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- The Easiest Way to Start (and Grow) a Newsletter
Heyo!
Welcome back to another edition of the Digital Brand Builders newsletter, a newsletter teaching you one actionable lesson you can use each week to build and grow your own brand online.
I want to teach from my own experience, so I’ll be sharing everything I’ve learned about starting and growing my personal brand and online business over the past several months.
And by the end of every edition, I’ll leave you with a few action steps you can take to get one step closer to building your own digital brand this upcoming week.
Sound like a plan?
Alrighty, let’s dive right into this one!
Here’s what we’ll be covering this week:
The easiest way to start and grow a newsletter.
This Week’s Blueprint 🗺
An email list is the most valuable asset you own as a brand or creator.
Why?
You own your list
You can use it to sell products or services
You can build deeper relationships with your reader
Just to name a few.
So yeah… it’s pretty important.
Realistically, I could just tell you to follow Jay Yang and binge-read his own newsletter to learn everything you need to know about starting an email list.
And while I still wholeheartedly recommend you do that, below I’ll be sharing six steps you can take today to start building your own email list so you can take advantage of the digital economy.
Here we go:
1• Choose a Category
When it comes to your email list, there are three categories I recommend you choose from:
Health
Wealth
Relationships
Why these three?
Because almost every single problem your readers experience will fall under one of these three categories.
So pick the one you either have the most experience with or believe you can solve the most problems within.
In my case, this newsletter is about building your own online brand to create more opportunities for yourself.
So it falls under wealth/relationships.
Makes sense, right?
2• Pick Problems to Solve
We all face problems in our lives that we want solved. And your reader is no different.
Think about the main problems you can help your reader solve in your newsletter.
This is important because it will be the foundation of your content and what you talk about in each issue.
For example, there are a ton of things that go into building a digital brand:
Getting attention
Building a network
Social media growth
Growing your email list
In my case, each edition of this newsletter focuses on one of these topics that I help you solve.
This week, we’re obviously covering how to start your email list.
3 • Decide on a Format
My favorite newsletters (and often the most popular) all follow a specific format.
Sure, some are long form, written straight from the dome. And there are a few of these that I read each week.
But I find it more fun (for both the reader and the writer) if each newsletter follows the same structure every time.
This newsletter has:
A quick intro
One actionable deep dive
Weekly action steps
An inspiring quote
Some helpful resources
This way, the reader (that’s you!) knows exactly what to expect every week, and it’s easy for anyone to follow along with.
I would also recommend a similar structure because it’s a combination of your own content and curating others’ content.
It truly is the best of both worlds!
4• Pick an Email Software Provider
Look, there are so many options out there that it might feel daunting or overwhelming at first.
But think about what your goal is for your email list…
Then go from there.
My recommendations?
Either MailerLite or Beehiiv (I use both).
Both platforms are excellent and have powerful features I can use to grow my email list on autopilot.
Don’t spend forever on this step.
Spend a few minutes weighing your options and then pick one.
Just remember… the email provider isn’t as important as the person writing the emails ;)
5 • Create a Lead Magnet
We covered this the other week (you can read about it here).
Truth is, most of the time people won’t join your email list without having a reason to do so.
You have to give them a reason to give you their email. You have to give them a reason to listen to what you have to say.
Which is why I recommend creating some sort of lead magnet that incentivizes people to join.
Again, I won’t get too into this here. You can read more how (and why) to create a lead magnet here.
6 • Promote Your Email List
By this point, you’ve started your email list. Well done!
But if you actually want to grow your email list, you need to be shamelessly promoting it.
How exactly can you do that?
Add a link to all your socials. Promote your lead magnet wherever you can. Use Auto DM’s to grow your list on auto-pilot. Tell everybody and their mothers about how great your newsletter is and why they should join (okay, this one might be a bit over the top).
Reddit
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
These are all great platforms to promote your email list and gain some initial momentum.
You know what they say, right?
You can have the best newsletter in the world. But it won’t mean a thing if nobody knows it exists.
So get out there and start promoting it to the world!
This Week’s Action Steps 🐾
So there you have it… 6 steps you can take to start your own email list and build your initial base of readers!
If you still don’t have your own email list set up, here are your action steps for this week:
Choose a category and format
Write down a list of problems you can solve
Sign up for an email service provider
Build your lead magnet
Start promoting your email list everywhere!
Let me know if you have any questions or if there’s any way I can help :)
Your buddy,
Connor “the money’s made in the email” Flynn
This Week’s Top Quote 🗯
“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.”
This Week’s Top Hits 🤙🏼
Just Couldn’t Get Enough?
Start and Grow Your Newsletter in 7 Days 📧
An email list is the most valuable asset you own as a creator or brand. If you want to learn how to start, grow, and monetize an email list (all in 7 days), join my free Money Mail email course below:
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I created a step-by-step playbook to help you add an additional $30k - $50k/month to your revenue in the next 90 days. And you can grab it for FREE below:
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Email and SMS strategy
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Marketing templates and frameworks
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