Starting a newsletter is the best decision you could make for you or your company.

Newsletter economy is $10B currently. And would double by 2025. Hence, every business should try to take a piece of this ever-growing pie (huge upside for early adopters). I never like talking about statistics. But necessary to wake you up to the reality. Jokes apart. Have you noticed why your favorite creators Tim Denning, Dan Koe, and countless many whom you admire or look up to have started a newsletter? Passive income, nah! Massive money making opportunity. Hint: It’s something deeper. Ride along to understand the nuts and bolts of starting a newsletter Let me be very clear — starting a newsletter isn’t some modern day get rich quick (ponzi) scheme. The first ever physical newsletter dates back to 131BC. The basics are still the same, just the medium of delivery has changed. That sounds amazing, Devesh, but why the heck should I care to start a newsletter if it isn’t the source of passive income? Or… Next money making opportunity. Envision this, you’ve an amazing following across all the social media platforms. And most of your online business depends on it. Next day, you wake up to find out all your following vanished. Gone. Extreme case. But quite possible. What? Need an example? Cool, remember google plus 😔 At one point, it had more users than Instagram and snapchat combined. So don’t be delusional. It can’t happen to you. Ok, let’s take up a plausible case. For no reason, you get banned on a platform or algorithm changes. And your reach suffers. Implies a colossal blow to your online business. But if you’ve a newsletter, it provides a hedge against all these scenarios. And that’s not the only reason to start a newsletter. Here are a couple of reasons more why you should start a newsletter: Amazing reach, almost 100% (given you’ve low bounce and spam rates) 1 on 1 connect with the audience Establishes trust and credibility You’ve the complete control Owned media. Authority value sales And countless, many more benefits. The fundamental question — how to start & grow a newsletter (and monetization secrets). Trust me, by the end of the article. You’d have a complete blueprint of how to start & grow your newsletter. I was waiting for you to ask this — what if I don’t have any following & how am I gonna grow my email list? Tbh, that’s an advantage for you folks. You can repurpose the content as social media posts, script for YouTube, a short podcast episode, etc. No need to create content for different social media platforms. Without further ado, let’s jump into the meat of this article. 7 tips to start your newsletter and grow your email list. 1. Niche Your expertise should be your niche or something that interests you or the topic you want to learn more. Think of it from a logical lens. Why would someone subscribe to your newsletter if you don’t have skin in the game or slight competence? Competence either comes from experience or from extensive immersion into the topic aka research. Otherwise, no one would listen to your talk. Keep your readers entertained. Infotainment — delivering information or knowledge in a fun (and interactive) manner. By telling real-life personal stories, experiences, or fun adventures you’ve been to. (A fair warning: keep the stories and experiences relevant to the topic. The other day, a guy on Twitter posted some obscene real-life story. You don’t have to go overboard). 2. Tools You’d need a newsletter hosting platform. There are gazillions out there, but I’d like you to narrow down your choices to either Convertkit, substack, or Beehiv. Don’t stress much about tools for now. Just start with either of the above. But here’s a suggestion. Convertkit offers more automation and segmentation options. Would be a viable option for someone who wants to build a few digital products and wants all those automation options, and segmentation options. Although, the other two platforms offer these options but ain’t that powerful. You might frown at what should be the cadence & word limit. As a beginner, I’d suggest a weekly newsletter with anywhere between 1500–4000 words. Enough meat for the audience and enough length to share your stories/experiences. 3. Freebies I’m not a big proponent of giving away freebies. Not because it attracts some freebie lurkers. Or… It doesn’t work. While it’s quite the opposite. Giving away a valuable ebook, video course, resource, or guide is the best newsletter growth hack. But most people do it wrong. They half-heartedly create a freebie. And it ruins your brand’s reputation because if the reader doesn’t find any value in it, he won’t consider you as an authority figure. The key here is to make something worth consuming and binge-worthy, aka, which helps the consumer get a quick ‘W’. 4. Binge-worthy content guidelines Do you know how distracted a modern man is? Phone buzzing. Emails. TikTok, Instagram, and many more distractions. And you’re fighting for their attention. So make your content share worthy and binge worthy. Here’s a guideline, you should follow to inject emotions and passion into your writing. (Credit: Shaan Puri) Before writing content on top of the page, write what emotion you want people to feel after consuming your content, eg: - LOL: That’s so funny - WTF: That pissed me off - AWW: that’s so cute - WOW: That’s amazing - NSFW: That’s crazy - OHHH: Now I get it - FINALLY: Someone said what I feel - YAY: That’s great Do this to write actionable content that holds attention. 5. Referral Strategy & recommendations Incentivize your subscribers to refer other people to join your newsletter. The most efficient way to gain followers. Use this tool spark loop to supercharge your referral strategy. And there’s another strategy that works like charm. Newsletter recommendation kinda similar to cross sell. Collaborate with other beginners and recommend your subscribers to join their newsletter. 6. Guest posting No one else talks about this growth hack. Reach out to a few newsletter writers in your niche a few steps ahead of you. And offer to write their next newsletter edition. This helps you gain trust and leverage other people’s audience. It’s a win-win situation for both. 7. Leverage social media I’m not just talking about leveraging your existing social media following. In case, you’ve a great following, even better to promote your newsletter to your following and ask them to subscribe. But if you don’t have a huge following. Here’s a trick you could use: Join groups and communities where your target audience hangs out and start providing value there. Build trust and authority with your comments and posts. Do this regularly and engage with people. Soon your email list will start growing. Wrapping it all together. Follow these steps or methods for a good 6 months to a year and you’ll easily start monetizing your efforts. Launch your newsletter asap. And ride along this creator economy. Cheers, Have a great day! P.S. Here’s a link to join my newsletter: https://deveshs-newsletter-52de46.beehiiv.com/subscribe P.P.S. If you’re looking for someone to help you with writing, managing, or growing your newsletter. Drop me an email: d.writervyas@gmail.com