What I Learned Reaching 15,000 Subscribers

Welcome back! You’re joining 15,253 others that trust me with their inbox... Today’s issue has a fun spin. Last week, we hit the 15,000 (yes, thousand) milestone. So, I want to pause to firstly THANK each of you, and secondly ask some questions on why you keep coming back ?????♂?

Why I Almost Didn't Start the Newsletter

Not many of you know this, but when LinkedIn invited me to launch a newsletter last September, I almost said no. Here’s what almost held me back from starting: 

?? I had never written long form articles consistently 

?? I didn’t think many people would care 

?? I'm not a grammar wizard

But low and behold, I said - hey, this will be a fun learning test regardless what happens. I’ll learn something new, find an editor to help and we’ll see if anyone shows up.

And boom. 15 weeks later...

We've become a community of over 15,000!! ??

 To celebrate the milestone, I wanted to take a pause this week and share what I’ve learned along the way.

A Short Recap 

Last November, I started the Personal Brand Brief, and over the last 16 weeks I’ve been able to celebrate some pretty cool news:

?? we were recognized as a top LinkedIn newsletter to follow in 2021

?? 10+ virtual speaking and consulting opportunities developed! 

?? got featured on sites like Inbox Reads and Newsletters.co

???? 100s of you have reached out with ideas (keep it coming)

?? we’ve had some interest in new sponsors...

 3 Takeaways

 Since hitting publish on article #1, I’ve had 3 key big takeaways:

1. Ship things at 80% and get feedback to improve as you go

I think people get so attached to what others think that they delay launching great ideas. Don’t get me wrong. Waiting to be strategic is great. But delaying to the point of over analyzing is pointless. We have to admit with new projects, we’ll never 100% be “ready” to start anything. Instead, get after it! Get it to an 80% quality level, share it with some trusted folks, then adjust along the way.

 2. We better understand topics when we have to teach them

As an extroverted guy from a family of 7, I’ve found that storytelling over a coffee or phone call can be much easier than over a long form article. As a result, I’ve been able to sharpen my thinking and communication through the newsletter series. It’s been a fun challenge to write for an audience on a weekly basis and the new ideas that have stemmed from not having a slideshow or microphone to rely on.

3. The power of having a direct line of communication

One of my favourite parts about the newsletter has been the dialogue it’s opened with my community. Whether it’s questions they have or strategies they want explained, the newsletter is a perfect open sourced outlet to answer direct questions. If you don't open up lines of communication, you and your team will never know what your community wants and they'll go somewhere else where they can be heard.

I Want YOUR HELP to Build the Future of the Newsletter:

As I figure roll out future articles, I want to hear what you want to read. You’ve been showing up every week, and I want to make sure the articles stay valuable and aligned with what you want to learn.

???? So, I put together a 2 minute survey to hear your thoughts????

**Since I know your time is valuable (work, kids, exercise etc), I made the survey short, specific and easy to answer! I'd love to hear any and all feedback you have.

As always, thanks for sticking with me until the end. Excited for what the future of this newsletter community holds. Drop me a note here if you have any questions!

Stay outta’ trouble, fill out the survey, and catch you next week.

??? Joel

P.S. like the newsletter? Forward it to a friend!