How I Built my "Mediocre" Newsletter in a Year

It's now been a Whole Year since I started this newsletter back in January.

Since then, I have gained a bit over 150 Subscribers in those 11 issues up to this point (since the 12th, this issue, isn't released yet it doesn't count).

And because this newsletter was one of my goals for 2023, I thought this would be the perfect subject to share for ending the year!

The Growth of 'My Deeper Thoughts'

So when I started my newsletter back in January, in the first month I reached 100 Subscribers.

This was not from some "power topic" or incredibly experienced writing, it was because I made this newsletter on my LinkedIn account that had a bit over 500 Connections at the time.

When you make a LinkedIn Newsletter, it sends out an automatic message to all of your current connections. So since I had built my account's connections in the previous year that gave me the jump start.

However!

Your starting number of subscribers doesn't matter as much as getting new subscribers. And while people will tell you many different techniques about getting subscribers (which I don't doubt they work), there are mainly 2 points that helped me continue growing my newsletter:

The First is Consistency.

This newsletter is a monthly newsletter, and by keeping to a schedule for releasing new issues, you build a habit for both your readers to come read new issues, and enforce your own habit to keep writing new issues.

(Each issue you put out, has the chance of reaching new people that may become interested in your newsletter. So if you had a Weekly or Biweekly LinkedIn Newsletter compared to Monthly, you'd see better growth than me.)

But the main point here is that, even though things may feel slow at the beginning and it feels like nothing is happening, just like a snowball rolling down a hill you will build up both numbers and momentum the longer you go!

The Second is Content Presentation.

There are many topics to cover, and many ways to talk about each of those topics, but I (learned how to) use a formula to make the content hold the reader's interest. In it's simplest form, it is:

1. Start with your Idea (whether it's a question or a statement)
2. Give an example or two of where or when that Idea is used.
3. Then give your answer or opinion at the end of the issue.

The idea here, is that the topic you want to talk about is actually your answer or opinion at the end. But by giving that at the beginning of your message, your readers wont have any context to agree with what your sharing, or see the reason for why you're sharing this information.

I believe this is called "Pre-Selling", but the idea is that you get them familiar with the problem, and make it obvious that your solution is an easy fix for said problem. And while I'm not actually "selling" anything, it helps the reader understand my content when I present it this way.

Choosing my Newsletter "Theme"

In the most basic form, a newsletter shares information. Whether it shares the fact that a business is having a sale, or a person is sharing a product or technique they've been using, information is being shared with their audience.

However, the 'theme' of a newsletter usually dictates what kinds of information will be shared. And by using the name "Bradley's Deeper Thoughts", I thought I could set the theme as "subjects or lessons I found interesting".

As in, the theme is based on not a specific subject (such as cooking, gardening or copywriting), but on a specific person's viewpoint (being my own).

Did this work?

Based on the previous 11 issues some definitely performed better than others, but considering that this newsletter has consistently gained subscribers each month, it can be considered a success!

And with it being a Monthly newsletter, I only spend a few days each month for writing this letter, which keeps the time spent on this quite minimal.

I'd probably recommend choosing a specific subject to write about (Line of Work, Hobby or other topic outside of yourself that can be researched) if you want to grow bigger and faster than me, but I can say I've enjoyed this experience over the past year, and if you're into writing that isn't as regular as social media or blog posts, I would recommend starting your own LinkedIn Newsletter. (especially since it's free!)

But with that said, I'd like to thank you all for joining me for each issue on this year long journey. I plan to continue this newsletter into the next year, so I hope to give each of you enough reason to stay!

In the meantime, I thank you for delving into 'Bradley's Deeper Thoughts"!