I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
How to build and grow a loyal audience
Hey there,
Welcome to the second to last newsletter of the year. At ConvertKit we're finishing up 2021 planning and wrapping up big projects for the new year.
Next week I'll send over my 2020 review post, which I'm just wrapping up. If you wrote your own review post hit reply and send me a link to it. I'll include a few of my favorites in the newsletter next week.
FROM ART OF NEWSLETTERS
How to build and grow a loyal audience
Anne-Laure Le Cunff is the founder of Ness Labs, which applies neuroscience research to productivity and creativity. In addition to writing articles and running a growing community, Anne-Laure also writes a newsletter subscribed to by over 25,000 “mindful makers”.
In this conversation, we talk about building up a newsletter audience from zero. Anne-Laure tells us why newsletters grow differently from other platforms, like YouTube channels, and why you shouldn’t get discouraged when your subscriber numbers hit a plateau—often, if you just keep writing and sending great emails, the next wave of growth is right around the corner.
We discuss the difference between Twitter and SEO as channels for gaining new subscribers, and the importance of saying “no” to all the things your business shouldn’t focus on right now.
Anne-Laure also explains why she’s not pursuing brand awareness for her newsletter, and why she’s focused on maintaining the contract with her readers first and foremost.
Listen to the full episode »
If you just want to see clips from the episode, check them out on Twitter or Instagram.
WHAT I'M READING
Red Notice by Bill Browder
This is such a fascinating and tragic story of the first hedge fund in Russia. Putin's Russia is a scary place, and Bill Browder got inside of it in a way very few Americans ever do. After making a fortune there, he got on Putin's bad side and that ended up costing his lawyer's life. This is such an interesting story of real-time history, I was hooked from start to finish.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
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