3 inspiring ways to connect to your newsletter audience
+ a special bonus on lead magnets if you sign up for Small business newsletter magic by the end of the month 💌
📌 My popular self-led course Small business newsletter magic is for sale for just one more week (and you get lifetime access!). Don’t miss out on this course that will empower and reinspire you to create a newsletter that is effective, easeful and all you.
Writing my newsletter is one of the most joyful parts of my business—not only because I love writing, but also because it connects me to you, my readers. Business can be a lonely thing, and I’ve learned that my words can be encouraging to someone just when they need it.
Creating connection between yourself and your newsletter audience is also a great way to turn subscribers into fans.
In this post, I share 3 of my favourite ways of connecting with your newsletter audience. I also share how my popular self-paced course Small business newsletter magic helps you to do this and much more—and announce a special bonus workshop if you’re ready to buy the course.
Make it personal
Showing your personality in your newsletter is a great way of connecting with your audience, and of showing that there’s a human behind your newsletter. And you don’t have to be more personal than you’re comfortable with. We all have boundaries, and you can honour those and still be authentic.
There are certainly things I don’t share, but I’m showing up completely as myself in my newsletter. I’d say that those of you reading this newsletter regularly, get a good sense of who I am—of what is important to me, of what I like to do.
💌 In the first module of Small business newsletter magic I help you add personality to your newsletter. Check out an excerpt from the module here.
Making your newsletter personal
share an anecdote, or a story: my clients
and are both great at sharing anecdotes that tie in with larger stories;share favourites or something that you’ve enjoyed: not only is it a joy to share something you enjoyed, it also creates a point of connection (“they like reading thrillers too!”).
Ask your readers a question
Asking a question in you newsletters is a great way of encouraging connection—even if your readers don’t reply. I ask questions in most of my regular newsletters, and even include one in my welcome email to which new subscribers can reply.
A question is an invitation for people to respond and tell me their thoughts, but also a way of making people think and reflect. This also goes for suggesting experiments, for asking readers to notice something, like
does in her Nature Notice Board.
Share a resource
If you write a newsletter, or have signed up for other people’s newsletters, you’re no doubt familiar with lead magnets, also called freebies.
A lead magnet is a free resource (sometimes also a discount) that subscribers get in return for their email address. For us as small business owners, it can be a way of growing our newsletter list.
But even more so, a lead magnet or freebie is an excellent way of creating connection, of giving people a taster of what working with you or buying from you is like—and that’s why free resources are also a great thing to share with your current audience.
The main job of your lead magnet is not to grow your newsletter list. It’s to give your audience a taster of the work you do.
💌 When I first created Small business newsletter magic last year I only briefly discussed lead magnets and how to use them joyfully and effectively. This time around, though, I’ve created a special bonus workshop for everyone who buys Small business newsletter magic, which is now live.
When it comes to lead magnets, I get asked one of two questions most frequently:
Do I need a lead magnet in order to grow my newsletter list?
How do I create a lead magnet? I don’t know what kind of lead magnet to create (especially those running a product-based business).
The answer to the first question is short and simple: you don’t need a lead magnet to grow your newsletter list.
Growing a newsletter list is not about developing the perfect lead magnet: it’s about being really clear about the purpose of your newsletter, and making it easy for your potential audience to sign up to it (as I also explore in Small business newsletter magic).
The new bonus workshop goes deep into the second question, on how to create lead magnets: from deciding whether you need one, generating ideas for both service-based and product-based businesses, using lead magnets to grow your newsletter list and any waitlists, and how to share it so people can discover it.
If you feel stuck for ideas on creating a lead magnet, these are some of my favourites:
What do you enjoy talking about when it comes to your business? If you’re already writing a newsletter, which topics are most popular?
What do you get the most questions about? For example, marketing without social media is something I’ve been doing myself for almost 4 years, and I get so many questions about it that I created a free email series on moving your business away from social media. If you have a product-based business, you might get questions on how to care for your products.
Do you have an existing resource or product that you can share in full, or in part? Do you frequently share resources with clients and customers that you can turn into a lead magnet?
Free resources like lead magnets are also an excellent way of nurturing your existing audience, and giving your current readers a little extra love—and helping them decide whether working with you or buying from you is right for them.
Remember: you are creating connection even if no one replies. Dealing with the feeling of writing into the void is something I offer lots of encouragement on in Small business newsletter magic too—it’s normal to feel this way, and even if no one replies, I can pretty much guarantee that someone has enjoyed your newsletter, and has been moved by it in some way.
💌 If you’re curious about the bonus workshop, do check out the trailer below.
What helps you create connection with your readers? What would you like to try and what have you struggled with? Do leave a comment and join the conversation—I love to hear from you.
Bonus: creating joyful and effective lead magnets
In this workshop, I will walk you through brainstorming lead magnets, creating them and sharing them to grow your newsletter list and give an excellent sense of the work you do.
At the end of this workshop, you will feel inspired about creating lead magnets that fit your business, and have a plan to start creating them.
If you sign up for Small business newsletter magic, you’ll immediately have access to this bonus workshop. If you’ve already bought the course (thank you!), you’ll find the workshop on the course page right now. And, as a paid subscriber to Female Owned, the workshop is now in your inbox as part of our monthly small business workshop series.
Small business newsletter magic is available for sale for a limited time only, until June 30th 2025 (less than a week). You get lifetime access to this self-led course, so once you’ve bought it you can return to it again and again and complete it at your own pace.
Take a look at the bonus workshop 📽️
📌 Practicalities
modules | 7 modules, with a video each
workbooks | questions, templates and checklists to help you go deeper
bonus | 5 short audio peptalks to turn to whenever you feel stuck or disheartened with your newsletter plus a bonus workshop on creating joyful and effective lead magnets
price | €268 (around $300 or £225), in full or in 2 or 4 instalments at no further cost.
what | self-paced, with lifetime access to the course
when | limited time only: available to buy until 30 June 2025.
What people just like you love about the course
I’m currently doing your newsletter magic course and loving it :) — Susannah
“I’m devouring your small business newsletter magic course and excited to begin implementing all that I’ve learned and discovered.” —
, career coach and social change consultant
“Just now I started working on the first 2 videos of your Small business newsletter magic course. I already feel so at home. :)” — Ine Muys, artists and reading coach
📌 Discover all seven modules of Small business newsletter magic and the five audio peptalks.
💌 Ask me a question about the course or leave a comment
Thank you for your support during this launch. I’ll send a few reminders about the course this week, and in July we’ll be back to our regular programming ⛱️ x
P.S. And don’t forget: while you get lifetime access to Small business newsletter magic, you can only buy the course until June 30th 2025.
Female Owned is more than a newsletter. If you are ready to do business differently, I’d love for you to become a paid subscriber and become part of our gentle community of small business owners, freelancers and creatives. You’ll get bonus resources (the accountability club! the mini-mastermind!) and behind-the-scenes posts right in your inbox.