5 Helpful Lessons I Learned While Growing My Newsletter
If you’re not happy as a creator, you’re doing something wrong!
This past summer, I switched gears.
I closed the doors on two of my digital products, abandoned 𝕏 as a traffic source, and killed my old newsletter.
The results were predictable:
My income plummeted and my audience growth flatlined.
I felt burnt out, extremely frustrated, and filled with anxiety over the thought that I would never break away from the freelancing grind.
I’m married with three kids. I don’t have a lot of time to invest. Everywhere I look, it seems like time is what you need if you want to build a successful business online these days.
As summer came to a close, I was on the verge of giving up completely.
I felt dejected and lost. For about 10 minutes.
Then I told myself:
“This can’t be that hard!
I’m working with clients who are building businesses right in front of my face”
I took a deep breath, said “fuck it” and ignored all the bullshit that didn’t matter.
I simplified my process down to only its essential components and learned 5 important lessons along the way:
1) Work smarter, not harder.
All it takes to run my business are:
- A free Medium account
- A free Sparkloop account
- A free Gumroad account
- Carrd Pro subscription
- ConvertKit subscription
If I really wanted to bootstrap things I could ditch Carrd and ConvertKit and just use Gumroad’s built-in newsletter feature.
I used to get bogged down thinking I needed a bunch of unnecessary tools to succeed.
Because I only have an hour a day to work on my newsletter business, I don’t have time to waste tinkering with a WordPress site or trying to figure out how to navigate the constantly changing SEO landscape.
Instead, I focus on making sure my business is as low friction as possible.
I only pay attention to things that genuinely move the needle in terms of growth.
If an activity doesn’t get me newsletter subscribers or make me money, I don’t do it. Why waste time you don’t have if it isn’t necessary for the proper functioning of your business?
2) Don’t spread yourself too thin.
When META launched Threads a while back I was excited.
I had grown tired of 𝕏 for a number of reasons and viewed the platform as a chance to start over. The problem was that I also wanted to give LinkedIn a solid try along with YouTube and even Instagram.
I was distracted by other people's success.
If someone posted a screenshot of their YouTube ad revenue, I’d get excited and start mapping out a content strategy.
It didn’t matter that I barely had time to take a shit, much less produce a high-quality YouTube video.
I had a serious case of FOMO and it took me some deep introspection to snap out of my trance.
That’s when I decided to focus on one platform.
It was going to be either YouTube or Medium for one specific reason:
They pay you to create content.
I finally decided to go with Medium because the barrier to entry and the required time investment were lower.
$5 bucks a month to start earning immediately vs needing to accumulate 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours. It was a no-brainer.
3) Don’t become an employee of your business.
Only 6% of writers on Medium earn more than $100 per month.
If you fall inside that 6% let me ask you a quick question.
What are you doing with those earnings?
Most people might say something like:
“I use it to pay my bills.”
Or
“I use it to buy myself something I normally wouldn’t.”
Or
“I’m just sticking into a savings account in case I need it for a rainy day.”
If you want your writing to be anything other than a hobby, all these answers are wrong. You’re acting like an employee of your business, instead of acting like a CEO.
Every penny you make should be reinvested back into growing your business until you’re consistently making at least $10K per month.
I’d suggest you not take any profit until you’re hitting at least $15K per month, but that’s just me.
And while I know everyone’s situation is different, if you have a primary source of income like a full-time job or freelance work, I can’t stress enough how important it is to make your side-hustle money work for you.
4) Protect your mental health.
When Elon took over Twitter and rebranded it to 𝕏, I noticed something odd. I was starting to see more and more posts from people I didn’t follow.
It’s a major reason why I left the platform.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape the political, religious, and polarizing content.
Yes…
What’s happening in the Middle East is awful.
Yes…
Some people are confused about their gender.
Yes…
Donald Trump is an idiot and Joe Biden is senile.
But if I can be completely real for a second, being “informed” about any of these issues doesn’t improve the overall quality of my life — AT ALL!
It’s not that I don’t care about global conflicts or social issues… I do.
And it isn’t like I’m happy about the fact all politicians seem to be corrupt, inept, or immoral narcissists… I’m not.
However — as I get older — I genuinely feel as though ignorance (at least in terms of politics) truly is bliss.
So, I decided to ignore content and “news” that raised my anxiety levels and trapped me in a constant state of fear.
Instead, I focus on consuming and creating content that directly improves the quality of my life in a measurable way. And it works.
5) Stay focused on the prize.
I wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and get my two oldest kids ready for school. Shortly thereafter, I get breakfast into my 22-month-old and give my wife a kiss as she heads out the door for work.
The next 3 to 4 hours are a combination of keeping my son entertained, keeping him from electrocuting himself and keeping myself fully caffeinated.
We may go for a walk, head to the swing in our backyard, or blast some Taylor Swift and dance like nobody’s watching.
When he goes down for a nap around noon, I’ve got a 3-hour window to get some cleaning done, grab some lunch, and finally do some client work or create content for my newsletter.
When the older boys get home from school after 3 PM, it’s pedal to the metal.
Basketball practice.
Soccer practice.
Dinner.
Bedtime routine.
Relax with my wife.
Shower.
Go to sleep.
Wake up and do it all again the next day.
And I love it.
It’s the absolute best!
If you’re married with three kids, packing up and becoming a digital nomad who travels to exotic locations is off the table.
If you’re single, with very little in terms of commitment – your dream lifestyle is constrained only by your imagination.
Just don’t forget why you’re building in the first place.
Create a vision and work towards it.
Make it uniquely yours, and stay focused on achieving it.
In the end, it’s not about how much money I make from my newsletter.
It’s about the lifestyle my newsletter can support.
My ideal lifestyle will look vastly different in 20 years when all my kids have grown up and started their own lives.
Circumstances constantly change and everyone’s circumstances are different. You can’t do anything but play the hand you’ve been dealt to the best of your ability.
I consider myself one of the lucky ones.
I have good cards.
About The Author
My name is Evan. I’m a happily married father of three boys who likes to drink black coffee and read Jack Reacher novels. I also love everything about newsletters!