Three years ago, one chilly February morning I hit the post button and leaned back in my chair. On the screen in front of me was a simple title: Rabbit Ideas #001 It wasn’t the first time I try to start a newsletter, but I knew this time was different.
Actually, if you are a subscriber of my newsletter and like it, you have to thank my wife. She was the reason to start posting regularly every Sunday. Why? Because at first she didn’t believe I can be that persistent. When I think about it, she was right. Before Rabbit Ideas I never finished a project. But my motivation now was to prove her wrong. Three years later there are 160 issues published, more than 650 links shared and more than 700 subscribers reading my suggestions on the best websites, articles, tools and apps.
Let’s go to the serious part. The 3 points below are the most important things I learned so far running the newsletter.
The best ways to grow a subscriber list
I spent incredible amounts of time and money to add my newsletter in directories and advertise on google and twitter. Too broad. The best results actually came from cross promotions and advertising with other newsletters. It’s simple: when people read a newsletter and find another newsletter inside, they want to try it.
Who’s afraid of experiments?
For 3 years I made some really big changes in the way my newsletter looks and works. At first I was a little afraid of changes, because I didn’t know how my subscribers will react. But people actually like new things. And if you explain to them about the change and why you are doing it, they will understand.
People don’t owe you
People will always unsubscribe. They have the right to do it. I’ve been working to make sure that when someone unsubscribe, at least two people will replace him. I know that when you have a small audience every subscriber counts, but you should focus on bringing more people in, not just keep the current ones.
Now how can we end an article about newsletters in the best possible way? That’s right, by asking the readers to subscribe.