Why Every Creator Must Have a Newsletter

And the easiest way to start one today—in under an hour

If you’ve spent any time growing an audience on social media, you’ve probably already discovered the brutal truth:

Your audience is not your own.

Yes, you might have 10,000 followers on a social media platform. But that doesn’t mean that when you publish a piece of content, it gets shown to all of those 10,000 followers.

Instead, your reach is throttled by the algorithms, and your content is shown to only a tiny fraction of your followers.

This means you and your business are at the mercy of the fickle social media algorithms and ever-changing rules and policies.

This is no way to build a long-term, sustainable business.

Having your business rely exclusively on social media platforms is like building your house on sand; one rainy day can destroy all your hard work.

If your goal is to build a successful business that will keep growing for years to come, you must build it on a solid foundation that you own and control.

And that’s where an email list comes in.

The Money is in The List

An email list is crucial because it gives you unrestricted access to your audience.

If you send an email to your list of 10,000 subscribers, your email gets delivered to each and every one of them.

There’s no algorithm to throttle your reach. There are no platforms to block you from sharing content they don’t like.

An email list gives you a direct line of communication with your customers.

You own your audience.

Published a new piece of content? Send an email to your list and get an instant boost of traffic.

Launched a new product you want to promote? Email your list and start getting sales from day one.

Having an email list is like having magic powers where you can send a flood of targeted traffic anywhere you want with the click of a button.

Social media is great for exposing your content to new people and building a following from scratch. But it’s a terrible way to communicate with your audience.

Think of it like this:

Today, you might gain 100 new followers on social media. Out of those 100 people, likely, only 5–10 will ever see your content again in their feed.

What a waste!

This is why your number one priority as a creator should be to get as many of your social media followers to join your email list.

Ideally, whenever anyone visits your profile and decides to follow you on social media, they should also be asked to join your email list.

Your goal should be to capture every new follower and move them over to a platform you own.

But, what’s the best way to actually get people to join your email list?

Simple, you start a weekly newsletter.

The Power of A Weekly Newsletter

In order to get people to sign up to your email list, you need to offer them something of value.

People don’t just randomly give their email addresses to strangers on the internet.

But, they’re more than happy to provide their email address when it’s the only way to be able to receive valuable information they’re interested in.

A weekly newsletter allows your audience to sign up to receive valuable information about topics they’re highly interested in.

In addition to encouraging people to join your email list, a weekly newsletter also allows you to improve your email open rates by building trust and credibility.

Having people on your email list is not enough — you also need to make sure they actually open and read your emails.

The best way to do this is to build a relationship with them by regularly providing them with value.

If every email you send is filled with valuable information and helpful content, your audience will look forward and be excited to read your emails.

This is precisely what we want.

How to Start a Newsletter in an Hour

If you’re sold on the concept of starting a newsletter, and you’re ready to create one of your own, here’s a quick-and-dirty guide for creating a newsletter in less than an hour:

1. Start by clearly identifying:

• Who is your target audience?
• What value will your audience get from signing up for your newsletter? (How will signing up for your newsletter help them reach their goals? Will it entertain, educate, or inspire them?)
• How often do you want to publish? (No need to overcommit. A weekly or bi-weekly schedule is an excellent way to start.)
• What is your format? (You can either create or curate content that will help your audience — if done correctly, both ways can deliver significant value to them.)

2. Sign up for a free account with an email marketing company.

• ConvertKit — This is the one I’m currently using.
• SubStack — I haven’t tried this one, but I heard good things.

3. Create an opt-in form people can use to sign up for your newsletter.

• Both services have simple templates you can use.
• Clearly explain what your newsletter is about, who it’s for, and what value they can expect from it. Check out my newsletter opt-in form for an example.

4. Share your form on your social media platforms.

• Advertise your newsletter on ALL your social media platforms.
• You can even send personal invitations to anyone you think would be interested.

5. Write your first edition and schedule it!

• Introduce yourself, keep it short, and pack it with value.

Congratulations, you did it!

Starting a newsletter can be that simple! Don’t overcomplicate it.

The most important thing is to get started today so that you capture as many of your new social media followers as possible.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out on Twitter or LinkedIn — I’d be happy to help!

How to Promote Your Newsletter

Having a newsletter is great, but it won’t do you any good unless you actively let your audience know about it.

So…

After all this talk about how vital a newsletter is, what kind of example would I be setting if I didn’t tell you about my own newsletter?

Every Sunday, I send a short email sharing the best tools, ideas, and resources I’ve come across to help creators just like yourself succeed.

If you’re a new or aspiring creator looking to grow their audience, improve their craft, and make money from doing what they love, this one is for you. You can subscribe here for free.