The Number 1 Mistake Most Newsletters Make (Which Is Why Most Don't Grow)
Every big company has a newsletter and for good reason, they can be powerful tools to get your message directly to your existing and potential customers.
But if they are so powerful, why do most people I talk to get irritated by them and not subscribe? We've all been on a website before that has a pop-up every other page asking us to enter our email for "news and updates" or maybe 10% off our first purchase. Terrible opt-in offer aside, most of us already have overflowing email inboxes, so why would we consciously add more email?
I've subscribed to dozens of Maker brands' newsletters (so you don't have to) and found a single massive mistake most of them make.
The Mistake: The Newsletter Isn't About The Brand
Newsletters first came around in the 1670s and were a way to circulate news about a company back when the internet wasn't even an idea.
The brutal truth is that people don't care to get updates about what a company wants them to do. If customers want to learn about a new YouTube video, they subscribe on YouTube. And with money getting tighter for most people, most don't want to be constantly pushed to buy something else they may or not need.
Maybe 350 years ago, people would want to get the rare letter from a company letting them know what had happened, but not in 2025.
The Fix: Focus On Value To Your Audience
People are selfish, but we can actually use that to our advantage while standing apart from all the other notification and "buy this now" newsletters out there.
Instead of asking for something in every issue, give readers tons of value—so much value that others would charge for what you're giving for free. Give and give and give and only then, nudge toward something to purchase. Imagine you have a friend who always asks for things and another who always gives fantastic, actionable advice. When the first asks for something yet again and the second nudges toward something that multiplies the advice they have already give, who are you going to buy from?
Don't just take my word for it, Gary Vaynerchuk talked about this in his 2013 book, "Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook."
