Newsletter for Business Growth

We grew an email list from 0 to 500K subscribers in just 10 months. If I were starting from scratch today, here's exactly how I'd do it again: 1) Nail the Lead Magnet: The fastest way to grow your email list is by offering something valuable in exchange for an email. Think of it like this: people won't give up their email for nothing. Create something they can't ignore: a discount, exclusive content, or a tool they can’t find elsewhere. For us, offering free travel guides was a game-changer. 2) Optimize for Opt-Ins Everywhere: Your website, blog, and even social media accounts should work like opt-in machines. For example: - Add pop-ups and fly outs on key pages. - Place CTAs above the fold. - Use scroll-triggered modals when visitors are engaged. We tested endlessly, and this attention to detail paid off big. 3) Tap Into Paid Growth Early: Ads get a bad rep, but when done right, they’re a growth accelerant. We launched targeted ads promoting our lead magnet and built a funnel that turned traffic into email signups. Paid campaigns helped us scale fast while testing which offers resonated with our audience. 4) Partner with the Right People: Collaborations can grow your list faster than any single effort. Whether it’s co-branded giveaways, email swaps, or shoutouts, find brands or creators that share your target audience. A well-executed partnership will unlock exponential growth. One really unique thing we did: We bought a bunch of viral social accounts and rebranded them for our business. This was huge in kickstarting massive and sustainable growth. And we fast-tracked the social proof we needed to build trust and scale quickly. 5) Focus on Quality, Not Just Quantity: A big list is meaningless without engagement. From Day 1, we focused on high-value emails to ensure subscribers opened, clicked, and stayed. Here’s a pro tip: Consistency wins. Sending emails weekly or bi-weekly keeps your list warm and engaged. 6) Build a Content Machine: Pair email growth with an organic content strategy that feeds your funnel. Blog posts, social media, and SEO aren’t just good for traffic—they create trust. The more valuable content you share, the more people will want to hear from you. 7) Leverage Cheap Marketing Channels in Ways Others Haven’t: This is going to ruffle some feathers but we absolutely dominated cold email for user acquisition. To the tune of 6 figure subscriber acquisition. No one was doing cold email for B2C the way we did it. This proved to be the most scalable yet cheapest acquisition channel we had. — To recap: - Offer something valuable for free to grow your list. - Use every channel—paid and organic—to drive opt-ins. - Build relationships with partners who already have your audience. The result? A system that scales. Your list is the one asset you fully own—start building it ASAP!

Stop tracking email open rates. Open rates are the least reliable metric in your funnel. Honestly, they are wildly inaccurate. This is because an email "open" is only considered when a tracking image pixel loads in an email. Let’s break down the 7 ways your open rate is probably wrong. Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP): This feature pre-loads images and content in emails, potentially registering an "open" even if the recipient hasn't actually opened the email. Image blocking is enabled by default in many email clients, which prevents your tracking pixel from loading. So even if someone reads your email top to bottom, it may never count as an open. Email Client Settings: Some email clients automatically display images in the preview pane, which can register an "open" even if the recipient hasn't fully opened the email. Tracking Pixel Issues: Tracking pixels, which are tiny images used to track opens, can sometimes fail to load due to various technical issues, including server-side problems or client-side limitations. Spam Filters: Advanced spam filters and sorting algorithms might check the email though bots, potentially skewing open rates Forwarded emails may register multiple opens from different devices or IPs, even if only one person is reading it Inflated Open Rates: Certain programs that automatically open and view emails for spam detection can also contribute to inflated open rates. And yet, marketers obsess over it. Whole campaigns are “optimized” for a number that doesn't reflect real intent, real engagement, or real outcomes. We went one step ahead of open rates at Mailmodo. We bring web-like actionable interactions within emails. Instead of measuring who opened, we focus on what they did. Inside the email. That means: A one-click poll → submitted A meeting → booked right inside the email A feedback form → feedback provided An event registration form → user registered for the event If you want to build email journeys that measure action instead of illusions, let’s talk. I can share what we’ve seen work and why open rate should never be your success metric.

We started a biweekly newsletter 1.5 years ago to diversify beyond LinkedIn. Our approach: built an actual media format that front-loads value instead of directly pitching the service. So far we have 5k subs and a 50% open rate. How it works: Most of our organic content goes right here on LinkedIn. It’s still the best channel for reaching an audience. But like all social media, it’s a rented audience. We depend on the platform/algorithm, which we don’t control. If our account gets disabled or our reach drops, we risk losing our main acquisitions channel. That’s one reason we encourage our LinkedIn readers to subscribe to our Content Founder newsletter. The Content Founder is our owned audience. We know who it reaches, independent of any algorithm. It’s a great way to diversify risk in the attention economy. More importantly - LinkedIn has a 3,000 character limit. We can offer much more value when we expand the format. We grew our initial audience by publishing lead magnets on LinkedIn: • Notion templates • content founder breakdowns • an educational email course We gave those away for free to anyone who shared their email. More recently, we’ve been publishing newsletter previews as posts on LinkedIn to drive new signups. Each newsletter issue follows the same structure: 1. Personal intro 2. Anchor topic - a tactical breakdown with actionable advice 3. Coffee inspo - short updates + random stuff (favorite deodorant, cool book, etc.) 4. Content Founder spotlight - someone who built a personal brand led business 5. Highlight a song we love + link to our Spotify playlist We pick anchor topics at the start of the month from LinkedIn posts that performed well. We repurpose them into a newsletter with all the info we couldn’t fit into 3,000 characters. That’s how we maintain the 2 newsletter/month cadence. PS. in this video, I explain our newsletter strategy and talk about a new format we’ve been testing. Check it out :)

most b2b marketers obsess over the wrong email metrics. tracking opens and clicks is like measuring website visits when you actually care about pipeline and revenue. here's what actually matters (and why): 𝟭/ 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝘁𝗼-𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 click-to-open rate = clicks ÷ opens. this tells you how compelling your content is *after* someone opens. campaign monitor data shows this is a better indicator of content quality than raw click-through rates. if your click-to-open rate is low, your email content isn't resonating. if it's high (10.5% is the cross-industry average), you've nailed the message-market fit. if you’re following advice to “write good content”, this is an appropriate metric to follow. 𝟮/ 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 (𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆) 95% delivery sounds great until you realise your emails are landing in spam folders or promotional tabs. what matters isn't just technical delivery, but actual inbox placement that drives engagement. 𝟯/ 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 most marketers fear unsubscribes. i'd argue its not to be feared. healthy list churn (under 2%) means you're sending relevant content to engaged people. if your unsubscribe rate suddenly spikes, it's an early warning your messaging is off-target before other metrics catch up. 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀: 💡 segment by engagement recency, not demographics. we've seen 3x higher conversion rates emailing "opened last 30 days" vs "job title = vp of marketing". aim to address intent. 💡 track conversion rate alongside open rates. we can borrow from b2c here: 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 (𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵) 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘵 1-6%, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬-𝘪𝘯-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 5.84% 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 - way higher than broadcast campaigns. use nurture emails for contacts who have shown intent (reading your content, attending your webinars, etc.) the bottom line: measure what moves the needle. any other email metrics that you track that correlates with pipeline in your experience?

I grew to 10k+ newsletter subscribers in 1 year. Here are the 6 biggest pieces of advice I'd give to ANYBODY growing their newsletter: 1. Focus on organic growth This is the single most important thing to do. I wasted so much time to "hack" the growth. There's no "hack". Pick a niche problem, find a target audience, identify the value your content can provide, and ship it consistently. Growth will happen organically if your content truly adds value to readers. 2. Pick a growth channel Unlike social media, newsletter has no default distribution, so you need to find the best channel to promote your newsletter. For me, LinkedIn is my growth channel to promote my newsletter. Just pick ONE channel to start. Focus is everything. 3. Content-Market Fit is EVERYTHING You achieve CMF once you've hit 5,000+ subscribers organically with good engagement (>45% open rate). For me, I hit my CMF in Oct 2024 when I hit 5,089 subs with pure organic growth. If you couldn't hit that after 1 year, maybe it's time to change your niche or audience or both. 4. Be relentlessly consistent Writing newsletter is easy. But writing newsletter consistently week after week, month after month — that's tough, very tough. Most people will give up after a few months. If you can keep showing up, keep shipping, your time will come (I guarantee that). 5. Use pre-CTA and post-CTA This is a game changer. Before your newsletter is published, post on LinkedIn as a teaser to your issue with a CTA link. After the newsletter is published, post again on LinkedIn to direct more traffic to your article (remember to gate the article + collect emails for access). I got 3,000+ new susbcribers after using this approach. It works. 6. Use Meta ads to scale Only run ads after you've hit CMF (point 3). Go to Facebook Ad Library, identify the best-performing ads that other newsletters (in your space) are running, refer to their ads creative + modify the copy based on your niche. Run and keep optimising your ads to reduce the CPA to $1 - $2. Start with Step 1-5, use Step 6 cautiously. If Step 6 works, you're unstoppable. Have any questions about growing newsletter? AMA anything in comments 👇🏻

Niche audiences aren’t small; they’re specific, and specificity sells. Chasing broad audiences in digital publishing? You might as well shout into a crowded room. While generic content attracts clicks, it rarely builds loyalty or revenue. Niche audiences, however, like urban gardeners, retro gaming enthusiasts, or indie filmmakers, crave tailored expertise. By focusing on specificity, you turn casual readers into invested communities ready to engage, subscribe, and pay. A food blog targeting gluten-free vegan bakers might have a smaller audience than a general recipe site, but its readers are 3x more likely to buy recommended products. Why? ↳Distinct needs: They seek solutions that generic content can’t provide (e.g., “How to make vegan croissants without gluten”). ↳Trust: Specialised content positions you as the go-to expert (e.g., a newsletter for indie filmmakers reviewing budget 4K cameras). ↳Monetisation leverage: Advertisers and sponsors pay premiums to reach hyper-engaged audiences. Monetising Specificity: Real-world tactics ✅ Subscription models: An example is a newsletter for urban gardeners offering seasonal planting guides and exclusive seed discounts, which saw a 200% YoY subscriber increase. ✅ Affiliate marketing: Partner with brands your niche already loves (e.g., eco-friendly potting soil for organic gardeners). ✅ Sponsored content: A podcast for remote workers secured sponsorships from ergonomic chair brands and local coffee roasters. How to build a Niche-first strategy 1. Identify the niche: Uncover gaps using surveys or social listening tools. For example, a travel publisher discovered demand for “solo female travel in Southeast Asia” via Reddit forums. 2. Develop specialised content: Solve one problem exceptionally. For example, a YouTube channel for indie filmmakers creates budget lighting tutorials with under-$100 gear. 3. Engage the community: Host live Q&As or members-only forums. For example, a sustainability blog built a 5,000-member Discord group for sharing zero-waste hacks. 4. Test monetisation channels: Offer a paid webinar or niche affiliate guide before launching subscriptions. Here are the key takeaways for publishers 💡 Specialised content builds loyalty: Readers return because they can’t find your depth elsewhere. 💡 Diversified revenue follows engagement: Micro-audiences support subscriptions, affiliates, and ads. 💡 Competitive edge: Generic publishers can’t replicate your authority in a focused niche. Specificity isn’t a limitation; it’s your monetisation superpower. Is your content strategy niche-focused? Share your wins (or lessons learned) below. #DigitalPublishing #NicheMarketing #AudienceEngagement #ContentStrategy #Monetisation 

A client was celebrating 8% CTR, "best engagement we've ever had." We ran our 3-signal validation. ❌ No traffic lift ❌ Zero target accounts on their site ❌ Outbound visitors bounced 2x faster than organic They were optimizing for a vanity metric. Here's the problem with Outbound in 2026: - Open rates? Privacy protections killed them. - Click-through rates? Interest is not buying intent. - Volume? "We sent 50k emails" is meaningless and kills relevance. The only metric that still tells the truth: Positive replies from the right buyers. Not meetings booked. Not pipeline "potential." Actual people replying with intent. Reply rate is the North Star, BUT we never look at it alone. Here's how we validate reply rate at SalesCaptain We validate it with 3 supporting signals: 1️⃣ Traffic lift Overall: site traffic increases when outbound launches, even without click tracking. 2️⃣ Visitor-to-account matching: We match site visitors against targeted accounts to see who's paying attention. 3️⃣ User journey comparison: We compare how outbound-driven visitors behave vs. everyone else. Together, these tell us: → Are we reaching the right audience? → Are they actually interested? → Is this channel ready to scale? What we did with that client: We rebuilt the ICP, rewrote messaging around 2 live signals, and re-launched. → Positive reply rate: 0.1% → 0.8% within the first weeks → Traffic from target accounts: +40% → Cost-per-meeting: down 22% in 60 days The 8% CTR was completely irrelevant. Replies still mean what they always have: someone read your message and chose to respond. That's the clearest signal outbound gives you. What metric is your team's North Star right now? 🌟 (Genuinely curious, the answer usually tells a lot about how you can grow your pipeline) If you want to run this audit for yourself, comment CHECKLIST and I'll send you the exact 3-signal validation framework we use before scaling any campaign.

Your newsletter sign-up page is not just a gateway; It’s the first handshake with your audience. Yet, many fail to optimize this critical touchpoint. Asking the right questions about your page can elevate sign-ups. And set the tone for long-term subscriber engagement. Here are a few key questions to audit your newsletter sign-up page: 1. Who is your audience? → Clearly define your ideal subscriber. → Tailor the messaging to resonate with their needs & interests. 2. What value are you offering? → Why should someone subscribe? → Highlight benefits like exclusive insights, free resources, or actionable advice. 3. Is your call-to-action clear? → Use compelling, straightforward CTAs like “Get Weekly Insights” or “Join 10,000+ Readers.” → Avoid vague phrases like “Sign Up.” 4. Do you showcase social proof? → Numbers & testimonials matter. → Mention how many others have joined or share a quote from a happy reader. 5. How simple is the process? → Fewer form fields = more sign-ups. → Stick to essentials like name & email. 6. Is the page visually engaging? → A clean layout with eye-catching design elements ensures users stay and sign up. 7. Are you addressing concerns? → Reassure users by emphasizing privacy & how often they’ll receive emails. 8. Have you tested for mobile? → Most users browse on mobile. → Ensure your page is responsive & loads quickly. But here’s why it matters: A well-optimized sign-up page does more than grow your list— It attracts the *right* subscribers, builds trust & strengthens engagement. Take a moment to revisit your newsletter’s sign-up flow. The smallest tweaks can lead to big wins in capturing attention & turning visitors into loyal readers.

Raising kids is like building an audience—logic might get them to listen, but it's the love and honesty that make them stay. You can teach them all the facts, but it's the moments you share from the heart that truly resonate and shape who they become. Here's how you can translate parenting to audience-building: 1/ Speak from the Heart Connect on an emotional level. Write with passion and empathy. Heartfelt content engages and inspires your audience. 2/ Share Personal Stories Personal experiences build relatability. Share your journey, struggles, and victories. Stories create a deeper connection with your audience. 3/ Be Genuine and Vulnerable Authenticity attracts genuine followers. Show your true self, including your imperfections. Vulnerability fosters trust and engagement. 4/ Prioritize Emotional Impact Craft messages that evoke emotions. Focus on how your content makes people feel. Emotional resonance leads to stronger audience connections. 5/ Engage with Your Audience Interact and respond to your followers. Show that you care about their thoughts and feelings. Engagement builds a loyal community. 6/ Focus on Values and Beliefs Share your core values and beliefs. Align your content with what you stand for. People are drawn to brands and creators with clear principles. 7/ Create Meaningful Content Offer content that adds real value to lives. Address needs, desires, and aspirations. Meaningful content keeps your audience coming back. 8/ Embrace Creativity and Passion Let your passion shine through your work. Creative and heartfelt content stands out. Passion is contagious and attracts like-minded people. In 2024, let your heart lead the way to attract and grow your audience.

Marketers, are you still measuring email the old way? We get told email is dead, but everyone reading this has most likely read an email, logged in using it & made a purchase with it. So it's not dead, but how we judge its effectiveness hasn’t evolved fast. We’ve relied on open rates & click-through rates (CTR) — metrics that, frankly, are no longer fit for purpose. Why open rates are no longer reliable Open tracking depends on image loading, which Outlook often blocks, & Apple & Gmail preload by default. As a result, you might see machines open, not human ones. And proper visibility is vanishing with more “text-only” creatives or image-blocked environments. And CTR? It’s got its own problems Think about user intent. If a customer reads “50% off this weekend” in your subject line, they may just go straight to your site—no click needed. Even Gmail’s AI summarising content & extracting voucher codes means users engage without clicks. Email is quickly becoming a powerhouse for brand awareness, but it doesn't have the metrics to prove this. So, what should we look at? As the rest of adtech races toward incrementality, attention, and post-impression attribution, email needs to catch up. Here’s how: 1. Conversion Attribution (Beyond Last Click) Don't stop at click-based conversions. Track who received the email, & assign influence weightings to openers, clickers, & even non-clickers who later convert. This mirrors how display and social now assess "view-through" impact. 2. Frequency & Multi-Touch Engagement Did the recipient open on mobile in the morning, revisit via desktop, & convert on payday? That’s a multi-touch journey. Look at repeat site visits, device switching, & re-engagement post-send. 3. Pay Day or Trigger-Based Lift Create holdout groups and measure uplift around high-conversion moments (e.g., end-of-month). This mirrors the incrementality testing often used in paid social or programmatic, proving that email drives behaviour, not just volume. 4. Attention Metrics Use tools to estimate dwell time on emails or the time between opening& clicking. These are soft proxies for intent, similar to how platforms measure scroll depth, hover rate, and ad exposure time in other channels. 5. Site Quality Metrics Did email recipients spend longer on site, view more pages, or have higher AOVs? Your session quality tells you if email delivers high-intent traffic, something brands already monitor from Google Ads or affiliates. 6. Ask them! Simple, but powerful: survey your audience. What emails did they find valuable? Did it change their behaviour? Self-reported attribution, done well, can give you what click-tracking can’t. Email deserves more credit than. If adtech is shifting toward attention, incrementality, & deeper behaviour analysis, email should, too. Let's measure actual impact, not just opens & clicks. I bet you will discover that email isn't just for conversion but also a branding-building superpower.