Content Strategy
Introduce Your Newsletters and Grow Your Mailing Lists
Let’s collaborate to enhance our networks, gain new customers, and delight them sustainably
Purpose of this post
I want to provide you with some guidance about building your mailing list.
However, the primary purpose of this story is to invite you to an initiative I offer to our contributing writers.
Introduction
I keep highlighting that writers need visibility to survive and thrive.
We must take personal responsibility to create our followers and convert them into our fans. No one else would do this job for us. It is in our capable hands.
Writing and blogging platforms are under constant change. They are unpredictable. No one knows what may happen tomorrow. Online ventures are fragile. They may disappear out of nowhere.
We cannot trust and rely on platforms owned by others. They may change their rules anytime. Even as a loyal customer, you have no right to change their practices. This is not something good or bad, but a fact of life.
We all know that many online ventures, even the sizeable ones, disappeared in the past. The customers faced shocks and disappointments, but it was too late for them to recover from the situation.
I am not making these comments to scare you. Instead, I aim to prepare you for imminent and potential risks by creating fall-back positions. We need to mitigate risks by undertaking preventive measures.
One of the measures can be to create our client base and access them easily.
How can we do this?
Our mailing list is the only thing we own to sustain our services.
Before raising your eyebrows with doubts, listen, and understand the rationale before it gets too late. I know mailing lists have connotations: overused, misrepresented, or misunderstood.
As professional and freelance writers, if the online platforms you participate in disappear, you will have no client base to continue. Creating your reader base on another platform from scratch will be difficult. This risk implicates wasted not only time and effort but also potential business loss.
I am not an expert on the commercial use of mailing lists. But did you know that many successful writers and freelancers have sizable mailing lists? I learned that high-earning writers with thousands of followers on online platforms effectively use mailing lists to boost the size of their followers.
Introduce your mailing lists and newsletters in a story
I propose you submit a story introducing your mailing lists and newsletters.
What can your story include?
You can include three critical items.
Firstly, introduce your background and your products or services.
Secondly, describe your newsletter and provide sample links, content, or photos.
Thirdly, provide links to your mailing list.
Submit your story to ILLUMINATION.
I will compile these stories under the name of “Newsletters and Mailing Lists by ILLUMINATION Writers”. I plan to feature and promote your stories to our writers and readers via our distribution methods.
Please remember to tag my account so that I can be notified.
If I miss your story for any reason (which usually happens when notifications fail), please leave a comment on this story with a link to your introduction. I will regularly check the comments and take the necessary actions.
Benefits of introducing your story
First of all, your story is published on Medium, which creates serendipity. Your story may generate interest from writers and readers that you even don’t know.
Secondly, our publication has around 6K writers and 46K readers. Having your story in our publication can expose your mailing list and newsletter details to this audience.
Thirdly, you can share your story on your social media and networks, exposing you to a different audience.
So, your story can be used for re-purposing. This is a critical success factor for networking.
Please consider this opportunity and create a story introducing your mailing list and newsletter confidently. You have nothing to lose. The worst-case scenario is some narrow-minded critics might judge you as “self-promoting,” projecting their insecurities. Would you care about their useless opinion?
Now let me give a high-level overview of how to build a mailing list for beginners. Probably most of you have more experience than I do. It will still be useful to have a quick introduction for those who are just starting.
How can you build your mailing lists?
There are many ways to create mailing lists. Some buy the lists, but I have no experience in buying mailing lists, so I will park this option and comment on other options reflecting my experience.
I want to provide you with a few quick and practical options from my experience. The most obvious is adding your mailing list to your stories, blogs, or publications. You can insert your mailing subscription request at the end of your stories.
You can also add it to your online profiles.
The excellent news, Medium now has a feature that allows you to add a subscription request to your profile and stories automatically. All you need to do is to turn on the feature from your profile settings.
On your profile photo, click on Settings and Followers. You need to tick a box in the Promotion section, as shown in the following screen capture.
The common practice for writers is advertising a mailing list with an accompanied newsletter offer. Some writers offer free books and gifts to attract subscribers to their mailing lists. You can do these kinds of promotions on your blogs.
Building mailing lists via commercial services can be costly, especially when the size of lists increases. Many writers cannot justify and afford the cost. However, several platforms can help you build your mailing lists free of charge.
Let me give you some examples.
The most common ones are Substack, MailChimp, and Quazy. I use CovertKit, which provides free service to up to 1,000 subscribers. They have paid plans for more subscribers. You can check their website for the latest offers. The reason I use ConvertKit is its ease of use and important functions.
Additional boost and fall-back positions
As you know, ILLUMINATION has a large Slack group. I created a channel for specifically promoting newsletters and mailing lists. This central channel can develop visibility and help you gain new subscribers.
If you are a member, you can join #mailinglists-and-newsletters and start collaborating. You can use the channel browser feature to locate it.
If you are not a member of our Slack group yet, please send a request via this link. I will send you an invitation to join.
Additional external collaboration sites create a fall-back position for writers and bloggers. For example, some friends lost their accounts from some online platforms, but we maintained connections via Slack groups and my blogs.
I also created several other collaboration platforms for our writers. You can check the links and participate in these platforms. They can help you create fall-back positions.
Conclusions
I highlighted the importance of having a mailing list. Writers must take personal responsibility for creating and maintaining their customers.
We know that writing platforms change frequently. These platforms are unpredictable and not guaranteed. We don’t know what might happen and have no control over the consequences. It is not feasible to trust and rely on platforms owned by others. They may change their rules anytime.
I offered writers contributing to ILLUMINATION to submit a story introducing their mailing list and newsletter. I’d be delighted to support your goals in building your mailing list as a catalyst.
I also mentioned some popular tools and common techniques to build your mailing list. I wish you the best in creating and maintaining your customers. Let’s stay in touch and grow mutually. Here is the link to my mailing list.
I am a technologist, postdoctoral researcher, author of several books, editor, and digital marketing strategist with four decades of industry experience. You are welcome to join my 100K+ technology mailing list, to collaborate, enhance your network, and receive a technology newsletter reflecting my industry experience.
The attached article summarizes my guide on creating a mailing list from scratch and using regular newsletters to grow our audience steadily.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
ALS, Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Thyroid Disorders, Anemia, Dysautonomia, cardiac output, and urinary track disorders.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients.
Disclaimer: My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.
As part of my creative non-fiction writing goals, I’d like to share a few stories that might warm our hearts with a bit of humor into weighty topics.
Sample Humorous Stories
Finally, After Burning Her House, Georgia Found Enlightenment
Hilarious Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Keep the Gray Matter Giggling
8 Psychological Points I Had to Unlearn and Relearn the Opposite
Based on my writing experience and observations, I documented findings and strategies that might help you amplify your voice, engage your audience, and achieve your desired outcomes in your writing journey.
I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on cellular, mitochondrial, metabolic, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.
You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 22K writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.
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