TPS #18 How to Build your Newsletter from Scratch

Welcome Back, Solopreneurs.

Hunter, here.

Almost 1 year ago, I launched my first newsletter, "Money Matters." You've probably never heard of it. But when I first built it, I knew how to do nothing. I mean NOTHING. I used a different name than I do now, changed the logo 4 times, and went from a daily to a weekly newsletter.

In fact, when I first launched, I asked every person I knew IRL to subscribe. I had no other way of getting subscribers. It's safe to say I was lost. But I did learn a lot.

Since then, I launched a second newsletter (the one you're reading now) and passed the # of subscribers of "Money Matters" in only 2 months.

Let's dive into the nitty gritty.

Let's say you don't have a newsletter yet. The most important thing to focus on is Branding. This includes things such as your:

• Logo•Name• Banner Art• Product Description• Re-usable templates for writing

Everything about your newsletter should align with your personal or business values. (depending on the purpose of the newsletter)

For instance, this newsletter is called "The Productive Solopreneur."

It's my personal brand's newsletter, and it aligns with my values and gives you a general sense of what I am about.

Naming is the most challenging part in my opinion. It forces you to be incredibly selective about each word you choose to include and why.

But, once you have your name ready to go, half the battle is over.

To design your logo and cover art, I used canva for almost all the designing I have to do on the day-to-day.

However, there are hundreds of great freelance designers for cheap if the design isn't your thing. (I paid $10 to a freelancer for a design I still use today.)

Now it's time to choose your service provider. There are TONS of options, but lucky for you I have tried most and settled on one.

My favorites:• Beehiiv• Convert Kit

Other great contenders:• Substack• Mailchimp• Medium

All of these options are free, but the advantage of using Beehiiv is the upgradeability. Meaning when the time comes, it's easy to start scaling with their growth features.

Convert Kit is probably the best option for established creators. But fair warning, the learning curve is steep with this tool. However, the results are incomparable.

But that's down the line. Right now, the only important thing is for you to set up a free account, upload your media & verify your account. After that, all you have left to do is to start writing and getting subscribers!

Easier said than done, I know. So let's go through some easy tricks I've picked up to make this process less painful.

The first thing I recommend is creating a template for writing your posts. You can choose all of your brand's colors and logos and create a template to use each time you write a post. That way, each post shares a continuity, meaning all your posts match, and your subscribers know what to expect from you.

Mine is really simple and looks like this:

As you can see, it's nothing flashy or in-depth, but it does show me that each post is structured similarly and gives me a great starting point.

Staring at a blank page is intimidating, so lower the barrier to entry.

Secondly, shouting into the void with no subscribers isn't fun either. So let's talk about how you can start building the email list.

There are 2 options in my experience:1. Build an audience on Social mediaFor instance, you might have come from my Twitter account, that's the primary source of traffic to my newsletter. It also costs me nothing and shows my audience I am an authority figure by writing long-form content. But you can choose any you like, TikTok, IG, YT, and so on.

2. Run Paid AdsThis works much better if your newsletter is faceless or you want to create an entire business around your newsletter. However, it costs money, and you aren't guaranteed subscribers even if you pay. You need to have excellent ad copy and constantly rotate them.

"But how do I make money from my newsletter?"

Well, since you have a targeted list of people, there are many options.• Sponsored posts• Affiliate for other people's products• Promote your own products or services

I plug my own products & services at the bottom of each newsletter issue.

Why?

First of all, it's my newsletter, I can do whatever I want with it. Secondly, everyone wants to make money, just don't shove it in their faces.

Voila. You should now have the know-how to get up and start your newsletter & make some money today!

In fact, reply to this email with your newsletter.

I would be happy to be your first subscriber :)

Today's productivity hack is simple:

Say no. I'm serious.

If there is one skill you can learn to be more productive, it's saying no to low-leverage tasks or projects.

In the begging, it's fun to have all these opportunities. But it gets distracting fast.

Before you say yes to anything, answer these two questions:Are there higher-leverage tasks I should be doing?Does this move me closer to my goal?

If the answer is "yes & yes," Then you're good to go.

Thank you for reading!

I'll see you back here next Saturday.

Take action today!

Best, Hunter.

PS: Whenever you're ready, here are two-way I can help you:

1. Need more leads? I create custom lead magnets for creators & entrepreneurs inside Notion to grow your email list and funnel your products & services.

Book your free call

2. Running a business or agency? I create operating systems for businesses to operate at maximum efficiency inside Notion.

Book your free call