Day 724 - How I started a newsletter - https://golifelog.com/posts/how-i-started-a-newsletter-1671927767833
In short, the only factor for starting a newsletter was if I could sustain it.
Not whether it build trust and relationships.
Not whether it fits into my marketing plan.
Not whether it will bring in more revenue.
Not whether it establishes my expertise.
Not whether if helps build an audience.
In fact, I'm not even thinking much about any metrics or growth.
Because it's no point thinking about those metrics (yet) if I start a newsletter for a few months and fade away. *Why bother, right?*
The only thing that matters is whether I can keep it going for long term without burning out. It's about the long game here.
I actually hesitated even starting one for a long time. I thought I can try it partly for fun, partly to collect emails (as hedge against deplatforming), but never knew what to write about; if I would enjoy writing for an audience; whether I'll even enjoy it.
Then eventually I got an idea that the best way to start one is to repurpose whatever I'm already writing already. I figure that was my monthly reviews. It's more long form, and suitable for a newsletter. It provided a exclusive peek into my indie solopreneur journey building my portfolio of bets that I don't share much on Twitter or anywhere. Most importantly, it's something I religiously do anyway. All it took was copy-paste and click click click to schedule the monthly newsletter, and it's done, in a matter of minutes. That felt like the best low commitment and low bar approach to try starting a newsletter. Revue also made it relatively simple to start.
And after many months, I settled into the rhythm of posting monthly, and it became hygiene. That's when I started thinking if I could go weekly. Again, what can I post? Same tactic – repurpose content. I wrote everyday on Lifelog already, and every week there would be something about my indie products or ideas in that problem space. I have a 700+ day log of content to look through, surely that would be more than enough to post weekly without fail!
And so I did, just weeks ago. I moved my newsletter from Revue to [Substack](https://jasonleow.substack.com). It's all text, no images. Just stories and ideas. No fancy hacks. Plain and simple. I doubt I'll post daily, because that's more like Twitter or social media.
I got my Revue newsletter to about 55 subscribers, and since moving to Substack, it's now at 75. It's nice to see people interested in my journey. To be honest, I'm not even sure what to make of my newsletter. Is it a top of funnel thing? Or to build relationships? Or is it for monetization through premium content later? I don't know, and not too worried that I don't know. For now, I write for myself, and anyone getting any benefit is happenstance. It's also nice to grow something where I'm not trying to immediately extract value, and just see how it goes.
I'm in this for the long game. Whatever game that might be.
Not whether it build trust and relationships.
Not whether it fits into my marketing plan.
Not whether it will bring in more revenue.
Not whether it establishes my expertise.
Not whether if helps build an audience.
In fact, I'm not even thinking much about any metrics or growth.
Because it's no point thinking about those metrics (yet) if I start a newsletter for a few months and fade away. *Why bother, right?*
The only thing that matters is whether I can keep it going for long term without burning out. It's about the long game here.
I actually hesitated even starting one for a long time. I thought I can try it partly for fun, partly to collect emails (as hedge against deplatforming), but never knew what to write about; if I would enjoy writing for an audience; whether I'll even enjoy it.
Then eventually I got an idea that the best way to start one is to repurpose whatever I'm already writing already. I figure that was my monthly reviews. It's more long form, and suitable for a newsletter. It provided a exclusive peek into my indie solopreneur journey building my portfolio of bets that I don't share much on Twitter or anywhere. Most importantly, it's something I religiously do anyway. All it took was copy-paste and click click click to schedule the monthly newsletter, and it's done, in a matter of minutes. That felt like the best low commitment and low bar approach to try starting a newsletter. Revue also made it relatively simple to start.
And after many months, I settled into the rhythm of posting monthly, and it became hygiene. That's when I started thinking if I could go weekly. Again, what can I post? Same tactic – repurpose content. I wrote everyday on Lifelog already, and every week there would be something about my indie products or ideas in that problem space. I have a 700+ day log of content to look through, surely that would be more than enough to post weekly without fail!
And so I did, just weeks ago. I moved my newsletter from Revue to [Substack](https://jasonleow.substack.com). It's all text, no images. Just stories and ideas. No fancy hacks. Plain and simple. I doubt I'll post daily, because that's more like Twitter or social media.
I got my Revue newsletter to about 55 subscribers, and since moving to Substack, it's now at 75. It's nice to see people interested in my journey. To be honest, I'm not even sure what to make of my newsletter. Is it a top of funnel thing? Or to build relationships? Or is it for monetization through premium content later? I don't know, and not too worried that I don't know. For now, I write for myself, and anyone getting any benefit is happenstance. It's also nice to grow something where I'm not trying to immediately extract value, and just see how it goes.
I'm in this for the long game. Whatever game that might be.
