter).
• We pay a flat monthly fee for New Zenler, rather than the 10% fee Substack takes.
• Substack is a platform where our account could get banned and removed. New Zenler is a platform we pay for where we host whatever courses and content we want (within reason I’m sure, but this gives us way more control).

What this could mean:

• I currently have a few small free MailCheat(Chimp) lists, a small paid Substack newsletter, and free and paid email subscribers on New Zenler.
• I could combine them all onto New Zenler.
• I’ll reduce my fees slightly as I’m already paying for New Zenler.
• I’ll get much better at using one platform, rather than be spread across three.
• My free and paid email subscribers can continue to get emails, and I could upload courses to New Zenler they can access!

 

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[Andy Black]

@Andy Black

Fully misunderstood, I thought you were starting a paid newsletter. I do recall you mentioning something of the sort many moons ago

Actually, I am going to start a paid newsletter. Maybe more than one.

I think they've got so much potential that I'll start one for myself, and then can offer it as a service, or can properly advise friends how to do it.

I'll brain-dump more into this thread later.

Yes, I've been circling this for *many* moons.


THANK YOU @Azure, for your "shut up and take my money" moment. I've had quite a few since I mentioned I was creating a paid email newsletter.


BTW... I think the word newsletter isn't quite right. What I envisage for mine is more of a place where I'm:

1. Curating content that I drop all over the place (in TFLF, in Facebook groups, in my own forum, on Instagram, Twitter, in my private mastermind, etc). Creating a central hub so to speak. This may be the free emails.
2. Writing more private and personal thoughts about growing my business. Things I don't want indexed by Google.

So it's more a case of:

1. If you want to keep up with the best of the content I create, without having to stalk me online in the many watering holes where I make a nuisance of myself, then get on the free email list.
2. If you want to get the more private and personal stuff about what I'm up to, then get on the paid email list.

 

[SoftStone]

Hey Andy,

I think the perceived value of emails is generally lower than with books/courses. We are just so used to throwing them in the trash.

With that said, I think if you deliver the same value as in other formats, I wouldn‘t see where that would make a big difference. But again, I‘m just being speculative.

Would be very curious to know how you‘d balance your free content and paid email content. Oh, and what the open rates for them are like compared to a free email list...

 

[The-J]

I think the perceived value of emails is generally lower than with books/courses. We are just so used to throwing them in the trash.

The difference is small but major, in that people are expecting and awaiting your email. The format isn't low value if the content is high value.

You could also subvert that by emailing them a PDF or having them request access to something outside of email

 

[Andy Black]

Quick note on technologies:

I have Thrivecart and Activecampaign but didn't want to setup the paid newsletter that way because Thrivecart cost me $500.

I want to be able to advise others on how to create paid email newsletters, so was looking for something that was simple and cheap to start with, but didn't tie us into someone else's emailing platform.


I started with this article:

• Managing Recurring Payments | MailCheat(Chimp)'s Official Blog

... and had a look at:

• Substack - Paid newsletters made simple
• Revue - An editorial newsletter tool for writers and publishers.
• Chargebee with MailCheat(Chimp)
• Moonclerk with MailCheat(Chimp)
• Memberful with MailCheat(Chimp)
• and a few more.

The first two are really interesting. It's like they're creating a version of Medium where you create content on their platform that you mail to your subscribers for free, and you can create a paid version of your content. I'll go back to looking at those platforms because I think they're really clever, and they may end up getting traction and become a marketplace for email newsletters.


The technologies I've settled on for the moment are:

• Campaignzee with MailCheat(Chimp)

It was ridiculously easy to setup a free MailCheat(Chimp) account and a free CampaignZee account and link the two and link with Stripe.
This is the main reason I've gone with this setup.

The con is that you pay 10% of subscription fees to CampaignZee, which is cheap to start with, but would then be steep later on.

I figure that "later on" may never happen so just go with it. And if later on did happen then I'd have a business case to pay and get some other solution implemented.


(By the way... thanks to the guys posting in the Inside progress thread about a paid email newsletter. They mention Substack and Revue in that thread.)

 

[Andy Black]

How did you make those sweet screenshot graphics???

I have Snagit. It’s great! I bought it with Camtasia as part of a bundle from Techsmith.


PS: That post above is finished, I just can’t seem to edit it and remove the first line...

 

[ZeroTo100]

Not just saying this because it’s you Andy, but I think it’s a great way to go. I’ve actually ran a subscription service a few years ago and than I contemplated going the newsletter route.

I’ve studied thrillist, startup digest, peter Leeds, daily candy to name a few. Research these companies. Some are free, some are paid models.

It’s an attractive business model for sure.

 

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[Andy Black]

[UPDATE]

Thanks goodness for my team giving me feedback on my salespage, thank-you page, and initial welcome email.

After going back to the drawing board on numerous occasions, and a whole lot of editing and sleeping on it, I'm delighted to be adding value from the first email, rather than talking about adding value in the next few emails. I keep saying "Show, don't tell", so this is me taking my own medicine.

MailCheat(Chimp) is pretty cool. I've never really had a go at email marketing, other than dipping my toe about 6-8 years ago.

Almost ready to "release" my salespage URL into the world. No big fancy launches for me. I don't even like the word "launch".

Knowing people are waiting for me to tell them where to pay is quite the motivator.

 

[MTF]

Thanks @MTF !!! I’ll take a look at that now. Rep.

Thanks for rep!

It's not sold anymore, but I bought it at the time and it was a great eye-opener. He advocates the creation of "fixed term membership sites" (which is similar to what you're looking at) - simply an autoresponder email series that you sell as a "drip feed" membership site.

I second that. I have an email course which is basically an autoresponder email series. The benefit of this approach (vs a paid newsletter) is that you set it up once and it does the rest for you. With a paid newsletter, you constantly have to create new content.

I like the idea of recurring income, but like @rpeck90 mentioned, churn is an issue. You can sell your 30-day email course for, say, $97, or send a weekly newsletter for $5 or $10 a month and have most people churn in 3 months or less. Revenue-wise, a course is most likely better. Value-wise, an email course is more structured so it can be more actionable, too.

But I still like the idea of a paid newsletter, particularly in an industry that evolves rapidly.

 

[Andy Black]

[UPDATE]

I didn't go with Sendowl as their lowest plan to allow subscriptions seems to be $24/mth. It looks like an amazing tool though.

Gumroad looks amazing too, and I know from years ago that Nathan Barry used it a lot (he's the founder of ConvertKit, recently rebranded to Seva.com). I've heard lots of good things about it in the past, but just never thought about it for sending paid emails.

I've signed up to Gumroad and gone straight to their $10/mth tier.

Pretty damn painless and LOTS of helpful articles on getting things setup.


Blimey... I even have a profile page already!

 

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