How would you grow my newsletter?
I recently passed the 200 subscriber count 🥳 using traditional marketing methods like posting here, dev.to, LinkedIn, and even my personal Facebook. But I feel like I can do better, I put so much effort in the content that I hope I can get more traction.
I'm sure that I'm missing things - I'd love to get some help from the community here 🙏
The newsletter: https://unzip.dev (Developer trends newsletter)
Edit (4.4.2022):
I'm truly grateful! So many valuable comments!
I knew IndieHackers is a great community, but this was not expected. Thank you all! ❤️
Trending on Indie Hackers
I totally feel you on how discouraging it can be to spend a ton of time on an article and feel it doesn't get read by enough people.
I've gotten to over 1k subscribers for my newsletter/blog Small Tech Business.
In order to gain new subscribers, you need to:
Here are some strategies I've tried or have considered:
1. Get listed on newsletter directories
2. Get your content published on an existing publication
3. Don't be afraid to repurpose content
4. Collaborate with other newsletters with similar audiences
Hope that helps!
Wow so many gems!
I really liked leveraging my content to twitter via a thread. I'll try to do that.
Any tips on getting published via HackerNoon? (I once had a viral post and The startup contacted me, but it wasn't the other way around).
Do you know any place I could find similar newsletters that would not brush me off with my low subscriber count at the moment? Or that isn't an issue?
Hey @agam, this article by @learnwithvidya, the curator of Curious Bunch has some amazing tips on finding newsletter creators to do cross promotions with. She started doing cross promos early on so there are definitely similar sized creators who you can collaborate with!
https://newsletterglue.com/blog/grow/newsletter-cross-promotions/
Congrats on 200 subscribers hope your newsletter continues to grow!
Thank you! I'll check it out now.
I looked through your posts and it looks like your content is more similar to like Trends.vc type content. It's a great format, but it doesn't align 100% with the format of popular HackerNoon articles (they are usually more traditional articles). I recommend trying to repurpose your content to fit the style that matches what the readership expects (of course don't bend too far for a publication, only if there is still synergy).
Most of these publications allow you to submit articles to be published. See HackerNoon's guide and also The Startup's.
No need to feel self-conscious about your subscriber count! Think about it this way: these publications are desperate for good content to publish, and they are mostly sourced with content they don't pay for. Instead of payment, they offer basically 2 things:
It's really a win-win relationship assuming that your content fits their target audience and that you are looking for new readers! So all they really care about is that your content is good and fits their niche.
That's great! I'll try to repurpose an article there soon. I appreciate the suggestions!
I'm a huge fan of hackernoon. Nice idea to post articles there
Great suggestions! Do you send new emails out? Latest article seems to be from summer of 2021. :)
I have an article about why more indie hackers should be building consumer products and some strategies for doing that. It's about 50% done, but I am gradually making progress.
I am juggling quite a few projects right now, so I can't commit on a date it will be ready by, but it 100% will come at some point. Doing more writing is what I ultimately want to do long term (5 year plan), so I definitely won't be giving it up!
I followed you on Twitter! I like your content and I can't wait for more in-depth articles :)
Thanks for the follow!
Try and get on as many social platforms as you can and curate/post as much good/relevant content as you can. It's essentially the "be everywhere" strategy. Once you have great content for one platform, you technically have it for 10-20 platforms if you put in the extra effort (a few mins) to share it to them all. Once you build some audience on several of them, you can mix in your newsletter to draw in views/subscribers. The more, the merrier!
My team and I have actually been working on a SaaS web app that can help you with that, called GrindZero. Were currently in beta if you I would like to check it out!
That sounds interesting, especially if it can reduce time spent, whilst still helping me share to other platforms while still keeping quality high. Where can I check it out?
It's linked in my profile. Cheers!
I don't know enough about your newsletter specifically to give advice. But I've helped grow 1000+ newsletters over the last two years, and here are the top 23 ways I'm approaching newsletter growth in 2022.
The landing page is slick! I love the insights!
Thanks!
Thanks! I really liked 4, I never thought about it that way :)
Try to interview some technical people who have a following.
That is something I thought about, what medium would you use? and what format do you think would work?
My thoughts were to record a remote video call with some person related to the trend then upload it to YouTube (10-15 minutes on the topic with minimal or no editing). Do you think that is the direction you'd recommned?
One of the best growth channels for my newsletter has come from connecting with others in my niche and working to develop real friendships.
Like the saying goes, it's not what you know, it's who you know.
Find 20 to 30 active people in your niche and:
If you create enough value for others, it will eventually get reciprocated.
Most people approach these relationships in a very transactional way. That doesn't work. Give without expecting anything in return, and your generosity will be reciprocated.
Once you have built up those connections, you can:
Thank you for the in-depth comment! I like the value-driven approach. The karma/"Cast thy bread upon the waters" approach is great in every aspect of life.
A lot of things I was going to say have already been said here. Especially @jkchu.
Giveaway a lead magnet. Something really valuable. Then use Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn to get the word out. Posting to niche FB groups is also ideal.
What would be a good example of a lead magnet I could use that you would subscribe for in my situation?
I’d suggest creating an ebook containing some value to your readers. A solution to a problem they encounter frequently.
Are you posting content on TikTok? I feel like that is by far the best organic tool at the moment.
That's interesting! do you know where I should start looking and researching that?
I'm 27 years old, so I'm just above the age where my friends use it 😂 But I'm not opposed to the idea.
Best thing you could do is spend time on the platform, as a marketer you will understand it :) Takes some time but it is here to stay, the organic reach is off the charts!
Hey
I'm building a profitable React newsletter in public, maybe you'll find my story interesting 😉
https://www.indiehackers.com/product/french-react-newsletter
Wow, what a success! I love how you leveraged LinkedIn! do you have a more in-depth guide on how to utilize LinkedIn for such endeavors?
Did you take a look at unzip.dev? do you have any specific recommendations as you are also a developer :) ?
And of course any other tips about managing a newsletter would be great! <3
I did take a look yes.
The signup form is not the best way to convert IMHO 😅
The content looks great but it's a bit too diverse for me: I'm not sure exactly what to expect in future editions. For example, the landing page shows JS code but the content is not always about JS.
Trying to write everything on my product hunt page, hard to summarize everything though :) I posted on LinkedIn for over a year almost every day, and then got like 500 subs on day 1 when I launched the French newsletter 2 days ago. Overall there's no free lunch, you have to put the work in. Still trying to figure out how to grow faster, my newsletter is still not profitable compared to my regular hourly rate 😄
Yeah, I heard that from several people about the signup form (although @Indiehackers official account tweeted about it right now, which is crazy!) - I think I'll add another indicator that that is the signup form.
Your diversity point is legit. If you are just a frontend developer for example then unzip might not be 100% relevant for you. I'm targeting full-stack developers or developers that want to widen their horizon (generalists).
Yeah, I'm continuing to post everywhere. I'll just have to write even more while still keeping the quality up I guess :)
I'm working on some tools for emails - we can try to collaborate with you.
I send ~4 mil emails, hopefully, can help you too.
There a lot of things to learn about publishing newsletters
I'd love to hear more about that, dm me (https://twitter.com/agammore)
Similar situation for me.
I post to all the socials, and a while back I did a bit of research, and found there are some newsletter recommendation sites, sort of directory listings, where you can get your newsletter listed and they refer users that are interested in topics you cover. I haven’t had that much traffic from that though.
Getting mentioned in podcasts, or in other newsletters springs to mind, but I haven’t tried that route yet.
Being in sone way doing something of note in various communities, so when people look you up they see you have a newsletter and subscribe.
Writing blog posts, writing guest posts on other blogs.
I’m curious to hear other people’s suggestions and experiences too.
Thanks for asking the question.
Thanks for the detailed answer!
I will try to continue to cross-post and give added value in other communities.
Do you have any idea how I can reach small-sized podcasts or newsletters that would like to bring someone like me on?
Aside from just being a listener of podcasts and newsletters, I don’t have any particular insight about that. I suppose, go to places where they hang out, get involved in discussions.
Sounds legit.
Hey Agam! Sweet website!
Digging the aesthetics and added your article on programmatic SEO to read later.
One thing you might be able to try is making the subscribe form a little more obvious. While the design is clever, it wasn't as obvious to me where you would sign up for the newsletter.
On each of your posts, I would also suggest putting an inline sign up form either in the middle or the end of your post.
I actually almost missed the sign up button on the bottom right. I despise chatbots and tend to ignore chatbot like UI – which is what I thought that button was.
From all your work with inbound links to your site, by making the sign up more obvious, might help with converting subscribers.
Another thing you could try is to provide a lead magnet...which is an offer.
Obviously your posts itself should be the reward, but providing a little something extra for signing up might be a good incentive for your readers.
Yay! so much help, Thanks for the insights!
I'm so glad to hear that you liked the site, it took me too much time to make it 😅
Yeah, the subscribe button needs a bit more UX to make sure people notice it better.
A lead magnet could be anything that you think would be useful to your audience. Think of it as a thank you gift for signing up.
So for my personal site, I give them a copy of my git cheat sheet absolutely free after they opt into the newsletter – https://michaelsoolee.com/growth/
I'll think of something! thanks!