Started a newsletter as a hobby, now earning +7 figures operating a whole system. For the first time I'm sharing what works and what is a waste of time
newsletter format ideas
Most newsletter advice treats structure like a cosmetic choice. I don't buy that anymore. After testing digest issues, essays, interviews, alerts, and gated paid formats across LetterBucket, beehiiv, Substack, and Ghost, I've found that format changes engagement and monetization more than send cadence does. I also
advertorial
An advertorial is paid content designed to look and feel like a regular editorial article, but with the goal of advertising a product. In practice, the best ones usually feel about 70% informative and 30% promotional, which is why they work so well inside newsletters when you write them like
best newsletter software
Most advice about the best newsletter software is backward. It starts with feature grids, template counts, and generic “all-in-one” claims. I don't care about any of that until I've signed up, pointed a domain, imported a list, sent real campaigns, and tried to make
twitter tweet engagement
You post a solid tweet, wait a few hours, and get a handful of likes, maybe one reply, and no meaningful bump in newsletter signups. I know that loop well. I run newsletters, and I learned the hard way that Twitter tweet engagement only matters if it turns attention into
graphics in emails
You're probably staring at an email draft right now that looks great in the editor. Big hero image. Clean branded header. Maybe a GIF near the CTA because it felt smart at the time. I've sent that version more than once, and I've also
best free newsletter platforms
You're probably doing what I did at the start. You've got a draft ready, maybe even a few subscribers waiting, and you're still stuck with ten tabs open comparing free plans instead of publishing. That's a mistake. I've spent a
newsletter ad rates
You get the email. A brand says they love your newsletter and asks for your sponsorship rates. Then you freeze. I've been there more than once. Early on, I answered those emails by gut feel, then spent the next hour wondering if I'd just scared the
newsletter design templates
Your template might be leaking subscribers. A bad newsletter template doesn't just look rough. It breaks on mobile, gets clipped in Gmail, and can hurt deliverability before your writing even gets a fair shot. I've spent a lot of late nights fixing padding, chasing broken dark
newsletter sign up
Your Sign-Up Form Is Losing You Subscribers Most newsletter sign up examples obsess over layout and ignore the harder question. When should you ask, what should you promise, and how much friction can you add before people bounce? My answer after years of testing is simple. Your sign-up
examples of persuasive techniques
Stop Writing. Start Persuading. I write newsletters for a living. For years, I focused only on content quality, assuming great writing was enough. I was wrong. The single biggest leap in my growth and revenue came from learning how to persuade, not just inform. These aren't abstract theories.
paid newsletter subscription
You probably have a free newsletter, a decent open rate, and the same thought every serious operator eventually has. Should I turn this into a paid newsletter subscription? I've asked that question on my own lists, tested the switch on multiple platforms, and made the same bad assumptions
how to embed a video into an email
You're probably doing this right now. You've got a video ready, your newsletter is queued up, and you're staring at the editor wondering why email still makes this harder than it should be. I've tested this across Ghost, beehiiv, Substack, and LetterBucket.