1/ I grew my newsletter from 0 to 1,000 subscribers in 5 months. Here's how I did it.
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2/ When COVID began, I stopped traveling and taking meetings. My business partner, @ChrisBerryOH, encouraged me to create content. I didn't have a focus or an audience but did have experience with content creation.
3/ One of my current endeavors is running the Cleveland Tech Newsletter. Each week I'd interview a guest in the Cleveland Tech scene. I was going to apply that same lesson to my new newsletter.
4/ I started a weekly live interview series focused on marketing strategy. The first event had 22 email signups. After 3 events, I had 58 emails. This interview series turned into a podcast.
5/ On April 28th with 58 emails, I launched a twice-weekly newsletter. I was just going to write and figure it out as I go. The focus was on marketing strategy, but nothing more detailed than that. My first article was about Jeni's Ice Cream. It was awful. app.goodbits.io/emails/e1254cdβ¦
6/ My first newsletter was built on @goodbitsio. Don't worry about the tech. Choose something and start writing. Your tech stack is irrelevant if you have 0 subscribers.
7/ A few people enjoyed my first article so I kept writing. I'd be lying if I was consistent, but for the most part, I kept writing. Most of the articles were about marketing or communication strategy.
8/ My biggest growth hack is when I'd publicize my stats. The night before each newsletter, I'd tweet how many people I was sending the newsletter to and how many subscribers I earned.
9/ Building in public helped me earn RTs and likes. I never had an "aha" moment. My newsletter would grow slowly, but up and to the right.
10/ Eventually, I found my niche and started writing about the Attention Economy. I still don't know if this is the right niche, but picking a niche helps. When people think of Attention Economy, they think of me.
11/ When you choose a broad topic like marketing strategy, there's so much competition. Thought leaders like @profgalloway already do such a great job. I needed to think smaller. I read the Attention Merchant by @superwuster and settled on Attention Economy.
12/ I spent a lot of time researching the subject and reading books. I would turn my content into tweetstorms. A tweetstorm would get a ton of engagement and by adding a CTA at the bottom, people would on my newsletter.
13/ In late September, I finally crossed a 1,000 subscribers. Two things really stood out that I'd attribute to my success: consistency and writing for a specific audience.
14/ If you want to write a successful newsletter, you need to be consistent. You can't send it one week and miss it the next week. Yes, it's not the end of the world to miss a newsletter, but not being consistent will wreck your chances for success.
15/ Early on I realized that my audience was mostly people in communication and PR roles. While my topics varied, I focused on serving this audience. It definitely made a big difference.
16/ Want to sign up for the newsletter?
Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter to receive original content about the Attention Economy. I help brands grow their audience.
1/ In 1975, Gary Dahl started selling rocks for $4. Six months later, he made $15 million dollars.
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2/ Gary Dahl was employed as an advertising executive in California. He was at a bar with his friends listening to them complain about their pets. He had an idea.
3/ He joked to them that they should have a rock as a pet. He decided to turn that joke into an actual product β "The Pet Rock"
β’ Deion is leaving the NFL Network as an analyst
β’ NFL Network offered him a contract with reduced pay
β’ Deion said no nypost.com/2020/08/11/deiβ¦
3/ Demise of Linear TV
β’ ESPN, NFL Network and any station that is overly reliant on linear is in trouble
β’ @ballmatthew explains it better than I can
1/ How I Increased My Twitter Following 205% in three months
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2/ Starting to Use Twitter
β’ On April 31st, I had 1,677 followers
β’ With the quarantine in full-swing I made it my goal to increase my Twitter following
β’ I spoke with my friend and Twitter Expert @mdudas
3/ Mike's Advice
β’ Mike gave me two tips
β’ Amplify Others
β’ Share unique thoughts
1/ What I learned from @davenemetz, founder of Bleacher Report, about the future of digital media.
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2/ Organic Search
β’ Dave started Bleacher Report in 2005
β’ The site was built around organic search
β’ The site grew into one of the largest sports media properties in the world because of SEO
3/ Shift to Social
β’ The next generation of media companies were built around social
β’ Companies like Buzzfeed built their audience by leveraging social networks such as Facebook
β’ Companies love to talk about distribution, but owning the audience is more important
1/ John Deere has one of the best communication teams in the world. I did an analysis of how they plan and execute their PR and social strategies.
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2/ John Deere - The Company
β’ John Deere employs 67,000 employees
β’ John Deere has offices in over 30 countries
β’ John Deere has a social media presence in 54 countries
β’ Since their start in 1867, they've designed over 690 different tractor models
3/ John Deere - The Innovator
β’ John Deere's roots are in agriculture
β’ Today, they view, themselves as a technology company fighting for talent with the likes of Facebook
β’ They even developed a self-driving tractor