When I work with clients on their newsletter, one of the biggest hurdles is often growing their list—and the impatience and frustration that comes with it. Of course list size is not everything: open rates famously drop once your list gets bigger, and list size is very relative too. But having a larger list can feel motivating, and can sometimes make selling your services and products easier too.
In this post, I share 4 things that have helped me gently and joyfully grow my newsletter list: from less than 250 subscribers in late 2022 to over 3,500 subscribers today. I won’t be offering you a magic pill or a secret (because there isn’t). What I’ll share instead are the kinds of things I support you with in Small business newsletter magic, and that have worked for me.
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#1 Outreach and community
I love reaching out to my own community to help share my work, and to create new connections (and am always happy to reciprocate). Over the years, I’ve done collaborations and guest interviews on my website, podcast interviews and guest posts. I’ve also asked business buddies to share about my offers in their newsletters.
For example, these are the guest posts I wrote for Small business newsletter magic:
- 5 ways to add more personality to your small business newsletter, for stationary brand Sarah and Maude
- Turning your newsletter into your most powerful resource, for book marketing expert
Katie Sadler’s Substack newsletter - Overcoming newsletter paralysis, for brand designer
Sarah Robertson ’s Substack newsletter
All of these collaborations add up—and the beauty of guest posts and podcasts is that they remain live. New subscribers still find me, for instance, through the interview I did on the Art Juice podcast (which brought a lot of new subscribers to my list).
There is a slower, gentler and more profitable way of running your business.
Discover your way of doing your business with my 1:1 mentoring support.
No hacks, no hustle.
Instead: marketing and launching that is slow, gentle and gets results. Clear boundaries and priorities that encourage you to live a life next to your business. Accountability and support to help you create the live and business you crave.
#2 Blog, SEO, Pinterest
I’ve become convinced that the key to growing your business and your newsletter list is to not put all your eggs in one basket. But to also have a minimal number of baskets—I don’t want to be spread thin, I need my marketing to remain sustainable and as evergreen as possible.
My blog/website, SEO and Pinterest are my absolute favourite ways of evergreen marketing. They all require some work upfront, but the beauty of all of these platforms is that they just keep ticking along in the background.💌
The key to newsletter growth is being intentional about the role of your newsletter in your business and marketing—and develop a strategy that is truly sustainable for you. That’s why the first module in Small business newsletter magic is about setting solid foundations, and working as efficiently and effectively as possible.
I don’t want to be spread thin; I need my marketing to remain sustainable and as evergreen as possible.
#3 Lead magnet/email series
Since leaving social media in late 2021, I’ve had so many questions about marketing without social media—so much so that I created a free email course around it. And this email course remains very successful, with new subscribers every month. Since setting it up and marketing it initially (through my website/blog, SEO and Pinterest), I have not done a single thing to market it. It’s just magic.
If you’d like to dive deeper into lead magnets, check out the blog post on connecting with your audience, and the lead magnet workshop.
#4 Keep going, keep going, keep going
Newsletter growth is a slow and long game—and there is only so much we can do, and relatively little we have control over.
What you can do:
- be intentional and have a sustainable plan;
- accept that there’s a lot of serendipity involved in growth of any kind;
- stay away from the numbers: they are not everything and close scrutiny will drive you insane;
- keep going, keep going, keep going.
I’d love to know what resonates with you from this post.
Please feel free to share this post it with business friends, in your newsletter or elsewhere. 💛
I’d love to support you in all phases of your business. Providing clarity, focus and next steps is something that my clients tell me I’m really good at. If you’re curious about how we can work together through 1:1 mentoring, check out what I offer or send me an email–no strings attached. I have payment plans available, and flexible options for mentoring calls.
Join the newsletter club for more like this
Sign up with your email address to receive strategies, experiments and tips to create a slow, gentle and profitable business–no hustle, no hacks.