3 Mistakes Makers Starting Newsletters Should Avoid
You've taken the plunge into creating a brand around your Maker content and a newsletter seems like the best next fit.
You probably started by subscribing to other Maker newsletters (if you weren't already) and tried to emulate what they did. The issue is that most newsletters are terrible and you're just repeating the same mistakes they do. Ultimately, you don't get any traction, the newsletter takes a backseat (if you keep sending at all), and you wonder why you wasted your time and effort.
Instead of spending countless hours figuring out where you went wrong, let me save you some time and share the top 3 mistakes most maker newsletters continue to make.
Mistake 1: Using Your Newsletter As Email Notifications
YouTube is where you likely put most of your time and effort around content and you want your email subscribers to go watch the video.
Call to action like letting people know a video is out are fine, but everyone else does it too and, if you only send "watch this" notifications, readers will bounce out of your list (or worse, mark it as spam) fast. YouTube already has built-in notifications for people who ring the bell (in case you haven't seen every other video where creators ask you to ring it). Don't create another notification.
Instead, if you really want to nudge your list to watch something, give them some insights from the video, then remind them to watch the whole thing for all the details.
Mistake 2: Assuming Your Newsletter Is About You
People give you their email address to hear all about what you have going on, right?
You can answer this yourself by thinking back to a newsletter you consciously subscribed to. Did you subscribe so you could hear more about that person, company, or brand or did you subscribe to get something out of it? People are selfish and don't want to hear about you unless it can help them in a tangible way.
Instead of focusing only on yourself, focus on providing free value to help people in your audience.
Mistake 3: Constantly Pitching Products
If you've graduated from free content to paid products, you want to sell them as it makes sense and your newsletter list is the perfect place to pitch, right?
Your email list is made up of your biggest advocates and core audience who are more than likely going to want to buy from you. But think about the last time you actively wanted to be asked to open your wallet (probably never). It's the same logic as not using your email list for notifications, but more so because it's something that will cost your readers money, not just time.
Pitching isn't bad, but at bare minimum, taper the "give me money" emails with at least twice as many "free value" emails.
Avoiding these mistakes will set you apart from 99% of newsletters, give you a fantastic foundation to build on, and start you on the path to circumventing social algorithms.
If you're starting a newsletter or want to start one, but don't know where to start, send me a DM on Instagram. I'm more than happy to help.
