Q&A: How I built my platform to 80,000+ subscribers

I built an email list from nothing to over 80,000 loyal subscribers because I believe a platform is the most durable form of influence and power. I’ll talk more about that in my upcoming LinkedIn Weekend Essay. In the meantime, I wanted to answer some of your questions about building audience. 

Asked by Ravi Jha

What I knew was that I one day wanted to write a book. It occurred to me in late 2009 that were that dream to ever become a reality I would soon face a nightmare: I wouldn’t have any way of reaching fans about it. How would I tell people about it? Who would I announce it to?

I remember sending a note to a friend as I was thinking about the idea. I’d been posting book recommendations on my website for the last couple years, but what did he think of the idea of doing it as a monthly email instead? It was a bad idea, he said because people wouldn’t be able to share the blog posts anymore. People are protective of their emails, so who would want to sign up for that?

Thankfully, I didn’t listen and my theory was correct. I thought if I spend every month for the next several years recommending amazing books to other people, maybe those readers would give me a shot when it was my turn. And they did!

What was born was my Reading List Email which now has nearly 85,000 subscribers, adding over 1,000 subscribers a month and on average, the open rate hovers around 50%—the last email for example had an open rate of 52%.

Asked by Luke Marshall

As I said, this thing started small so there was no huge, well-thought out pitch. It was just a little home grown thing at first. Here’s a screenshot of the original post about it:

For the first several months, I just copied and pasted their email addresses in the BCC field on Gmail. Soon it got big enough to switch to MailChimp. I remember hitting 1,000 people and thinking it was enormous. About a year in, I decided to “get serious” and posted this new pitch. Here’s the screenshot:

I’ve also emphasized the list prominently on my page (before using more advanced solutions like pop-ups). Here is a screenshot from my site in mid-2011:

As you can see, the monthly email was the most prominent and visible call-to-action on the page.

In 2013 or 2014, I took Derek Halpern’s advice and crafted a really good pitch page for the list. In 2014, when The Obstacle is the Way came out, the page pitching the email list at the back said we had 10,000 subscribers! I thought it was huge too.

So don’t get intimidated or let perfection prevent you from getting started. It’s like that line about planting trees. The best time to do it was ten years ago, the second best time is today.

Asked by Marcus Aurelius Anderson

One of the powerful things about having a list is that it makes it easier to build other lists. For instance, we launched the daily email we do for DailyStoic.com from nothing in the fall of 2016 and by mid 2017 it’s at over 40,000 people. I also launched a list a few years ago that just focuses on the articles I write each week. It’s quickly built up its own following but the ability to announce the creation to my old lists helped kick them off. Also we built really great incentives for those lists, like our free 7-day course on Stoicism.

My Reading List Email succeeded because it had a unique angle. I decided on book recommendations because no one else was doing it and it was something I was good at. What are you good at? What can only you offer via email? I see so many authors and brands just put up a form that says: “Sign up for my newsletter.” What newsletter? Why would I want a random newsletter from a random person? Because the angle is compelling, I didn’t have to create an incentive early on, but I probably should of. Now I offer anyone who signs up a 7-10 of my all time favorite books. Literally for years people would sign up and sometimes wait as long as 30-45 days before they got their first email from me. Because I was just winging it. I wasn’t onboarding people properly. I probably lost a lot of subscribers that way.

Asked by Joaquín Machado

The funny thing is I send the list from my personal email, just like I always have. You’d think with 85,000 subscribers it’d get a lot of responses, but it doesn’t. Not as many as you think. Early on I put a little line at the bottom that welcomes people to respond but says, “All I ask, if you decide to email me back, is that you're not just thinking aloud.” This has cut down on pointless emails and meant that the interactions I get are meaningful.

One other thing: Every few weeks I get an email suggesting that I put the email into a designed template—instead of just using plain text. I’ve thought about this many times but decided against it. Why? I want this to feel like what it actually is: just a guy sending some recommendations to friends. To have it look fancy and overly professional? That would kill the vibe and our relationship. So I leave it how I’ve done it for almost 10 years now. (This also keeps it similar and reduces the time I need to spend.)

Asked by John "Jack" Mitchell, J.D.

Lists vary in size and quality, but they all have one thing in common—they start at zero. I promise you, I wasn’t well known when I launched it. As I said, I had about 50 people sign up on the first go around. I promise you know at least that many people. When I was writing Perennial Seller, I asked the great marketer Noah Kagan for some advice for readers on getting sign ups. To get your first one hundred subscribers, Noah recommends doing this:

1. Put a link in your email signature. How many e mails do you send a day?
2. See which social networks allow you to export your followers and send them a note asking them to join.
3. Post once a week asking your friends/family/coworkers to join your mailing list.
4. Ask one group you are active in to join your newsletter.
5. Create a physical form you can give out at events.

I would also recommend Noah’s tools at Sumo.com

Asked by Sarah Block, MS

Obviously the best lead gen strategy is to make something of value—that other people recommend. The vast, vast majority of my signups came because one person forwarded the email to another and said: “Sign up for this!” But here are some strategies for attracting sign ups:

• Give something away for free as an incentive (Maybe it’s a guide, an article, an excerpt from your book, a coupon for a discount, etc.)
• Create a gate (There used to be a Facebook tool that allowed musicians to give away a free song in exchange for a Facebook like or share—that’s a gate. BitTorrent does the same thing with its Bundles—some of the content is free, and if you want the rest of it, you’ve got to fork over an e mail address.)
• Use pop-ups (You’re browsing a site and liking what you see and BOOM a little window pops up and asks if you want to subscribe. I put such pop-ups at the back of all my books.)
• By hand (I once saw an author pass around a clipboard and a sign-up sheet at the end of a talk. It was old-school, but it worked. Also at the back of my books I tell people to email me if they want to sign up, and then I do it by hand)
• Run sweepstakes or contests (Why do you think the lunch place by your office has a fishbowl for business cards? Those cards have phone numbers and email addresses. They give away a sandwich once a week and get hundreds of subscribers in return.)
• Do a swap (One person with a list recommends their readers sign up for yours; you email your fans for theirs.)

Asked by Joaquín Machado

I’ve got a few recommendations:

Mailchimp is great for my reading list since I only send one email per month. I buy large blocks of credits in bulk and it’s the cheapest considering my size. It also has a great autoresponder system for onboarding.

For the DailyStoic.com email we use ConvertKit, which is excellent if you send lots of emails and plan to sell anything direct through your list. They have good customer service and good technology.

I also recommend using Geni.us Link for tracking purposes. It’s very effective and connects well with affiliate programs and with advertising platforms you may want to use down the road.

Also, if you’re not using Gmail to run your personal email...I don’t know what you’re thinking. 

Ryan Holiday is the author of Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts.