Newsletter Crew

Lindsay Gibbs is the author of Power Plays, “No BS newsletter about sexism in sports.” Gibbs writes about the cultural and political context behind women’s sports. She was an early writer for Substack Pro, and has been building her newsletter for over a year. Here, she shares her playbook for writing and growing a newsletter—while staying genuine, authentic, and marketing-free. 

Walt Hickey is the author of Numlock News, a daily newsletter with tens of thousands of subscribers. Hickey started working in newsletters as a data journalist in 2014, before creating his own platform on Substack in 2018. Here, he shares his writing process, growth strategy, and more.

How do you make sure your emails aren't marked as spam? What causes your newsletter to go to the dreaded "promotions" tab? How can you fix it? Deliverability specialist Yanna-Torry Aspraki answers all of your email deliverability questions. 

As you start to develop a monetization strategy for your newsletter, a question arises: What should you do with the money? Once your newsletter generates revenue, you have a few options. You can file taxes on that income as a sole proprietor, or you can decide to file an LLC and create a business. This week, I asked Ryan Pitylak, the CMO of ZenBusiness, to answer questions about the paperwork behind the scenes of starting a newsletter business. 

In last week’s panel on B2B media, I asked three experts for their advice on growing a newsletter. I spoke with Mark Stenberg, a media reporter for AdWeek and author of the newsletter Medialyte, Josh Kaplan, who previously helped scale Morning Brew and works with creators like Kinsey Grant and Colin & Samir to develop their brands, and Polina Marinova Pompliano, who writes the wildly popular newsletter The Profile. All three shared their top advice for newsletter writers. 

Abena Anim-Somuah is the co-founder of Food Supply, a two-month old media upstart that includes a newsletter, Le Digestif, a digital cookbook of curated recipes, and coming soon, a community for culinary creators. Here, Anim-Somuah shares her strategies for building a brand from scratch, developing digital communities in tandem with newsletters, and writing creatively. 

When Tim Huelskamp launched his newsletter in 2017, he built a product he wanted for himself. As a busy professional working in venture capital, he wanted a comprehensive, unbiased roundup of the day’s news. It would cover all sorts of verticals, from sports and entertainment to science and foreign policy, all in one place. He named it 1440 after the year the printing press was invented, an homage to the idea that newsletters could freely and easily distribute information. At first, the newsletter started with 78 subscribers, just friends and family of Huelskamp and his co-founder. Today, 1440 Media has over 700,000 subscribers with an open rate above 50 percent. How did he do it? Here, Huelskamp shares his advice for entrepreneurs starting their own newsletter businesses, and the strategies he used to build the company. 

Terrel Johnson started The Half Marathoner as a static directory of half marathon races more than 16 years ago. Today, he's turned The Half Marathoner into a weekly newsletter with more than 50,000 subscribers. Here, Terrel shares his writing process, his monetization strategies, and the long-term vision behind his newsletter.

Dana James is the writer of Black Iowa News, a newsletter focused on providing factual information and unique reporting for the Black community in Iowa. Here, James shares her perspective on writing and reporting news at the local level. 

Claire Zulkey is a writer, journalist, and creator of the Evil Witches newsletter, a weekly newsletter about the trials and joys of family life. Zulkey covers everything from parenting advice to recommendations for storebought cookies. She launched her newsletter through a private Facebook group of friends and moms who wanted to share candidly about their experiences, and has since launched paid memberships. Here, she shares her strategies for writing and growing her newsletter.

Christopher Sopher is the co-founder and CEO of Letterhead, a platform that offers business tools for newsletters. Sopher is also the co-founder of Whereby Us, a network of local newsletters across cities like Miami, Seattle, Portland, and Pittsburgh. Whereby Us is profitable and earns over $1.5 million in revenue per year. When founding his first newsletter, the New Tropic in Miami in 2014, Sopher noticed a common complaint from his friends and neighbors: "I'm barraged by information, but I don't feel informed," he says. "What we recognized out of that was that there was this sense of community and belonging that people were really craving, and traditional, local news from the newspaper was not designed to do that. So we saw an opportunity to potentially make a contribution there." In this episode, Sopher shares his strategies for developing newsletters, aligning relationships with advertisers to meet the needs of readers, and creating an authentic community through local news. 

Yaro Bagriy, the founder of Newsletter Crew, shares the lessons he's learned from thousands of conversations with newsletter writers.

About this episode: Local newsletters are becoming the hottest rage in the newsletter world. This week I had the opportunity to discuss how to build a local newsletter with a local newsletter expert, Ryan Sneddon. In this episode, we discuss the opportunity of local newsletters, how they’re drastically different from the standard newsletter, how to build a successful local newsletter, and so much more. Episode Sponsor: AWeber Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click hereShow Notes & Insights: http://newslettercrew.com/ep47-building-a-local-newsletter-with-ryan-sneddon-of-naptown-scoopNewsletter + Guest Info: Ryan Sneddon: https://www.sneddymobbin.com/ Naptown Scoop: https://www.naptownscoop.com/

About this episode: This week I sat down with Mare Dolle, a newsletter creator with over 4k subscribers who is also pushing the edge with newsletter innovations. In this episode, we talk about the unique types of monetization opening up for newsletters and also some of the unique ways newsletters are doing advertising. This episode is great for anyone interested in how newsletters will monetize in the future. Episode Sponsor: AWeber Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click hereShow Notes & Insights: https://newslettercrew.com/ep46-unique-ways-to-monetize-your-newsletter-with-marie-dolle-of-in-bed-with-social Newsletter + Guest Info: Marie Dolle: https://linktr.ee/Mariedolle In Bed with Social: https://maried.substack.com/

About this episode: This week I had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Kamphey and Nii Ahene to talk about their recent newsletter acquisition they did. Nii has officially acquired Influence Weekly, a weekly newsletter on the Influencer Marketing industry. Andrew ran this newsletter for 3 years before Nii acquired it. And in this episode we’re going to dive deep into their story. It’s almost going to be a retrospective on this acquisition. This is a highly recommended episode for anyone that’s interested in ever selling their newsletter. Episode Sponsor: AWeber Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click here Show Notes & Insights: http://newslettercrew.com/ep45-selling-a-newsletter-for-5-figures-with-andrew-kamphey-and-nii-ahene Newsletter + Guest Info: Andrew Kamphey: https://twitter.com/Kamphey Nii Ahene: https://twitter.com/Nii_Ahene Influence Weekly: http://influenceweekly.co/ BetterSheets: https://bettersheets.co/ Coffehouse: https://coffeehouse.substack.com/

About this episode: This week I had the pleasure to talk to a very interesting individual who knows a lot about newsletter sponsors, Pete Codes. Pete runs two newsletters with a total of 6k subscribers and is earning $1400 per month via sponsorships! In this episode, we’re going to dive into his method of achieving this awesome revenue milestone, how we can apply his methodology to our newsletters, and the mindset you’ll need to land high-paying sponsors consistently. Episode Sponsor: EmailOctopus Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click here Be sure to check out Pete’s new course on how to monetize your newsletter. You can find it here. We’re also onboarding newsletters for the newsletter referral program software we’re building. If interested in putting your newsletter on the best growth engine, then send an email to yaro@referralkit.co.Episode Insights: https://newslettercrew.com/ep44-earning-1400-month-from-sponsorships-with-pete-codes-of-nocsdegreeNewsletter + Guest Info: Pete Codes: https://www.petecodes.io/ No CS Degree: https://twitter.com/nocsdegree No CS OK: https://nocsok.com/ Remote Companies: https://remotecompanies.co/

About this episode:  This week we have Ryan Sager and Jesse Watkins from Email Revenue Solutions. These two are the experts on newsletter sponsorships. In this episode, we’re going to discuss the secrets to finding newsletter sponsors, how to increase sponsor fill rates, how to price newsletter sponsors, and when to increase prices. Episode Sponsor: EmailOctopus Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click here We’re also onboarding newsletters for the newsletter referral program software we’re building. If interested in putting your newsletter on the best growth engine, then send an email to yaro@referralkit.co. If you’re interested in the WhoSponsorsStuff discount then check out this link https://www.whosponsorsstuff.com/special-offer/. Ryan and Jesse are providing listeners of the Newsletter Crew a 20% discount off their plan. Use the discount code newslettercrew20. Show Notes & Insights: https://newslettercrew.com/ep43-secrets-to-finding-newsletter-sponsors-with-ryan-sagar-jesse-of-email-revenue-solutions  Newsletter + Guest Info: Ryan Sager: https://twitter.com/ryansager Newspackr: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/newspackr Email Revenue Solutions: https://www.emailrevenuesolutions.com/ WhoSponsorsStuff: https://www.whosponsorsstuff.com/special-offer/ (newslettercrew20 for 20% discount)

About this episode:  This week we have Caroline Porter & Joseph Lichterman, two successful newsletter creators and journalists who, with their friend Emily Roseman, are running a course called Newsletter Strategies for Journalists: How to Create, Grow & Monetize Newsletters. In this episode we're going to discuss how to find  the right monetization strategy for your newsletter, growth tips, and their thoughts on Substack. Episode Sponsor: EmailOctopus Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click here How to Monetize Your Newsletter: https://newslettercrew.com/how-to-monetize-your-newsletter/ We’re also onboarding newsletters for the newsletter referral program software we’re building. If interested in putting your newsletter on the best growth engine, then send an email to yaro@referralkit.co. Newsletter + Guest Info: Joseph Lichterman: https://twitter.com/ylichterman Solution Set: http://solutionset.org/ Caroline Porter: https://carolineporter.org/ Unpacking: https://unpacking.substack.com/ Newsletter Strategies for Journalists: How to Create, Grow & Monetize Newsletters: https://journalismcourses.org/course/newsletter-strategies-for-journalists-how-to-create-grow-monetize-newsletters/Show Notes: https://newslettercrew.com/ep-42-monetizing-and-growing-your-newsletter-with-caroline-porter-joseph-lichterman

About this episode:  This week we have Chris Berry, who is one of the co-founders of BrandStreet. A community for brand builders. Ari Lewis, who was on episode 11, is also one of the co-founders. In this episode, Chris answers why branding is important for newsletters, how does a newsletter go about building a brand, when you know when you've started to build a successful brand, and much more. Episode Sponsor: EmailOctopus Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click here Substack vs. Revue: https://newslettercrew.com/substack-vs-revue/ If you're interested in hooking up your newsletter to the best growth engine then you'll be interested in Newsletter Crews own referral program software. We're currently onboarding newsletters so if you're interested then send an email to yaro@referralkit.co. Put your newsletter growth on auto  Show Notes & Insights:  When you're building a brand for your newsletter it's important to find what your niche is. What makes your newsletter unique. Your brand will help convey to potential subscribers what exactly they will get when they subscribe. Building a brand starts with your authentic voice. Your branding should be consistent across your newsletter, landing page, Twitter, Instagram, etc. These are all avenues to convey your brand. Branding provides one of the best moats for your newsletter. Someone can copy the content but they can't copy your brand. Voice is just one aspect of your newsletter's brand. The visuals of the newsletter is another important aspect. This could mean the use or absence of GIFS, emojis, pictures, the color scheme etc, the layout, etc. All of it plays into your branding. Subscriber amount and open rates are one of the metrics on if your brand is developing well. But the most interesting thing is when it comes to brands is the feedback you receive from your subscribers. Do they feel passionate about your newsletter?  Building a brand is as much metrics as it is an art. When running a newsletter you're always sending. Receiving feedback and responses from your subscribers is just as important. When you're beginning your newsletter, brand can be replaced with professionalism. That doesn't mean it needs to look perfect, but you should put in time into it. There are some basic things you can put into that conveys professionalism. The most iconic brands are backed up by individual people. For many solo newsletter writers, your brand is your newsletter and your newsletter is your brand. Substack makes it really easy to start a newsletter. One problem is with the visual branding. A Substack newsletter looks the same as every other Substack newsletter. It's hard to visual design and brand your newsletter with Substack. For everyone on Substack, you need to audit yourself and see if you can live with their limitations. Is having the same feel as everyone else OK with you and your newsletter's brand? Paid subscriptions, sponsorship, and an acquisition channel for your services are all valid and great avenues to earn an amazing living on the internet. But all of these have different models and scale for success. Highlighting and shouting out other people in your newsletter is a proven method to grow your newsletter and it's brand. First, it incentivizes others to share your newsletter since they want to show everyone they were mentioned. Second, it helps increase open rates since subscribers want to see if they were mentioned. The more people you're able to publish into it, the better.  Newsletter + Guest Info: Chris Berry: https://twitter.com/ChrisBerryOH BrandStreet: https://www.brandstreet.co/

About this episode: This week we have Corey Quinn, who runs a successful newsletter with over 20k subscribers called Last Week in AWS. In this episode we're going to dive deep into his newsletter referral program. Why he started it, the growth that he's been seeing, and how he went about architecting the referral rewards. Episode Sponsor: EmailOctopus Newsletter Crew Membership (20% discount): Join here Newsletter Crew Membership Benefits: Click here Guide on Collecting Feedback for your Newsletter: https://newslettercrew.com/collect-newsletter-feedback/ This is part 1 of the episode and part 2 has the second half of the call. If you’re interested in part 2, then become a member of the Newsletter Crew. If you're interested in hooking up your newsletter to the best growth engine then you'll be interested in Newsletter Crews' own referral program software. We're currently onboarding newsletters so if you're interested then send an email to yaro@referralkit.co. Put your newsletter growth on auto Show Notes & Insights: https://newslettercrew.com/ep40-referral-program-deep-dive-with-corey-quinn-of-last-week-in-aws/Newsletter + Guest Info: Corey Quinn: https://twitter.com/QuinnyPig Last Week in AWS: https://www.lastweekinaws.com/