35 Lessons from 35 Years of Newsletter Publishing
- Email lasts. You will have a medium that best speaks to your style (maybe audio or video is what keeps you excited), but email is as universal as we’ve gotten online as a species, so far. It’s still the king.
- There is no competition for your personal voice.
- Build relationships. That’s what it’s all about. Anyone trying anything else is lying to themselves or their readers. All you need is one relationship to change or save your project, career, or life. Why not establish more? This is also what separates the wealthy from the successful.
- Be human. People recognize spam. People recognize a sales pitch. People also recognize honest, direct communication. This is where newsletters excel. Be real. Be vulnerable.
- The best metric is replies.
- Perfection sucks and it’s boring.
- No one cares. You have to give them reasons to care. Earn five seconds of their attention. Then, earn the next five. Repeat.
- New idea? Just start. You can’t establish relationships if you’re not out there. Whatever it takes, get your idea out there now. Course correct, if and when needed. Every failure is possible entertainment for your audience. So, just ship.
- Curation matters. There’s way too many creators and not enough editors. This scarcity creates value.
- There’s bravery in brevity. Small is considerate, difficult, and valuable. Most books should be a blog post. Most blog posts should be a tweet. Most tweets shouldn’t be.
- Be consistent. People are creatures of habit. That’s why consistency works. Become a part of their routine.
- Your newsletter is the byproduct of your process. Focus on improving your process and everything else works itself out. This is where you learn how to stay consistent and avoid burn out.
- Deliver value, not word counts. Solve someone else’s problem — the bigger the better. It’s nice if it solves your problem too.
- Don’t be an asshole. Make it easy to unsubscribe. Don’t get bogged down in tracking clicks. Respond. People are not “opens.” People are not “clicks.”
- Only one person is opening this email. You are not a broadcaster. No one is crowded around a single screen reading your email. You are writing to one, individual reader.
- Give a shit. It’s shocking how many don’t.
- Discovery is recovery. You’ve covered topics a thousand times without realizing they intersect in new and interesting ways. Re-read your stuff and you’ll find something new every time.
- No size fits all. No matter what you do, you won’t please your entire audience. That’s good. Build trust by being honest and you’re bound to get hate. Remember: the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.
- Keep track of what delights you about other newsletters — not what engages you (that’s too easy — A.I. can do that). Engagement is good for a few sentences. Delight builds anticipation for the next issue. You’re probably not producing enough delight. You probably should be.
- Subject lines don’t matter anywhere near as much as your From line. Trust is the only thing that improves your From line.