Starting a newsletter

I first started thinking about doing a newsletter as I was beta testing Lesley Sim’s Newsletter Tips. Reading through the tips got me inspired. And now here we are. But, for once, I didn't just dive in. Here's how it went.

Step 1: Sign up for Newsletter Tips.

In Newsletter Tips, Lesley gives you hints and ideas to help your newsletter - from design and dev to testing and strategy. It really was a treasure trove delivered right to my inbox. It was great advice, whether you're just starting out or if you're deep in the trenches.

Reading through the Newsletter Tips, I realized there's a lot you can do with a newsletter and it seemed like a fun way to share ideas. So, of course, I went and signed up for a newsletter service and started writing, right?

Wrong.

Sometimes when you're diving into something new you don't have to actually dive in. You can go a bit slower.

Step 2: Do some research.

I reached out to Jason Rodriguez (Regular Communication), Megan Boshuyzen (...it depends), and Claire Zulkey (Evil Witches), some of my favorite newsletter writers. They pointed me to some resources and provided some pros and cons with different newsletter services that they use. Then I fell down some rabbit holes.

I checked out ALL. THE. SERVICES. That means I looked at their websites, compared the products, made pro and con lists, and when that didn't help me, I signed up for accounts.

Lots of accounts.

Then I played around with all the services - I set up welcome letters and descriptions. I verified my email address. I wrote dummy posts and sent myself tests to see what the newsletters would look like. I looked for design options, preheader and subject line options, segmentation options. I nosed around in them all until I found one that worked for me. (Aaand, now I've got a bunch of accounts floating out there that I'm gonna go clean up.)

I learn by doing, so this was the best way for me to pick out the service I wanted to use. But, I get that sometimes this is the scary part. (My daughter is so scared she's going to break Photoshop and I just laugh at her. I know, mother of the year candidate right here.)

If you're not a learn-by-doing type, then at least do the first part. The more you learn about what you're about to do, the more confidant you'll feel.

Final step: Write.

I had been taking it slow (this time), but I was in it up to my stomach now and I needed to go under the water already. So I jumped!

Things I learned:

• Write your welcome letter first. It was low stakes as there wasn't a specific send date and didn't need any fancy layout so I could focus on how I wanted to write and come back and edit it whenever I want to.

• Your first draft is not going to be perfect, but it'll be something. Knowing that what I was writing wasn't going be what got sent made it easier to write.

• Walk away and then come back. I wrote the welcome letter, then I started writing this newsletter, then I left it for a day and came back and deleted a good 70% of what I wrote and built off of what was left.

• Write more than one thing at a time. Ok, this one might not be for everyone, but for me, switching gears when I hit a block was helpful. It got my brain going.

• Write ahead. I've done a lot of new stuff recently, so I'm starting newsletters for those and saving them as drafts. Will you ever see them? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's good practice.

• Pick a send date and stick to it. Best advice I've ever heard: Perfect is the enemy of done. Start from the assumption that you're probably going to hate whatever it is that comes out and you might surprise yourself. Or you could hate it. Send it anyways.

Oh wait, there's another step!

Final Final Step: Get subscribers

This is easier than you think. Just tell people that you're starting a newsletter and give them a place to sign up. Newsletter Tips has more ideas for helping you here, but I just posted it to all the socials and you signed up. So hi!

And that brings us to now. So...

Fly or flop?

I'm giving myself a fly on this one. I mean, I've got subscribers like you. And I've sent out a newsletter. And I've got plans for next month's newsletter. Stay tuned to find out how my attempt at a Birthday Cake Pie went. (Spoiler: there is way less cake involved than you expect.)

Til next month; take chances, make mistakes, get messy!Carin

Don't let fear hold you back from doing something. If you're going to fail, fail spectacularly so you remember what went wrong and can do it better.

Like the newsletter? Have ideas? Wanna share a story about something you dove into recently? Reply and let me know! I'm always lookimg for new things to try.

If you’re getting this, I’m going to assume you got the welcome email and you kind of know what you signed up for. And if you don’t, that’s OK too, because I’m not 100% sure what I’m doing either. That’s kind of the point. 🤪 

If this isn't for you, feel free to unsubscribe below.