Why Most Newsletters Suck
Fifty newsletters hit my inbox a week. I read three.
The rest die unopened, or get five seconds of skim before I hit unsubscribe. You write the same way. Everyone does. We are all drowning in well-meaning email nobody asked to keep.
Most newsletters get written like corporate press releases instead of personal notes. The writer is trying to build authority. The reader wanted help.
The Real Reason Newsletters Fail
Your newsletter competes with work email, the mortgage notice, a text from your kid, and whatever actually matters that morning. Other newsletters are the least of it.
Newsletter writers forget this. They send long, formal essays about topics the reader never cared about, then act surprised when the open rate flatlines.
What Actually Makes People Subscribe
People subscribe for three reasons. Everything else is noise.
- You solve a problem they actually have.
- You hand them something they can't find anywhere else.
- You write like a person and not a marketing department.
The Formula That Works
Three years of sending these things taught me a short list.
Short. Three hundred to five hundred words. Respect the reader's time and the reader sticks around.
One idea per email. Pick one useful thing and explain it well. Stop trying to cover the whole world in a Tuesday email.
Write like you're emailing a friend. Contractions. Start a sentence with "And." Start one with "But." Sound like the person who actually wrote it.
End on something they can do. One specific action they can take today, before they close the tab and forget you exist.
The Subject Line Reality
Forget clever. Go clear.
Bad: "The productivity secret that will change your life." Good: "Why I stopped using to-do lists (and what works better)."
Bad: "You won't believe this writing hack." Good: "How I write 500 words in 15 minutes."
I've tested hundreds of subject lines. Specific beats mysterious every time it gets a chance.
What to Write About
The good stuff comes out of your actual week.
- A problem you solved.
- A mistake you made and what it cost you.
- A tool or a process that actually holds up.
- Something that changed how you think about your work.
Don't pose as the expert on everything. Be honest about what you're still figuring out. Honest reads better than polished.
How to Grow Without Being Sleazy
Forget the growth hacks. Be useful and the list grows on its own.
What works:
- Clear asks inside content you already send.
- A lead magnet that solves one immediate problem.
- Word of mouth from readers who got something real.
- The same value showing up every single week.
What doesn't:
- Buying lists.
- Newsletter swaps with strangers.
- Generic "subscribe for updates" begging.
- Bribing people with junk they never wanted.
The Weekly Rhythm
Pick one day. Same time. Every week. No exceptions.
Mine goes out Tuesday, 8 AM. Readers know when it lands. I know when to write it. The deadline does half the work.
Consistency beats perfection. A plain, helpful email every week buries a perfect one that shows up once a quarter.
When You Don't Know What to Write
Some weeks the well is dry. When that hits:
- Share whatever you're learning right now.
- Ask subscribers what's eating them.
- Take your best old piece and run it through new eyes.
- Review a tool you actually touch every day.
The goal was never to be profound. The goal is to be useful.
The Platform Question
Everybody asks what to use. My honest take:
- Ghost: what I use. Clean, simple, handles the whole job.
- Substack: solid if you mostly write.
- ConvertKit: most features, more moving parts.
- Mailchimp: fine for a first try.
Pick one and stop shopping. The platform matters far less than what you load into it.
Your First Newsletter
Want one out the door this week? The whole thing:
- Pick one thing you learned recently that others still struggle with.
- Write three hundred words about it like you're explaining it to a friend.
- End on one thing they can try today.
- Send it to your list, even if your list is five people and your mom.
Don't overthink it. Don't wait for the perfect topic. Help one person solve one problem.
That's how every good newsletter starts. So: what's the one thing you figured out lately that the rest of your field still hasn't? Write that one down. That's the first email.