My newsletter is making $2k per month with 7k subscribers – AMA

Post by ryangilbert » Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 4:30 PM UTC

omarhaneef wrote: post #49

This was much more interesting than I expected. I have always been interested in how other people work, prioritize, think, their workflow and tools, and this really spoke to that interest. Here were some surprises: -- I was much more interested in their software than hardware. -- I was most interested in their physical set up. This told me more about workflow than I imagined. -- Everyone has a camera and mic these da…

Post by ryangilbert » Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 4:33 PM UTC

yata69420 wrote: post #50

ryangilbert wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the cold DM I tend to send: "Hi [name]! I publish a newsletter with x+ subscribers that highlights the workspaces of creative individuals and would love to include you. Let me know if you're at all interested! :)" I think the earliest guests simply liked the idea of the project and thought it would be fun to share the workspace that they spend hours of their day in. Now I think people agree because they are a…

Does that work when "x" is 0? under 10? under 100? What was the first "x" you used in that message early on? How did you get that many of initial subscribers? It seems to me that the only way to bootstrap something like this is with ad spend or viral social media content that inspires people to subscribe, but that's sort of a chicken and egg problem if you don't already have wide reach.

Post by KingOfCoders » Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

Post by ryanjamurphy » Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

ryangilbert wrote: post #45

keiferski wrote: post #40

Kudos! Although it's an entirely different type of content/business, this reminds me of Humans of New York . [1] There seems to be a broad desire for simple, consistent content about the lives of everyday people. I think it may be a reaction to the increasing unreality of most larger media outlets, which have become very contrived and overly-optimized. If I were looking to start a newsletter, I would pick a similar e…

Agreed! I think the consistent and predictable content is also what leads to the high engagement around it. You don't have to worry about opening the newsletter not knowing if you will need to set aside 30 minutes to read an essay. Each newsletter is very visual and can be read in just a couple of minutes.

Post by ryangilbert » Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 4:42 PM UTC

ryanjamurphy wrote: post #57

ryangilbert wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed! I think the consistent and predictable content is also what leads to the high engagement around it. You don't have to worry about opening the newsletter not knowing if you will need to set aside 30 minutes to read an essay. Each newsletter is very visual and can be read in just a couple of minutes.

Yeah, I think you've hit the bullseye on a sweet-spot for newsletter content. You can glean a lot, quickly, from a photo of someone's workspace. Congrats on the success!