Should You Start an Email Newsletter? (Pros + Cons)

Here's why you should/shouldn't start a newsletter.

Author

Alex Colhoun
September 11, 2024

Read time: 3 minutes.

Welcome to The Growth Innovator. Exclusive content where I showcase how to start, grow, and monetize a 1-person online business through organic content in 2024.

Today’s Email:

  • The Numbers

  • What It Takes to Start

  • Pros & Cons of a Newsletter

  • TL;DR

Alright, Let’s Innovate:

As you browse on LinkedIn, you’ll notice something:

Everyone already has or is starting a newsletter. So you then ask yourself, “Should I start one?”

There are a few things to consider:

  • Is it worth your time?

  • Will you make money from it?

  • Does it make sense long-term?

All very valid questions to be asked.

So, today, I’ll walk you through my newsletter business, how it works, and the pros and cons of starting your own newsletter business.

Let’s do this.

The Numbers

Before I get into the numbers, I will mention that I use Beehiiv for my newsletter.

(This isn’t sponsored. By far my favorite tool)

There are three central analytics I’d look at:

  • Open Rates (who opened your email)

  • Click Rates (who clicked on links in your email)

  • Conversions (who purchased something from your email)

The average open rate of an email newsletter is 20.1%. The average click rate is 2.3%. So, the numbers aren’t great. But you can be much higher than average.

My newsletter has an open rate of 64% and a click-through rate of 7.1%.

Email newsletters are powerful because they go directly to your audience’s inboxes, which people open daily.

You also OWN your email subscribers. If you get banned on LinkedIn, you lose your entire LinkedIn business.

However, you won’t lose your newsletter business.

Keep that in mind.

What it Takes to Start

A newsletter business isn’t all that easy.

So, before you go out and start one, let me show you precisely what I’m doing every single week to make it happen:

  1. Consistent Weekly Content: I’m posting 2x newsletters/emails every week. You’ll also need content ideas that are interesting enough for your audience to open.

  2. Building the Email List: The best approach is organic content. To obtain emails, you’ll need to use lead magnets. Paid ads, sponsors, and email funnels will also be necessary.

  3. Newsletter Design: First, you need to decide which platform to use. For my newsletter, I use Beehiiv. You’ll also need a tool such as Photoshop to create newsletter thumbnails, email graphics, and other graphics.

  4. Analytics + A/B Testing: Building an email list takes a LOT of A/B testing, analyzing analytics, and figuring out what works and doesn’t. You can use a comment section or a form to receive suggestions about your newsletter.

Pros & Cons of a Newsletter

“Should I start a newsletter?”

So, it entirely depends on your long-term goals.

  • Do you sell products/services?

  • Are you focusing on the long term?

  • Do you want to own your audience?

  • Do you have a solid foundation in your niche?

  • Would you have time to write 1-2 newsletter emails/week?

A newsletter would be perfect if you said yes to all of these.

If you don’t do the following items, a newsletter may not be for you.

Additionally, here are the pros and cons of having a newsletter:

Pros:

  • Additional income stream (sponsors, ads, etc).

  • Easy way to promote your offers.

  • It's the perfect way to own your audience.

Cons:

  • It will take hours of your time each week.

  • Expensive to use email software.

Each week, I post my newsletters on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I sell more products on these two days than any other day of the week.

Yes, it does take time to write these emails and answer DMs, you name it. But, the time is well worth the business growth.

Starting a newsletter has been one of the most complex items in building my business.

So, the question is, will it be worth it? The best way to decide is to review and determine your goals yourself.

Want to Keep Going?

If you are ready to grow a massive audience on LinkedIn while selling digital products, consider checking out The Growth OS.

This 90-minute course will help you develop hundreds of content ideas, create organic content that consistently gets you new leads from social media, build a system to create weekly newsletter content, utilize templates for growth, gain daily subscribers/followers, and run through building your personalized website.

If you want to go all-in on your LinkedIn business, check out my three-month coaching program. I deliver a complete "Done for You" or "Done With You" service. Start, monetize, and grow your brand and business.

Book a free consultation call here.

TL;DR:

Now that you’ve gone through the full post, here’s what to do next:

  1. Go over the numbers to start a newsletter.

  2. Read through the pros and cons of having a newsletter.

  3. Determine if your long-term goals would be achieved with a newsletter.

  4. If you’re ready, get started brainstorming ideas for content.

  5. Find a newsletter platform that works for you (Beehiiv is a great option).

I’ll see you next Wednesday!

Cheers,

Alex

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