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How to Write Your First Newsletter and Start Growing Your Email List
There are four key phases to the first 30 days of your newsletter:
- Picking your email platform
- What to do before you launch
- How to write your first newsletter
- How to start promoting your newsletter
Let’s talk about phases three and four: How to write your very first newsletter, and how to start promoting it.
(If you missed the first two parts of the series, you can read more here about picking your email platform, and more here about what to do before launch.)
Start building out your first email to readers
Look through your content calendar, and identify the first few posts you want to write for your newsletter. This is your first post, so to make sure it’s great, I wouldn’t just write one article — I’d actually write two or three, share them with friends or colleagues to get their feedback, and then pick the one I want to lead with. Most indie writers don’t have a dedicated copy editor at this stage — but do run your newsletter through a tool like Grammarly before you publish, or ask a friend to give it a read before you hit publish. Remember: Once a newsletter goes out, there’s no way to take it back.
One more tip: When I write a newsletter, I often have a few specific readers in mind who I pretend I’m writing for. I find that it’s hard to figure what to say if I think about speaking to thousands of readers all at once, but if I imagine myself writing a note to just a few friends, my writing is often much more clear, and more personal, too. As my friend Ann Handley likes to say: The most important part of the newsletter is the letter, not the news. The best newsletters are personal — they connect you directly to your reader, and every time you write one, try to write it as though just a few specific friends are reading.
Write your subject line
The subject line on a newsletter is incredibly important. It’s one of the first things — and often, the single most important thing — that might inspire a reader to click and read your newsletter. Don’t go too short with the subject line — you can use a full sentence if that’s what it takes to explain why someone should click.
Most email service providers (ESPs) also allow you to include what’s called the preheader (or preview) text. That’s the little bit of text that goes alongside your subject line. Add another sentence or two there explaining more about what’s inside your newsletter. Together, a great subject line and preheader text will give readers a reason to engage with your newsletter.
Another tip that’s worked well for me over the years: Try to make a promise to readers in the subject line, and then make sure you deliver on that promise in the story. At BuzzFeed, we used to say that if in the subject line, we told readers, “This Is The Most Adorable Video Of A Dog You’ve Ever Seen!”, readers better watch open that newsletter, watch that video, and say, “I think that really is the most adorable video of a dog I’ve ever seen!” Otherwise, we’ve tricked them into clicking, and we’ve lost their trust.
Whatever you do with your subject line, make sure readers understand what they’ll be clicking through to read. When in doubt: Be honest, and be direct with them. Remember: You’re trying to build relationships with readers for the long haul, and that trust gets built newsletter by newsletter.
Add alt text to your images
There’s a lot you can do to make your emails more accessible to everyone, but here’s a simple starting point: Make sure you add alt text to your images. That means adding a little description of what every image is within your newsletter. (Most ESPs give you the option to do this when you add the image to the newsletter.) Think of this a little like closed captioning on a TV show — the alt text is something that subscribers who use a screen reader will have read aloud to them when your email is read. Use a simple description of the image to explain what readers might be missing if they can’t see the image.
Another benefit: If a reader has images turned off, alt text may help them realize they need to turn images on to experience the full email.
How to start promoting your newsletter
Once you publish your launch post, it’s time to get the word out about your newsletter. Readers aren’t going to magically appear — you have to do some work to build your audience!
Publish + share across your networks
Take your launch post and share it with your network. Tell them a little about your newsletter, and ask them to re-share that launch post with their networks. Your friends, family, and former colleagues can make a strong personal endorsement for your work, and their support from Day 1 could help you build a subscriber base for your newsletter.
Promote to your social media channels
Try to experiment with different formats for different channels. On Twitter, try using threads where you break down a post into a few tweets, and then include a link to the full post at the end. On Instagram, try using stories with a link sticker. On Facebook, try recording a short video, no more than 30 seconds, explaining why someone should sign up for the newsletter, and then include a link in the description. Keep testing different experiments until you land on some social formats that drive traffic and convert readers.
Put your sign-up link in your social bios
Make sure that on all your social platforms, you include the link back to your newsletter in your bio. Or, if you want to drive readers to multiple places — like your personal website, the sales page for your book, etc. — you can use a tool like Linktree or Pico to create a link in bio to spotlight your newsletter alongside those other links.
What’s next?
Now that your newsletter is starting to grow, it’s time to start thinking about how to accelerate your growth to get your first 5,000 readers, and how to get readers to really engage with your emails. Let’s talk through the next steps for your newsletter.
| Thanks to our sponsor |
| The stories you’re reading on inboxcollective.com are made possible thanks to the generous support of our winter sponsor, beehiiv. They’re an all-in-one newsletter suite with built-in growth tools, customizable templates, and best-in-class analytics that actually move the needle. If you want to start a newsletter or are looking to grow your existing email list, try beehiiv today. |
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