Building a magnetic newsletter

Do you ever feel like your newsletter isn’t resonating with your audience?

Growth is slow, replies are few, and you’re not seeing excited readers sharing your content.

You don’t need to switch topics or give up.

Your readers will tell you what they want, you just have to listen.

This week I shared a simple framework for building your brand in 2023 (and beyond).

We live in a time where you can iterate faster than any other time in history, but many still operate under the old ways. They come up with topics for their newsletter, write about them, and hope for the best.

Modern newsletter publishers:

1. Seek conversation
2. Use words their subscribers use
3. Test new ideas

Let’s look closer at each of these.

Seek conversation

Publishing to a silent audience is the worst. Do they even like what they’re reading?

The good news is, you can find out!

Look for any opportunity to ask your subscribers to reply and have a discussion with you. Take in their feedback, help with their struggles, etc.

Not only will you be helpful, you’ll learn a lot about how you can improve and what your subscribers really want to see.

Use words your subscribers use

Sometimes there are multiple ways to say things. For example, I could say:

• Subscribers
• Readers
• Audience

All have a similar meaning, but only one will resonate most with my subscribers.

Pay attention to replies to your newsletter, social media posts, and DMs. Watch for how they talk about topics related to you newsletter and what goals they have.

Use that as fuel for your future content.

Test new ideas

As you start to seek conversation and use words your subscribers are using, you’ll find new ideas. Test those out with your subscribers.

Some ideas you get may not resonate with everyone reading, but it never hurts to experiment.

The takeaway

The internet moves fast.

If you feel stuck, it’s because you aren’t letting your subscribers guide you.

The more you:

• Listen to your subscribers
• Adapt your content to what they struggle with
• Use terms they use

The more you connect.

Your next step

Look for conversations this week. Through your newsletter, social media, etc.

While there should be more weight to what your newsletter subscribers say, there’s no right or wrong place to have conversations.

Take notes and look back on them next time you write.