#2 How to write a million dollar newsletter.. and other stories

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1. How to write a million-dollar newsletter

Meet Lenny Rachitsky, a product-manager-turned-writer who turned his expertise into a goldmine. With 500k subscribers in just 4 years, Lenny's Newsletter generates over half a million dollars annually. But how did he do it - and, more importantly, can you do it too?

First, have something to say: Lenny didn’t start from scratch. He had already been a product manager for over ten years before he started his newsletter, so he knew what he was talking about, not just ChatGPTing it.

Then spend time to go deep: Lenny dedicates 10-20 hours weekly to research and write his newsletter, which is an extraordinary amount of time to spend on something that’s ‘just’ an email. That’s what makes Lenny’s newsletter the gold standard, different from all the shallow stuff out there and something worth paying for.

Build a content pipeline: On the back of his newsletter’s success, Lenny launched a podcast, which was able to attract top-notch guests right from the start. Just two years old now, that adds another $500k to his annual earnings. By delving deep into conversations with influential guests, Lenny is not just able to gain listeners, he also get even more newsletter content, fostering a positive flywheel effect for continued growth.

Outsource the grunt work when you can: Podcasting can be a heavy lift, but Lenny was able to outsource the production work, streamlining his personal effort there to a manageable 5 hours weekly.

Have a million dollar newsletter or podcast idea but lack the time to do it? Book a brainstorming call

2. Is vertical video peaking?

Rumor has it that Apple is adding a hardware camera button to support horizontal videos, potentially signalling a shift away from the vertical video trend.

For creators accustomed to portrait mode, this could pose challenges, because there is no good way to adapt vertical videos to horizontal whereas the other way round (cropping a horizontal video) is pretty simple.?

Of course it could also be that, continuing on the trend they started with iPhone 15, Apple is preparing to position the device as even more of a serious video camera, truly capable of making big screen productions. Which do you think it is?

3. Why does audio attract so little advertising?

Audio consumption in the US is massive, touching almost 4 hours a day across all formats! In fact, digital audio streaming surpasses Netflix and Youtube. Yet audio advertising lags behind, I believe primarily due to inadequate and non-standardised metrics across platforms.

Given that every other platform is getting saturated, it is only a matter of time before the audio advertising market starts to boom. The winners will be those creators who have built scale with niche audiences, and those platforms that have clean and attributable advertising data.

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Hi there, I’m Amit, the founder of CrazyTok , a podcast agency. We help industry experts, marketers and business owners build and grow their own branded podcast and Youtube channels.

Get in touch if you want advice or help producing a podcast, Youtube channel, TikTok or newsletter. We are affordable, reliable and hassle-free ??