Turning Your Newsletter into a Creative Practice
Showing up regularly to write a newsletter can be tough.
You don’t get the instant gratification of likes or comments. In fact, replies and engagement are often quite sparse, which can quickly make you question whether it’s even worth it.
Yes. Yes, it is worth it.
Newsletters are the ultimate relationship builder.
They give you direct access to your audience without competing with an algorithm.
Humans are starving for substance and real connection. Be the founder who gives that.
Alongside your website, your newsletter is one of the only platforms you truly own. You have to do something pretty extreme to be blocked from your email provider, but say one wrong thing, even if it wasn’t wrong(!!), on LinkedIn or Instagram, and you could be shadowbanned instantly and left frustrated, arguing with an AI bot.
When open rates start dipping, it can feel demotivating.
That’s why we always need to put our audience at the heart of our decisions, alongside maintaining good email health and regularly cleaning out subscribers who haven’t opened in a while.
Have an aligned newsletter
Your newsletter should make sense for your business. It should gently remind your audience of your expertise and tie back to your offers.
When I worked with an eCommerce brand, they had four core principles behind their main product: health, wealth, relationships, and freedom.
We turned each principle into a section within the newsletter. The result? Weekly open rates of 80%+ and consistent sales, despite only including a product image at the very bottom.
Are there any key principles your product or service is built around?
Think about your audience
We want newsletters to be opened, enjoyed, and ideally shared. That starts with your audience.
And not just the audience you currently have, but the one you want.
During periods of growth, it can be tempting to cater to your existing audience, even if they are no longer aligned with where you’re heading. They may have supported you from the beginning, but they might not be the right fit for your current offers.
That’s okay.
Your newsletter can be aspirational for them, but write with your ideal audience in mind.
Ask yourself:
• Does your audience enjoy longer reads they can sit with and reflect on? Audiences who read books or spend time on Substack often have a longer attention span and may appreciate depth.
• Or are they looking for something bite-sized they can quickly scan on the go?
The energy you put in is what you get back
If you’re leaving your newsletter until the end of the week when your energy is low and it just needs to get done, it won’t be your best work.
And when we send out rushed or low-effort newsletters, that’s when people start to lose trust and stop opening them.
Refresh your topics
Sometimes, we simply get bored of our own format.
Switching things up can help, but instead of starting from scratch, look at the overlap between what you’re already consuming and what your audience cares about.
Starting from nothing makes it much harder to sit down and write.
A few prompts:
• Look through your camera roll. What are you capturing or screenshotting?
• What do you have saved on Instagram?
• What topics do you look forward to debating?
• What topics do you find yourself regularly bringing up?
We want our audience to have those “that’s so me” moments that make them feel closer to us.
Learn from newsletters you enjoy
Notice what you like about other people’s newsletters.
Do you have a favourite?
One of mine is Chicken Shed Chronicles from The Do Lectures. It’s quick to read, and there’s always an interesting book or tool I take away from it.
Repurpose your content
There’s nothing more disheartening than sending a newsletter that only a fraction of your audience opens, and feeling like all that time and effort has gone to waste.
That’s why repurposing is so valuable.
I used to avoid sharing my newsletter content elsewhere because I wanted it to feel exclusive. But inboxes are more crowded than ever, and people are constantly distracted.
Now, I believe the more ways we share the message, the more likely it is to land.
For example, I share my newsletter on Substack, and turn them into carousel posts. You don’t have to repeat everything word for word, but you also don’t need to completely rewrite it.
When you feel good about your newsletter and on top of it, it’s much easier to maintain momentum and even get ahead.
Turn your newsletter into a creative practice
1. Romanticise the process - Is there a café you love going to? A routine you can build around writing? Create positive associations with the act of writing your newsletter.
2. Make notes throughout the week - Keep a pinned note on your phone and add thoughts, links, and ideas as they come. This gives you a starting point and makes writing feel much easier.
3. Enjoy long-form writing- Leaning into long-form writing has significantly improved my marketing, and it’s made my newsletter feel far less daunting.
In the age of ChatGPT, it’s easy to rely on it too early. But writing is a skill that benefits every area of your marketing, and even your thinking.
The more you practise it, the more everything else in your business improves.
Still putting off your newsletter till ‘next week’?
Whether you’re feeling uninspired or simply don’t have the time your newsletter strategy deserves, let me take it off your plate through the Human-First Marketing Audit.
Through your intake form and our 1:1 call, I’ll draw out the topics you’re passionate about that your audience also craves. This approach not only makes your newsletter something you actually look forward to creating, but also helps build a deeper relationship with your audience and attract aligned customers.
