My newsletter start-up process

As my fourth newsletter startup approaches launch time, I want to share the process I've been going through to define the business:

a) name

b) market

c) product

d) platform

e) frequency

f) pricing

g) goal

I've been working on the project for 3 months with the germ of the idea coming from reading and commenting on LinkedIn threads relating to publishing. With my background, the direction of travel was obvious.

It’s been a structured but jerky process of handwritten notes, too many Google Docs, plus flashes of early morning or mid-run inspiration. When I say jerky, I mean in a “two steps forward, one step back” kind of way. The answer to a particular question will be clear at 6am Monday morning yet worryingly opaque by Tuesday evening.

I've been working mostly on my own, using gut instinct and my experience in newsletters, assisted by Google search and my partner’s input. I've been picking up on trends in the newsletter community on LinkedIn. I considered some sort of focus group but that didn’t happen.

So let's go through the steps I've taken to arrive at a point where I now feel I am nearly ready to launch my new baby, which as mentioned last week has already been christened Champion Newsletters.

a) name

So let's start with the name. I've always found naming companies and publications a difficult job, but with Champion Newsletters I went with the flow. As you might have guessed, it’s a newsletters about newsletters.

I quite liked The Business of Newsletters, Newsletter World, Newsletter Income and conducted a Linkedin poll all which gave me some external feedback. But none reflected the excitement I felt.

While writing about how I got to this place I found myself explaining my passion for newsletters and how I had become a champion for the format.

I’m going to be highlighting best practice world class newsletters, drawing out the strategies and tactics that make them a success, so that others can be inspired, so I settled on Champion Newsletters.

I really like the title and it’s grown on me. After so much of what can only be described as agonising that it might not be right, I console myself with the insight of a famous branding expert (I forget who) who asked the question: “Would Amazon have been any less famous if Jeff Bezos had decided to call it Nile?”

b) market

My market would be called B2B, but I’ve never liked that term. My ideal customers are publishing professionals interested in newsletters. They are an English-speaking audience based around the world with the most likely subscribers being in the UK and US.

The background is one of rapid market change resulting in an explosion of newsletters and publishers scrambling at the chance to reclaim something that they've lost from Big Tech.

c) product

My product is providing case studies and best practice newsletter insights - from keyboard to revenue account - through my lens of 30 years in journalism, newspapers, publishing, investment and newsletters. I source filter, document and summarise the insights, so my clients don’t have to.

To flesh out the concept and prove to myself that the newsletter was repeatable, I wrote 5 sample issues. One format for case studies and one for strategies.

This was a process in itself, as I added and deleted features, styles, formats, aiming always at combining maximum insight with maximum brevity, not spoiling the ship for want of an attention to detail, but also not waffling on and boring my busy professional readers.

These samples will inevitably be the first 5 issues. I think that’s how it always works. I’m now looking for feedback from a small focus group of interested LinkedIn connections. If you can help by giving one of them a once over I’d be grateful. DM me if you’re interested.

d) platform

With a market, name and product defined I was able to consider a platform for my subscription newsletter. I can't pretend that I spent a long time conducting exhaustive comparisons.

I was taken by Substack and it's low entry cost model. But it was actually a business journalist friend who persuaded me against.

(I was quite surprised at how opposed she was to the idea of sharing so much revenue (10%), and I wondered how widespread this sentiment might be and what drag effect it may have on Substack attracting business minded journalists.)

I ended up with Ghost, which has so far proved to be a dream. I love the formatting tools and the simplicity, although I havn’t yet fully grasped the sending protocols. Don't underestimate the time it takes to learn the way platforms work, particularly as a solo operator. It eats into your time resource.

To some extent the decisions I've made so far have been the easy ones.

I have a good sense of the market need and trust my judgement that what Champion Newsletters offers can’t be found elsewhere. This confidence comes from wide reading of similar products and I think, an understanding of why some succeed and others fail.

I’ve tried market research in the past and found you kiss a lot of frogs before finding a Prince (i.e. someone with true insight about the product you are launching). I’ve ended up siding with Steve Jobs on this one: “People don’t know what they want until you show them”.

e) frequency

The harder, and funnily enough, more exciting part comes now. Thinking about the content structure, I'm clear that case studies will form the core of the service and could potentially be produced weekly.

The second part of the service is the more in-depth actionable advice from analysing the best. These pieces require more work and can't be produced weekly, so there has to be a balance. What should it be?

A frequency of weekly or biweekly (twice a week) seems like a simple choice but the decision relates to my output capacity, the level of deadline pressure I want, and to a certain extent the price I'm going to charge.

One of the lessons of modern media is that less can be more and readers value not being overwhelmed. This is pushing me towards the biweekly option.

Backing this up is the quote from entrepreneurial wisdom go-to guy Tim Ferriss which says: “What would it look like if it was easy?”?

I know the feeling of being trapped in an editorial production cycle, frustratingly unable to? work “on the business” of growing subscribers. When I recall those sweaty moments, the idea of it being easy, by which I mean going at my own pace, has a certain appeal.

f) pricing

Then there's price. To go high, lofty and superior with the ticket reflecting the rarity value of specialist business content, or to accept a more modest level somewhere between consumer and business???

The relationship between the three moving parts of content structure (how much) frequency (how often) and price (what value) is the question most on my mind when I wake up in the morning ahead of the launch.

One part of me wants to pin this down and have it set in stone from the get-go.? Another side of me wants to start simple, develop complexity with the benefit of hindsight and ongoing subscriber feedback.

Walk before run.

Just writing that out now provides a sense of clarity that was previously lacking.

g) goal

So what's my goal?

You may think it odd that I’ve come to this last. My ideas on this have changed and they are more nuanced with money taking a secondary role.

First, to enjoy creating and running this venture. It needs to stay fun and if for any reason I stop enjoying the journey or it starts to take over my life it will be because I've made a mistake.

I'm lucky in that I don't have to generate income from the start, being able to live off savings for a while, but this has to support me in the future.?

I'm shying away from a revenue goal because experience tells me it's just a stick to beat myself with. I've been there before and while I put a great store by target setting as a business tool, this is different. It’s just me.

If there's one number that seems attractive it's Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 “true fans” and I'm starting with them. I’m not saying the goal posts won’t move later…

P.S. Message me if you’d like to review a sample issue.