How to Build and Grow a Newsletter as a Business Model

[MTF]

@MTF … search terms. You’re interested in which search terms do well, not keywords. ; )

Yes that was a mistake out of a habit. In the reports I check search terms, not keywords.

 

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[MTF]

@Andy Black, @JoeyF, @MitchC is there any way to target men only in Google Ads? I can't find gender targeting and need to use the word "men" in headlines and descriptions to discourage women from clicking on the ads lol.

 

[Andy Black]

@Andy Black, @JoeyF, @MitchC is there any way to target men only in Google Ads? I can't find gender targeting and need to use the word "men" in headlines and descriptions to discourage women from clicking on the ads lol.

Yes. “Audiences” on the left hand side menu.

 

[MTF]

Yes. “Audiences” on the left hand side menu.

I'll check it tomorrow on my computer but I could swear I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Googled it as well and found no answer so I assumed it's not possible.

 

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[JoeyF]

Yes. “Audiences” on the left hand side menu.

Can't do it on search tho, or can you?

I've never had the need but assumed that was only on the display network.

 

[Andy Black]

Can't do it on search tho, or can you?

I've never had the need but assumed that was only on the display network.

Ha. I'm struggling to remember if we ever used it. Mostly it's down to getting in front of the right search terms.

 

[MTF]

I'll check it tomorrow on my computer but I could swear I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Googled it as well and found no answer so I assumed it's not possible.

I only see audience segments and there's no option to target men only.

 

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[Andy Black]

I only see audience segments and there's no option to target men only.

Are you not able to edit the gender segments?

 

[MTF]

Are you not able to edit the gender segments?

There's no gender segment:

 

[Andy Black]

There's no gender segment:

View attachment 42847

That’s odd. I’ll go screenshot how I’d do it later.

I now remember we were targeting men on search for a dating agency client as they had too many women. So it is possible. Maybe it’s not available for all accounts, but I can’t see the logic if so.

 

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[MTF]

I got my logo and brand identity designed. I'm very happy with the results. Now it's time to design a custom Ghost theme to have the entire design reflect my brand's pursuit of excellence.

Here's the logo (it has various color versions):



Here's the concept (I'm impressed by the story; the designer came up with it):

 

[Andy Black]

I got my logo and brand identity designed. I'm very happy with the results. Now it's time to design a custom Ghost theme to have the entire design reflect my brand's pursuit of excellence.

Here's the logo (it has various color versions):

View attachment 42848

Here's the concept (I'm impressed by the story; the designer came up with it):

View attachment 42849

That's amazing. The chains and D & C...

 

[Andy Black]

Do you see this in the interface @MTF?

 

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[MTF]

Do you see this in the interface @MTF?

View attachment 42850

Yes I found it. And it doesn't seem to do anything. I picked both ad groups I have running and selected men only. But I have no idea if it does anything as I can't find it anywhere once I save that setting.

I spent $124.56 already and only got 3 conversions.

 

[Andy Black]

I can't find it anywhere once I save that setting.

The interface sucks. It’s in there somewhere.

I spent $124.56 already and only got 3 conversions.

Woohoo - it works!

Now to dial it in.

 

[Andy Black]

Ooo. Just had someone signup to my little $5/mth email "Follow-Along" newsletter.

 

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[Andy Black]

@MTF ... I don't know if I already linked to this:

• EXECUTION - Growing an email list with Google Ads

 

[MTF]

Woohoo - it works!

Now to dial it in.

You're right. I wrote I "only" got 3 conversions but that actually proves it may work as there's a lot I can optimize with Google Ads (unlike with Reddit Ads where I got similar or worse results but there's very little to optimize).

I just set up two new ad groups.

Ooo. Just had someone signup to my little $5/mth email "Follow-Along" newsletter.

It's cool to see that people are willing to pay $5/month just to see you doing stuff.

@MTF ... I don't know if I already linked to this:

• EXECUTION - Growing an email list with Google Ads

Yeah I checked it out already.

 

[Andy Black]

The Google Ads expert said to change something in the campaign to send it back for review (I changed it from search only to search and display).

Are you back to search with search partners turned off?

 

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[MTF]

Are you back to search with search partners turned off?

And should I? If so, I'll disable display if that's what you mean.

 

[Ocean Man]

I got my logo and brand identity designed. I'm very happy with the results. Now it's time to design a custom Ghost theme to have the entire design reflect my brand's pursuit of excellence.

Here's the logo (it has various color versions):

View attachment 42848

Here's the concept (I'm impressed by the story; the designer came up with it):

View attachment 42849

I really think you have something that can really grow here! There's a real need for this type of thing in the world right now.

 

[MTF]

I really think you have something that can really grow here! There's a real need for this type of thing in the world right now.

Thank you. I think it will appeal a lot to the right man. I've received a lot of positive feedback via email already and that definitely helps keep me going.

 

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[Andy Black]

And should I? If so, I'll disable display if that's what you mean.

I always recommend people start with search. GDN is very different, and you want to know what search volume there is on Google. Turn off search partners too.

 

[Andy Black]

I’ve a doc in the speedway with notes on how to setup Google Ads. It’s old but the principles should be the same.

 

[MTF]

As I was checking out Ghost integrations I stumbled upon www.beyondwords.io. It's an AI as a service software that converts text into AI-read audios. It works incredibly well and sounds like a human, not like a robot.

It automatically converts each of my new posts into an audio that's embedded at the beginning of each article (you can also create recordings manually). For example, check it out under the latest article:

#13: The Joys of Discomfort. Practical Stoic Wisdom From "How to Think Like a Roman Emperor" by Donald Robertson (Part 4)

Most people consider discomfort something bad. Few would consider it something useful. Very few would consider it something that can bring joy. If you’re reading this article, you’re in that crazy minority. And if you aren’t yet convinced that discomfort can bring fulfillment, today’s issue will...

www.discomfortclub.com

A couple of readers mentioned the length of my articles. I don't want to make the articles shorter so this is a solution to this problem. Instead of reading, the readers who struggle with such long articles can now listen to the article while doing something else.

BeyondWords has a nice article covering the 6 benefits of converting articles into audio:

7 Benefits of Converting Articles into Audio | BeyondWords

Why you should add narration to your articles.

beyondwords.io

The cool thing about it is that it takes almost zero work on your part, yet it repurposes your content into another medium. You can even let BeyondWords distribute it to podcast platforms.

The free plan allows 30,000 characters which should be enough for newsletters with short- to medium-length articles. I signed up for the $25/month plan as I need more characters.

 

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[Andy Black]

As I was checking out Ghost integrations I stumbled upon www.beyondwords.io. It's an AI as a service software that converts text into AI-read audios. It works incredibly well and sounds like a human, not like a robot.

It automatically converts each of my new posts into an audio that's embedded at the beginning of each article (you can also create recordings manually). For example, check it out under the latest article:

#13: The Joys of Discomfort. Practical Stoic Wisdom From "How to Think Like a Roman Emperor" by Donald Robertson (Part 4)

Most people consider discomfort something bad. Few would consider it something useful. Very few would consider it something that can bring joy. If you’re reading this article, you’re in that crazy minority. And if you aren’t yet convinced that discomfort can bring fulfillment, today’s issue will...

www.discomfortclub.com

A couple of readers mentioned the length of my articles. I don't want to make the articles shorter so this is a solution to this problem. Instead of reading, the readers who struggle with such long articles can now listen to the article while doing something else.

BeyondWords has a nice article covering the 6 benefits of converting articles into audio:

7 Benefits of Converting Articles into Audio | BeyondWords

Why you should add narration to your articles.

beyondwords.io

The cool thing about it is that it takes almost zero work on your part, yet it repurposes your content into another medium. You can even let BeyondWords distribute it to podcast platforms.

The free plan allows 30,000 characters which should be enough for newsletters with short- to medium-length articles. I signed up for the $25/month plan as I need more characters.

Amazing how it pronounced all of Hercules foes.

Now then… is there a tool that can convert the text and audio to video? Maybe check out the dreamcloud YouTube channel. He goes through lots of tools.

 

[MTF]

Now then… is there a tool that can convert the text and audio to video? Maybe check out the dreamcloud YouTube channel. He goes through lots of tools.

There's Lumen5.com but IMO these tools produce cheap-looking stock videos. I think that converting from text to audio is fine because it's just voice but video is too complex for now to create an interesting video with AI (maybe it could work for more abstract visualizers but not coherent interesting live action videos).

 

[Madame Peccato]

Hey hey hey, I'm still here!

Yesterday I published the 5th issue (crazy how I managed to last longer than a month). The journey so far has been enlightening.

My biggest takeaway is: the advice "just start writing" was definitely true. I have now way more ideas about what to write about than when I started. But I had to power through A LOT of resistance at the beginning. So, if you're stuck, know that it took me over 10 hours to come up with the topic for my 1st issue. Now I have a list of topics to write about. To quote Ryan Holiday's Ego is the Enemy, welcome the void in your mind. Your best work is waiting for you behind the mind's blank.

I have gotten feedback on a couple of my issues, so I know I'm onto something. They aren't perfect obviously, but I feel like I'm improving with each issue, which is all I care about at the moment.

Now that I have some issues posted and a somewhat refined writing process, I'll figure out how to get my newsletter in front of the right people. If anyone has any ideas share them.

 

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[MTF]

Hey hey hey, I'm still here!

Yesterday I published the 5th issue (crazy how I managed to last longer than a month). The journey so far has been enlightening.

My biggest takeaway is: the advice "just start writing" was definitely true. I have now way more ideas about what to write about than when I started. But I had to power through A LOT of resistance at the beginning. So, if you're stuck, know that it took me over 10 hours to come up with the topic for my 1st issue. Now I have a list of topics to write about. To quote Ryan Holiday's Ego is the Enemy, welcome the void in your mind. Your best work is waiting for you behind the mind's blank.

I have gotten feedback on a couple of my issues, so I know I'm onto something. They aren't perfect obviously, but I feel like I'm improving with each issue, which is all I care about at the moment.

Now that I have some issues posted and a somewhat refined writing process, I'll figure out how to get my newsletter in front of the right people. If anyone has any ideas share them.

I was thinking about you yesterday and wanted to ask about your progress.

Firstly, great job publishing 5 issues already. I'm glad to hear that the advice worked in your case as well and that you now have many more ideas on what to write about.

I'm happy to hear you got some feedback already - that's very useful and motivating. As you can probably tell now, what you're doing now is pretty much the entire job of a newsletter creator. Now it's just a matter of writing more and writing better (and of course finding ways to get new subscribers).

If you have some money to invest, I think you could land some subscribers by advertising in similar newsletters listed on Swapstack. I saw some "idea/thinking" newsletters similar to yours there.

 

[stjoad]

Hi everybody! I'm new here but have been voraciously reading this thread over the last 2 days. What a great community.

I've been brainstorming newsletter ideas for a few months. Would love some feedback on my ideas! But first, here's a quick introduction so you're familiar with my skillset and experience:

Introduction
I've been working for 12 years at a junk removal franchisor as Director of Marketing. I've spent probably $4 million+ on Google Ads and Facebook Ads growing our franchisees, so I like to think I'm a bit of an expert in this niche.

I've explored non-newsletter ideas: building/managing Google Ads + websites for junk removal companies. I've just been stumped on how to start.

Moving on to my newsletter ideas...

Newsletter ideas

• Proof Marketers – I found tips.ariyh.com, a Substack newsletter where this guy summarizes academic studies related to marketing & advertising. He seems to be doing quite well (9000+ subscribers as of this moment) and is monetizing with sponsorships, a job board, and selling his own product(s) and services.
  
  I think there's room for another competitor in this space. This stuff is fascinating and there are a ton of promotion opportunities on Reddit, Twitter, marketing forums, Facebook Groups, etc. I have proofmarketers.com and am exploring the toughest part of this model: combing through thousands of studies for "real/practical" nuggets, and then summarizing them for the layman.
  
  
• RFP Newsletter – Again, this is based on another newsletter called Folyo, which is a weekly set of website design RFPs (Request for Proposals) sent to agencies. He charges $97/month and appears to have $10,000/month in revenue. It doesn't seem hard to find these RFPs (just need a decent knowledge of how to use Google/LinkedIn + access to a few RFP marketplaces). Seems pretty lucrative.
  
  Pitfalls: RFPs are often high-budget, but notoriously difficult to win – so they're not very appealing to small agencies and freelancers. Since there's a finite number of RFPs out there, you don't want the paying subscriber list to grow too big – hence why he's charging $97/month. If it gets too big, then subscribers have more competition if they're bidding on the RFPs. Also not sure how I'd promote something like this...possibly directly emailing marketing agencies?
  
  This one has promise.
  
  
• Website Design Leads – This idea branches off the RFP Newsletter idea and, admittedly, has major issues. There are many, many businesses driving paid traffic to shitty websites. Huge opportunity for businesses to improve revenue and cost-per-lead. I thought about putting together a weekly list of website "leads" for agency subscribers – businesses driving paid traffic to shitty websites.
  
  Pitfalls: despite being in a prime position to improve their websites for more $$$, these leads are cold. And the bigger the list gets, the more competition there is for each lead. On top of that, the businesses would probably be super annoyed if they suddenly were hit with dozens of pitches from agencies out of nowhere (might make them dig their heels in even more).
  
  Still, I think there might be something here. Just with a different model?
  
  
• A/B Tests Newsletter – This idea branches off the Proof Marketers idea. Basically, I'd love to curate a list of real A/B tests every week for marketers. This would include the results (screenshots), the actually creative/copy being tested (screenshots), and analysis. I even created this popular Reddit post on r/marketing, which I feel proves that marketers are (1) interested in A/B test results and (2) not too shy from revealing their results.
  
  Pitfalls: Brainstorming a way to reliably cultivate these A/B test results. Most of the replies to the Reddit post were anecdotal – I'd want real results with evidence (screenshots at least).
  
  
• Junk Removal Marketing Newsletter – I'm not even sure what kind of content I'd produce, but curious to hear any thoughts since this is my expertise. And given an audience of junk removal business owners, I could totally monetize by selling my services (Google Ads setup/mgmt, website buildouts, Google Ads keywords, Facebook Ads setup, etc...).
  
  I just have a hard time coming up with something tangible to offer subscribers on a weekly basis – once I'm done giving them my marketing plan, there's not much else to discuss. Or is there? Perhaps a weekly interview with a junk removal business (like Starter Story)? Would love some ideas.

As you can see, my brain has been in overdrive but I haven't figured it out yet. I think my greatest money-making opportunity is using my junk removal marketing expertise.

P.S. Another newsletter I love is MarketingExamples.com. So good.