Welcome to issue #018 of Insideletter!
Each week, I share 2–3 editions in which I share the exact way to build a newsletter business to £10K a month.
Hey there, howdy?
Anirban here again, as I’ve promised, first we’ll fix the basics, then day by day we’ll move to the advanced phase.
So lesson 1 it is.
And we’ll start with the actual meaning of newsletters.
Meaning of newsletters:
If I give you a Google answer, then it will be: A newsletter is a periodical email sent by a person or business containing news, updates, and curated content from the topic that you signed up for.
So, in short, it’s a nurturing mechanism where you nurture your leads so you can sell them with ease.
But we don’t see newsletters as a nurturing sequence.
We see newsletters as a business. As a different entity.
It’s a part of email marketing, but we’re considering this part of email marketing as an independent mechanism which generates money.
Why start a newsletter business?
There are a lot of reasons to start a newsletter business.
But I started a newsletter just because I love to write, but later I discovered that It can be a business.
And I hate chasing, and client servicing isn’t what I want to keep doing for my entire life.
So, I’ve shifted to the media business.
But here’s why you should think of newsletters:
Build an audience of your own (unlike followers on social media).
Establish expertise in your niche or industry.
Drive traffic to your website or product.
Generate leads or direct sales.
Types of newsletters
Here are the 4 main types of newsletters you can think of:
The analyst
The curator
The expert (Insideletter falls in this category)
The reporter
Step-by-step process:
Define the JTD - Job to be done
Help me save money on flights: Going
Help me become a better dad: Daily Dad
Help me build better habits: James Clear
Help me make money with newsletter: Insideletter
Pick a niche, then go at least 2 levels deeper
Newsletter → Newsletter which teaches you how to monetise your newsletter → Insideletter, which helps you reach £10K a month
Newsletter name
Choose a platform (My choice: Beehiiv)
Set a frequency
Build your email list using social media or paid ads
Anatomy of a great newsletter
Subject line - Make it catchy
Greeting – Write something personal or be a friend
Content – Only value
Call to action (CTA) – Tell readers what to do next
Footer – Include unsubscribe link, contact info, and social links
You shouldn’t miss this:
Ask readers to forward your newsletter
Offer freebies for subscribing or referring
Collaborate with others in your niche (must)
Share teasers on social media before publishing
What to avoid
Spammy or clickbait subject lines
Writing only about yourself
Inconsistent sending schedule
Long blocks of text with no formatting
AI copy paste, plsssss nooo
Key metrics to track
Most platforms show:
Open rate (OR)
Click-through rate (CTR)
Unsubscribe rate
Subscriber growth rate
This is pretty much. You don’t need anything else.
Just freaking start.
ICYMI
I’m launching the first-ever newsletter retreat in India.
It will be in December, mostly in Delhi, the capital of India.
Dates might be: 20,21, or 27,28.
At that time, it’ll be Christmas, so people will be in the travel mood too.
And for the itinerary and all, I’ll share it soon.
But are you exciteddddd? 🤩
Current subscribers of Insideletter: 92 😓
30-day view: 453 🙈
30-day open rate: 24.36% 🤧
Thanks for reading. See you soon.
Quick links:
Read my daily emails to learn how to monetise your email list.
Check the email marketing podcast.
Check my website
You can always say hi to me on LinkedIn and X. I would love to see you there.
If you enjoyed this read, the best compliment I could receive would be if you shared it with one person or restacked it.
Oh, and you can of course join my chat and ask your questions directly.
Talk soon,
Anirban “working on the first ever newsletter retreat” Das.