How I’ve Grown My Productivity Newsletter To 17,000+ Subscribers
Why your email list is your most valuable business asset.
If there’s one tip I can give you as an online creator or solopreneur, it’s to start your email list as soon as possible.
Even if you don’t have a product to sell yet…
Even if you haven’t figured out your niche yet…
Just start.
Building an email list is one of the best things you can do to set your one-person business up for success.
You might have heard this digital marketing cliche before, but that’s because it’s true:
The money is in the list.
The email list for my productivity business (which I run on ConvertKit) is over 17,500+ subscribers strong and is responsible for over $200k in digital product sales.
Without this email list, I wouldn’t have a reliable, predictable stream of monthly income. I wouldn’t have a true business.
Email List = Own Your Audience
You might have a good social media following, but that’s an audience you rent, not own.
In case the algorithm changes, platforms lose users, or your account gets suspended, you lose access to your audience.
And when you lose access to your audience, you lose access to your opportunity to monetize.
But with an email list, you own your audience.
No matter how often the algorithm changes…
No matter which social media platforms rise and fall…
You’ll always have direct access to your audience.
And that’s key if you want to build a reliable online business that consistently brings in revenue.
Email List = Best Place To Sell
My personal rule is to use social media to grow my audience, and email to monetize my audience.
On social media, create content that’s (1) valuable to your existing followers and (2) has the potential to go viral so it brings in new followers.
If all you do is promote your products, you won’t bring in any new followers because your content won’t be appealing to follow.
(Most social media algorithms actually limit the reach of promotional content, so most people won’t even see it.)
Also, existing followers expect to be inspired/educated by social media content — not constantly being sold to.
But email is different…
No, you can’t just spam product promotions all the time.
Your emails should still contain a ton of value and actually help people.
But generally, people are much more used to buying products through email. They expect the occasional sales pitch in their email inbox.
That’s why I always say; Social media is for growth, email is for monetization.
How To Grow Your Email List
Alright, now you know why you need an email list, but how do you actually build one? What’s the fastest way to grow an email list?
Build a lead magnet.
A lead magnet is a freebie that people receive in exchange for their email address.
For example:
Guides
E-books
Checklists
Toolkits
Email courses
Webinars
Challenges
Templates
Your lead magnet should be aligned with the specific problem you solve within your business or flagship product.
For example, the problem I solve with my productivity business is helping people conquer procrastination.
So, my lead magnet is a free downloadable guide that contains 17 science-based productivity hacks.
This lead magnet, which has been downloaded 15,000+ times, is aligned with the core problem I solve with my digital products.
So, I know that I’m getting the right type of subscribers on my email list.
If you download this guide, you’re likely interested in improving your productivity (otherwise you wouldn’t download it).
This means you could be interested in buying one of my productivity courses or e-books later down the line.
Getting Traffic To Your Lead Magnet
When you’ve created a lead magnet, you need to get traffic to it.
No traffic = no email subscribers.
You can either buy traffic (ads or paid partnerships) or earn traffic (creating content).
My strategy has always been to earn traffic, simply because creating content (especially writing) comes naturally to me.
Here’s how I’ve done it:
Create content (on Medium, X, LinkedIn, etc.)
Add a link to your lead magnet within or below your content
Add a link to your lead magnet from your social media bios
Create more content
It’s not rocket science, but this strategy has gained me 17,500+ email subscribers.
Whether on Medium, X, LinkedIn, or any other social media platform, consistently create content to generate traffic.
The more content you create — and the better it is — the more views you’ll get.
The more views you’ll get, the more people you can direct towards your email list.
And the more people you get on your email list, the more money you can make.
Build the well before you’re thirsty
Thanks Jari. Would you class Substack subscribers as your email list?