Newsletters are amazing for those of us who love writing, who crave deeper and slower connection, and who want to market in an algorithm-free way. But for many of us, our newsletters can also be a source of frustration and insecurity. Because newsletter growth is naturally slow, and emails often don’t immediately lead to actual sales.
Newsletters are my number one favourite marketing channel, and I talk about them a lot with my clients and customers. I even made a course about how to make your small business newsletter more effective and joyful! (check it out here).
In today’s post, I’ll be sharing two things worth looking at if your newsletter is not converting (and a little bonus peptalk for if you’re feeling disheartened).
Join the newsletter 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.
The long game
Many platforms suggest instant success—the hearts on Instagram, the little thumbs up on Facebook, the occasional comment. Newsletters generally don’t give us that satisfaction, especially because most of your readers will not reply or comment.
Newsletter growth is a long game. It took me three years to get to 250 subscribers, even while I was still marketing my business (and newsletter) on Instagram.
And sometimes, we are surprised—like I was when my newsletter doubled in size after a podcast interview. But these instances are very rare.
So, the first things to explore are the size of your list and, tied in with that, whether you’ve given it enough time.
Newsletters provide deeper, less ephemeral connection than social media, and that means that with every single one you send out you’re sowing seeds. But it takes time for your audience to get to know you, to get to know your product or service and figure out whether it is right for them.
When you’re feeling frustrated about how long it takes to grow and convert, try to reframe it: every single newsletter is bringing you closer to sales and growth.
Of course, there are things you can do to grow the size of your list. These are a few to get you started:
Explore outreach: can you work together with someone else to get in front of their audience? Think about interviews, sharing about your products/services in their newsletters or other collaborations.
Review how you’re sharing about your newsletter: how easy is it for people to sign up through your website, you social media bios, your email signature?
📽️ If you’re not sure what to write in the first place, I made a short video on the three types of newsletters every small business needs.
In Small business newsletter magic, my self-paced course, I walk you through lots more strategies that you can use for and adapt to your business. The course launches to the waitlist only—sign up here. 💌
Every single newsletter brings you closer to sales and growth.
Stop hiding
Sharing about our offers can be incredibly uncomfortable, and most of us tend to be too subtle about it. Because sharing—’selling’—feels hard or uncomfortable, when we do mention our offers, this feels like a big deal. And it being a big deal makes us feel like we are being very obvious, even if we only mention our offer once, tucked into a longer email.
If that’s you, you are absolutely not alone. Two reframes can help:
- Being more explicit about your offers doesn’t make you gross. If you’re someone who is drawn to slow, gentle and profitable business, I can pretty much guarantee that your sharing won’t be gross. You can do so in ways that are gentle, inviting and intentional;
- Turn it around. How often do you buy something immediately when you get an email from a (small) business? And how often do you tend to wait, especially when you know that you still have time before a launch ends? I’m probably not the only one who reads about a new offer, even one that I’m genuinely excited about, and think to myself “oh, I must get to this”—and then forget about it. Your readers are human too, and need more than one nudge.
I hope these ideas help you to feel just a bit better about your newsletter. If you’re feeling disheartened about the growth of your list, have a listen at this mini peptalk:
This peptalk is one of 5 bonus peptalks in Small business newsletter magic, my self-paced course helping you turn your newsletter into your most effective marketing tool. The course launches for the waitlist only. Sign up for the waitlist to make sure you don’t miss out.
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 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.