How I Grew My Newsletter to 91,892 Subscribers (Without Paid Ads)

Summary

This video offers a comprehensive guide on growing an email newsletter to over 90,000 subscribers without paid ads, achieving an impressive 50% open rate. The speaker shares insights from building successful newsletters for his companies, highlighting strategies like branded newsletters with consistent templates, bite-sized value, and never missing an issue to form habits. Emphasizing the value of newsletters, he stresses the importance of a dedicated sign-up page, welcoming new subscribers effectively, and leveraging the newsletter for promotions and customer acquisition. With practical tips and a proven approach, this video equips viewers to build a highly engaged newsletter subscriber base.

Takeaways

• 😃 Send a confirmation and deliverability (CD) welcome email to new subscribers to set expectations and improve inbox placement.
• 🔖 Create a branded newsletter with a consistent format and template to build familiarity and anticipation among subscribers.
• 📝 Provide bite-sized, easily consumable value in each newsletter issue to encourage skimming and engagement.
• ⏰ Stick to a consistent sending schedule (e.g., same day and time each week) to build a habit for subscribers.
• 🌐 Have a dedicated newsletter sign-up page on your website to funnel subscribers effectively.
• 📩 Use engaging subject lines sparingly if your newsletter has a recognizable brand and format.
• 💌 Ask new subscribers to move your email to the primary tab and reply to improve deliverability signals.
• 🚀 Leverage your newsletter as a growth channel by promoting products/services occasionally while providing regular value.
• 📈 High open rates (e.g., 50%) indicate a successful, valuable newsletter that resonates with the audience.
• 💰 A large, engaged email list can be a highly valuable asset, as demonstrated by companies acquired for their newsletters.

Q & A

What is the primary benefit of having an email newsletter?

The primary benefit of having an email newsletter is that it acts as a free retargeting channel, reminding subscribers of the existence of the business on a regular basis. Additionally, it helps build top-of-mind brand awareness, making the business the go-to choice when subscribers need a related solution.

How did the speaker grow their newsletter to over 90,000 subscribers without using paid ads?

The speaker employed several strategies, including sending a branded newsletter with a consistent template and format, providing bite-sized value in each issue, maintaining a consistent sending schedule, and having a dedicated newsletter sign-up page on their website.

What is the purpose of sending a CD (Confirmation and Deliverability) welcome message?

The CD welcome message serves two purposes: 1) It confirms to new subscribers that they made the right decision to sign up, reminding them of the value they will receive, and 2) It prompts subscribers to take actions that improve email deliverability, such as moving the email from the promotions tab to the primary inbox and replying to the message.

Why is it important to have a branded newsletter separate from the company brand?

Having a branded newsletter separate from the company brand makes it easier for subscribers to remember and share the newsletter. It also sets expectations for the content and format of the newsletter, making it more recognizable and habit-forming for subscribers.

What is the significance of providing bite-sized value in a newsletter?

Providing bite-sized value in a newsletter allows subscribers to quickly skim and get something out of it without needing to read a lot of content or click on links. This makes it more likely for subscribers to open and engage with the newsletter on a regular basis.

Why is consistency in sending the newsletter important?

Consistency in sending the newsletter at the same day and time every week (or other chosen interval) helps build a habit among subscribers. It trains them to expect and look forward to the newsletter, increasing open rates and engagement.

What is the importance of having a dedicated newsletter sign-up page on the website?

Having a dedicated newsletter sign-up page on the website makes it easier for visitors to find and sign up for the newsletter, rather than relying solely on pop-ups or other less prominent methods. This can help grow the email list more effectively.

How can a newsletter be leveraged for product launches or promotions?

By consistently providing value through the newsletter, businesses can build goodwill with their subscribers. This goodwill can then be leveraged during product launches or promotions, as subscribers are more likely to engage with and convert on these offers due to the existing relationship and trust.

What is the significance of asking subscribers to move the newsletter from the promotions tab to the primary inbox?

Asking subscribers to move the newsletter from the promotions tab to the primary inbox sends a strong signal to email providers like Gmail that the messages should be placed in the primary inbox. This is because it shows active engagement and interest from subscribers, indicating that the messages are not just promotional content.

How can a consistent template benefit both the subscriber and the business?

A consistent newsletter template benefits subscribers by setting expectations and making it easier for them to quickly identify and engage with the content. For the business, it streamlines the newsletter creation process, making it easier to fill in the blanks and send the newsletter without having to reinvent the format each time.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Growing an Email Newsletter to Over 90,000 Subscribers Without Paid Ads

This paragraph introduces the topic of growing a large email newsletter without using paid ads. It highlights the high open rate of the speaker's newsletter and their previous success in growing another newsletter to over 200,000 subscribers. The paragraph emphasizes the value of having a newsletter, citing companies that have sold for millions due to their email-based audience. It also discusses how the newsletter acts as free retargeting, reminding subscribers of the company's existence and keeping it top-of-mind.

05:02

🚀 Steps to Grow Your Newsletter and Get the Most Out of It

This paragraph outlines the steps to grow a successful newsletter. First, it recommends sending a confirmation and deliverability (CD) welcome message upon signup to confirm the subscriber's decision and increase future deliverability. Techniques like asking subscribers to move the email from the Promotions tab to Primary, and encouraging replies, are discussed to improve deliverability. Next, it suggests having a branded newsletter with a unique template and format, providing bite-sized value that subscribers can easily skim. Consistency in sending the newsletter at the same day and time each week or day is emphasized to build habit-forming routines among subscribers.

10:03

🌐 Importance of a Dedicated Newsletter Page on Your Website

This paragraph stresses the importance of having a dedicated page on your website for people to sign up for your newsletter. It advises against relying solely on pop-ups, as a dedicated page is more effective for building a substantial list. The paragraph also reiterates the key takeaways: having a branded newsletter separate from your company brand, using a CD welcome message, providing a template with bite-sized value, and maintaining consistency in sending the newsletter. Finally, it encourages viewers to share their experiences or questions about building a newsletter in the comments.

Keywords

💡Email Newsletter

An email newsletter is a recurring email sent to a list of subscribers containing news, updates, or other content relevant to the topic or business. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of growing an email newsletter as a valuable marketing asset and communication channel with customers and potential customers.

💡Open Rate

The open rate refers to the percentage of email recipients who open or view an email newsletter after it is delivered to their inbox. The speaker highlights that his newsletter achieves a 50% open rate among 90,000 subscribers, which is significantly above industry averages, demonstrating high engagement from the audience.

💡Branded Newsletter

A branded newsletter is an email newsletter that has its own distinct brand identity, separate from the main company or product brand. The video recommends creating a branded newsletter to make it more memorable, shareable, and easier for subscribers to identify and look forward to receiving it each time.

💡Welcome Email

The welcome email, also known as the CD (Confirmation and Deliverability) email, is the initial email sent to new subscribers immediately after they sign up for the newsletter. It serves two purposes: confirming their subscription decision and prompting actions to improve email deliverability, such as moving the email to the primary inbox or replying to the message.

💡Consistent Scheduling

Consistent scheduling refers to sending the newsletter at the same day and time each week or period. The video emphasizes the importance of never missing an issue and maintaining a consistent schedule to build a habit among subscribers for opening and engaging with the newsletter.

💡Bite-sized Value

Bite-sized value refers to providing concise, easily digestible pieces of information or insights within the newsletter, allowing subscribers to quickly skim and extract value without needing to read extensive content. This approach is recommended to encourage high open rates and engagement.

💡Dedicated Newsletter Page

A dedicated newsletter page is a specific webpage on a website dedicated solely to promoting and allowing visitors to sign up for the email newsletter. The video advises having a prominent, easy-to-find newsletter page, rather than relying solely on pop-ups or other less direct methods.

💡Retargeting

Retargeting refers to the practice of repeatedly exposing existing or previous website visitors to marketing messages or advertisements to keep the brand top-of-mind. The speaker mentions that the newsletter serves as a form of free retargeting, reminding subscribers of the company's existence each week.

💡Goodwill

Goodwill refers to the positive sentiment, trust, and loyalty built with customers or subscribers over time by consistently providing value and meeting their expectations. The video suggests that by delivering valuable content through the newsletter, the company builds goodwill, which can lead to higher conversion rates during product launches or promotions.

💡Email Deliverability

Email deliverability refers to the ability of an email to successfully reach a recipient's inbox, rather than being filtered into spam or promotion folders. The video provides tips for improving deliverability, such as prompting subscribers to move emails to the primary inbox or reply to messages, as signals to email providers that the content is wanted and engaging.

Highlights

Grew an email newsletter to over 90,000 subscribers without using paid ads, with a 50% open rate, which is above industry average.

A newsletter can be a valuable growth channel, reminding subscribers of your existence and providing value.

Sending promotions and product launches to the email list can drive significant growth and sales, as subscribers are more receptive due to the value provided through the newsletter.

Upon signup, send a welcome message confirming the subscriber's decision and reminding them of the value they'll receive.

In the welcome message, ask subscribers to move the email from the Promotions tab to Primary in Gmail, and to reply, as these actions signal to email providers that your messages should be prioritized.

Have a branded newsletter with its own unique brand and template, providing familiarity and consistency while maintaining an element of surprise.

Structure the newsletter to provide bite-sized, skimmable value that subscribers can quickly consume and benefit from.

Never miss sending an issue of the newsletter, as consistency is crucial for building a habit and maintaining high open rates.

Have a dedicated newsletter signup page on your website, ideally linked from the main navigation, to drive more subscribers.

Key takeaways: have a branded newsletter, send a strong welcome message, provide bite-sized value in a consistent template, and have a dedicated signup page.

Transcripts

in this video I'm going to show you how

I grew my email newsletter to over 90

000 subscribers without using paid ads

but more important than the list size

alone our email newsletter gets a 50

open rate to 90 000 people every single

week which is definitely above the

industry average and not to brag but

this isn't the first time that I grew a

newsletter to tens of thousands of

people my last company backlinko we grew

that newsletter to over 200 000

subscribers also without running any

paid ads you probably already know how

valuable having a newsletter can be I

mean look at companies like morning brew

and the hustle they sold for tens of

millions of dollars because those

companies that bought them knew how

valuable that email-based audience can

be and in the case of exploring topics

our newsletter is one of the biggest

growth channels for us basically for two

reasons first people that open our

newsletter on a weekly basis it's

basically like free retargeting we're

reminding them every week that we exist

and we're providing a little bit of

value now we don't really sell too much

in the newsletter we just basically have

a little pitch for our Pro product but

the real benefit is that every week

people are opening it and getting value

and remembering that we exist so when

someone wants some sort of trend

spotting tool or Trend spotting solution

we're top of Mind in fact most

Enterprise customers that reach out to

us that end up closing say that they

found us via the newsletter or they

signed up for the newsletter and really

enjoyed reading it every week and then

when they want some sort of trend

spotting tool for their team they don't

have to Google Trend spotting tool they

just come right to us because they're

familiar with us and also just because

you have a newsletter doesn't mean you

just have to send the newsletter you can

also send promotions I mean we do

product launches two or three times a

year to the exploding topics email list

and those are some of our biggest growth

months and because we're providing value

between those launches via the

newsletter our open rates are still like

40 or 50 during the launch and we close

a lot of people and convert a lot of

people during those launches because we

built up so much Goodwill over the weeks

and months of delivering value with the

newsletter all right enough fluff let's

get right into the steps on how you can

actually grow your newsletter and get

the most out of it so your first step is

when someone signs up for your

newsletter is to send them what's known

as a CD welcome message so the C stands

for confirmation and the d stands for

deliverability and basically the idea

behind this welcome message is two

things first you want to confirm that

they made the right decision by signing

up so imagine someone lands on your

website and they go to your newsletter

page and it sounds interesting and they

sign up if you don't send a message for

a few days which is possible if you only

send a Weekly Newsletter they're kind of

gonna forget you exist so it's important

to confirm that they made a good

decision and remind them already upon

sign up about why they signed up so in

our case we just kind of remind them you

know we're going to send Trends every

week and such and such a number of

people have signed up so if you don't

have a big email list that's totally

fine you don't need to use social proof

you can just say every week you're going

to get X to really confirm that they

made the right decision the next step is

to use your welcome message to increase

deliverability in the future two things

that have really made a huge difference

for us is one when someone signs up for

our newsletter in the welcome email we

literally tell them to move the message

from the the promotions tab in Gmail to

primary now at this point with a 50 open

rate we'll obviously get into primary

most of the time in Gmail but it still

doesn't hurt to put that in there

because if you ever get into promotions

again the act of someone moving the

message from promotions to primary sends

a strong signal not just for that

subscriber but just in general that your

messages should be in primary because

most people when they see something in

the promotions tab they leave it there

because usually it's a promotion and

they don't want to do anything about it

if a lot of subscribers are literally

moving your message and dragging it from

promotions to primary that sends a

really strong message to Gmail that your

stuff should be in primary the other

thing we do to improve deliverability

for Gmail or any other email platform

that people might be using is ask them

to reply to the message you know reply

and say why did you sign up for this

newsletter this is huge because most

emails that get sent out are basically

transactional emails that people open

they click they interact with some way

and all that stuff is good for

deliverability people interacting with

your message but a reply is especially

important because it actually shows that

people are engaging with your email and

it's not just a one-way message it's

sort of a conversation if enough people

do that it tells Google that these

messages are things that are going to be

replied to by subscribers so they should

end up in your primary tab so the goal

is really at the end of the day is to

get engagement early on from new people

that signed up to show Google and Gmail

I should say that your message should go

into the primary Tab and we found that

the primary to the promotions tab is

huge like basically the promotions tab

is the new spam folder you do get some

opens there but to give you some context

when we send a message and it goes to

Promotions our open rate is usually like

30 something percent when it goes to

primary it's 50 plus it's almost double

just based on going from promotions to

primary now if you go to spam that's a

totally different story but I'm just

talking about how to get deliverability

in terms of going from promotions to

primary it makes a huge difference in

this welcome email sort of a passive way

to increase the odds that your messages

land in primary in the future the next

step is what do you actually send these

people and in my experience the best way

to to get people to open your newsletter

to share your newsletter to subscribe to

your newsletter is to have what's known

as a branded newsletter so you know a

lot of newsletters that people create

and send out are sort of people's

musings on this and that or a list of

links think of substack for example

every time you get an email from a sub

stack you kind of don't know what you're

gonna get most of them are kind of

essays or long rambling stories that

someone might have and that's fine

there's nothing wrong with that but if

you want to really build a huge

newsletter following that you might even

be able to sell or just something like

in our case designed to grow your

business you want to have a branded

newsletter so a branded newsletter is

just like it sounds it's a newsletter

that has its own brand unless your

company is the newsletter like morning

Brew Your newsletter should have its own

separate unique brand from your actual

brand so for example Tim Ferriss has

five bullet Friday right that's his

branded newsletter that has its own

brand separate from him and the reason

for that it's just easier to share the

newsletter as a separate branded thing

so if I told you oh sign up for Tim

ferriss's newsletter it's easy to forget

but if I told you sign up for five

bullet Friday it's much easier to

remember it also kind of encompasses

what the newsletter is as opposed to Tim

ferriss's newsletter which could be

anything you kind of know okay it's five

bullets and it comes on Friday just from

the name alone so the brand is really

important now not just the name but you

also want to have a unique template

inside of every message every message

should be more or less the same with the

fields change so in the case of

exploding topics or as we call it

exploding topics Tuesday that's our

brand newsletter we send out four Trends

every week and the four Trends are all

over the place some are about e-commerce

some are about technology some are

Concepts but either way the the format

is exactly the same someone knows what

they're going to get they're going to

get four new trends every single week

they don't know what the trends are they

don't know what spaces they're going to

be in but they at least have some idea

of what they're going to get and this is

the benefit for you and your subscriber

it helps your subscriber because they're

gonna open because they know hey I know

what I'm gonna get pretty much I'm just

curious about what the details are this

combination of familiarity and the

unknown is a really powerful motivator

when it comes to someone opening your

message in fact we don't even have to

use any fancy subject lines like our

subject line is the most boring thing

ever it's just E.T colon the date as

opposed to having to think of one every

week we just use ET and the date and we

still get a 50 open rate because people

want to know what's inside the message

the subject line doesn't really matter

that much in our case because people

know what they're going to get but they

don't know exactly what they're going to

get having a template also helps you

because you don't need to reinvent the

wheel every week or every day when you

send out your newsletter like you just

fill in the blanks and send it out our

newsletter because we used content from

our Pro platform basically it only takes

us about five minutes to put together

it's really easy because you just fill

in the blanks send it out and you're

pretty much done as opposed to having

like an editorial process where you're

like what subject line should we use

what should we cover you could just

basically fill in the blanks and you're

done it's super easy and it's a win-win

for you and your subscribers so while

you're sort of developing this template

and it's okay to test out different

templates to see what works I'd really

focus on providing bite size value make

it so someone can skim your newsletter

and get something out of it this is the

Brilliance of news letters like morning

brew and the hustle is that they were

able to take the day's news basically

and encapsulate it into easy digestible

little nuggets now in your case you

might not have a news newsletter you

might have something about technology or

about Fitness and that's totally fine

but the idea is that you want to have

bite size value that someone can just

skim it and get something out of it so

in the case of five bullet Friday Tim

has some links to things interested in

and then usually a quote of some kind

within 30 seconds you can get some value

out of it and if you want to click on

the links and learn more you can get

even more value so it's bite size value

across the board there with literally

five bullets every week in our case in

exploding topics Tuesday we provide four

Trends so you can just skim the trends

if you want and just see what they are

or we provide some insight and Analysis

if you want to read about them and learn

more either way it's all about providing

bite-sized value in your newsletter so

as you develop your template try to

think of a way that you could just help

people just quickly get some value out

of your newsletter without needing to

click on any links or read a bunch of

content the next step is to never miss

an issue of your newsletter whether it's

Christmas or your birthday or your mom's

birthday you gotta send that newsletter

every week or every day depending on the

time frame that you choose in the case

of exploring topics we've sent out 150

newsletters at this point and we've

never missed one it's really important

for people to build up that habit of

opening so that's one of the reasons

besides what I already mentioned of why

people open up our newsletters at such a

high rate yes it's because we provide

bite-size value we're providing value

overall but we're sending at a

consistent day and time so people know

Tuesday at 9am Eastern they're going to

get their exploding topics Tuesday to

open and learn about new trends like

that habit forming part of it is huge

and in fact those newsletters that I

mentioned like morning brew and the

hustle they have literally a million

plus subscribers and I know from talking

to people like who are involved in that

company that they have a 40 open rate on

a million subscribers and they send

every day how is that possible well it's

because that becomes the daily routine

of their subscribers just opening that

newsletter like they get up in the

morning they check their phone and they

open morning Brew to learn about what

happened yesterday like that's the habit

forming potential so if you miss even

one issue you can break that habit it's

important to send at the same time at

the same day of the week every single

week every single day depending on your

schedule in fact this is a mistake that

I made with the backlinko newsletter I

will just send out messages sort of when

I felt like it when I had a blog post to

share when I had a video to share when I

had something to rant about when I

learned about something new that I

wanted to share I wasn't consistent like

every week or even every month you get a

newsletter sometimes you would get three

in a month sometimes you would get one

per month sometimes you would get none

for a while like six weeks so there was

no consistency there and that's one of

the reasons that the open rate on the

backlinko newsletter was like 30

something percent I'm exploring topics

it's about 50. in fact many of our

subscribers tell us that they actually

look forward to reading our email on

Tuesday like they know when it's coming

and they look forward to it and that's

only possible if you stand really

consistently last up if you're serious

about growing a newsletter you need a

dedicated page on your website for

people to sign up to your newsletter if

you rely 100 on pop-ups it's gonna be

hard to build your list yes pop-ups can

bring in some subscribers but nothing

beats a dedicated newsletter page so in

the case of exploring topics in our main

navigation we actually have a link to

our newsletter page and most people that

sign up for a newsletter sign up through

that page as you can see this page is

really simple so it's not about the page

itself it's more about funneling traffic

to that page as opposed to having people

have to hunt around sign up for a

newsletter or happen to see some sort of

pop-up you have a dedicated section of

your site just to get email subscribers

so to quickly recap the most important

takeaways that you can use to grow your

newsletter first of all you definitely

want a branded newsletter of some kind

make sure your newsletter is a brand

that is separate from your actual brand

unless of course you're building a

newsletter focused business which if

that's the case you're probably not

watching this video to learn newsletter

tips for me hopefully you're learning

from morning Brew or those guys that

just do that the other thing to remember

is your welcome message try a CD welcome

message your welcome message is really

important for getting people who just

signed up your newsletter off on the

right foot you want to send a really

strong first impression that tells

people look you signed up for an awesome

newsletter you're gonna get all this

stuff and also nudges them to do do some

things that can help with your

deliverability and also make sure that

your newsletter is a template that can

provide bite size value that combination

is really powerful when someone knows

that I can open this skim it and get

some value from it they're more likely

to open it in the future because they

know it's not a huge time suck and also

you definitely want a dedicated

newsletter page on your website and

ideally you'd link from that from your

site's navigation so I know that real

estate in your site navigation is really

you know important and that's actually

why I put the newsletter link there

because for us building our email list

and growing newsletter is really

important so it's worthwhile so now I'd

like to hear from you have you built a

newsletter are you building a newsletter

now what's working for you or maybe you

have some questions about something you

saw in this video either way let me know

in the comment section below

thank you