Grow your newsletter the smart way

Every newsletter operator wants to grow their email list.

Fast growth hacks are everywhere you turn. All of them promising quick results with very little effort.

Unless you're only in this for the payout (which is a losing strategy), it's really important to remember that not all growth is good growth.

Good growth is a natural byproduct of a good newsletter. One that:

• Solves a real problem for real people
• Publishes consistently
• Only sends to interested subscribers

Unfortunately most people latch on to the growth hacking advice, pushing their numbers as far as they’ll go by any means necessary.

I don’t believe you're most people.

You’re subscribed to Creator Glue because you want to build something meaningful.

You want to do this the right way but you also feel stuck growing slowly.

Optimize and growth will follow.

Put your subscribers first. Give them the best experience you possibly can, be patient, and growth will follow.

This is backed by real data.

Jay Clouse, Founder of Creator Science, has become prolific in the creator space by being one of the most genuine voices out there.

Last year he said:

​“It took me 3+ years to hit 2,000 subscribers…now I do that in <2 weeks.”​

Jay pours so much of his time and effort into caring for his audience.

He constantly tests and optimizes, but never compromises on quality experiences.

When you put an emphasis on the people you serve, they can’t help but share what you’re doing, buy from you to support it, and stick around to keep cheering you on.

For a majority of prolific creators I've been able to meet, it’s a very similar story. They created the best content they could, kept optimizing the experience, and after years of work the growth compounded.

Start compounding your growth

Stop focusing on growing your numbers and start focusing on the people who have already shown interest.

If you work to help them, others like them will join.

These critical skills will help you get there:

• Writing
• Storytelling
• Networking
• Design

If you pay attention to those skills, give your subscribers a great experience, and consistently show up, your email list will grow.

This isn't simple or a quick win.

This is the long game, but it will pay off.