How my newsletter brings in new clients and customers
My favourite way of gentle marketing + a look at Small business newsletter magic 💌
The vast majority of new clients that discover me these days come through my newsletter. As do the people who buy my self-paced courses like Substack for small business owners and Small business newsletter magic, or my group programme Marketing without social media.
In this post, I describe how my newsletter has become such an important driver of new clients and customers in my business. And, I share the details of Small business newsletter magic, a truly magic new self-led course that helps you make your newsletter as effective and joyful as mine is.
For the past 3 years, my newsletter has done much of the heavy lifting in my business. Whenever I ask new clients how they found me, 9 out of 10 say “your newsletter” (1 out of 10 says either Pinterest or Google). And all of that without being on social media: I’ve not been on social media since October 2021 (3 years!).
I believe that two things contribute to the success of my newsletter: the gentle and minimal way I market my newsletter, and what I write about (a topic that I’ll come back to next month).
And: I teach you about both of these things in Small business newsletter magic as well, helping you write, grow and share a small business newsletter that is joyful and effective. Keep reading for more or scroll down for all the details about the course.
How new clients and customers discover my newsletter
I do fairly minimal marketing for my business. And the marketing I do, feels surprisingly and remarkably spacious.
Newsletter growth is a slow and long game, and it certainly was that for me as well. It took the first three years of my business to get to 250 subscribers. Since then, it’s grown quite rapidly (follow along with my annual goals posts for the exact numbers).
When I first started my newsletter, I thought that somehow just setting it up would be enough for people to find it. I see this same thought with many of my clients—in the early stages of our business, we all seem to have a kind of ‘build it and they will come’-mentality.
But potential clients and customers can’t discover your newsletter if they don’t know about it.
So how do you gently and intentionally market your newsletter?
#1 Website
My newsletter is a menu-item at the top of my website, and I use a pop-up as well (a contested tactic but one that feels fine for me). In every single blog post, a sign-up box is included near the top prompting people to sign up.
All of this is very gentle and not pushy—I’m simply making it easy for people to sign up for my newsletter if they want to.
#2 Pinterest and SEO
Since most of my blog posts are old newsletters, and all blog posts are shared to Pinterest, the newsletter itself is also marketed through Pinterest. Blog posts are also great for SEO, making my website and newsletter more easily discoverable through search engines.
#3 A free resource
Whenever people sign up for my free email series “Move your business away from social media” they are also signed up for my newsletter. This email series has been going for years and new people sign up to it every week. It is marketed solely through old blog posts (and thereby SEO) and old Pins. I haven’t put any work into marketing this resource since 2022.
#4 Outreach
In early January 2023 I had a newsletter of just over 250 subscribers. In early February I did a podcast interview with Alice Sheridan of Art Juice and my list exploded. I’ve been on several podcasts over the years, but have never experienced this. I know that this kind of success is something I can’t control. Even if a podcast interview or guest blogpost doesn’t bring in hundreds of new subscribers to your newsletter, outreach like this remains a worthwhile thing to do, especially since both podcast episodes and blog posts keep being rediscovered.
How and where do you share about your newsletter? And what do you enjoy most about your newsletter? What would you like to change?
Small business newsletter magic 💌
Eager to have your newsletter bring in more clients and customers as well, but without the hustle and the hacks? I’ve got just the thing for you: my new self-paced course Small business newsletter magic, a gentle and effective approach to building and growing a newsletter that is all you.
In this self-paced course, I walk you through everything you need to make your newsletter work better for you and your business—whether you’re just starting out or are experienced.
Small business newsletter magic consist of 7 modules:
Newsletter foundations: refine your focus and make your newsletter part of your marketing strategy and business
Writing I: adding personality and voice
Writing II: using the 3 types of newsletters and generating post ideas
Sending: setting a frequency and dealing with obstacles (e.g. paralysis and fear)
Growing: how to grow your newsletter list and build community around it
Beyond the newsletter: repurpose and expand on your newsletter content
» Each module consists of a video workshop and worksheets.
» And, I’ve added 5 mini-peptalks as a bonus, to listen to whenever you feel stuck, disheartened or insecure about your newsletter.
Because the thing is, your newsletter can be your most effective (and gentle!) marketing tool. You just need to know how.
My newsletter is my absolutely favourite slow, gentle (and profitable!) way to grow my business. I love that I get to market my business in a way that I enjoy so much—and where I can use my strengths of writing and creating, fostering community as I go.
Small business newsletter magic is based on my own experience of 5+ writing a small business newsletter, as well as the many conversations I have with clients about their newsletters. And it does so in a gentle, effective and really clear way, using my signature blend of practical strategies and mindset shifts.
“I love how you invite the possibility of everything being light, slow and playful, but still manage to drill down into the practicalities. It was just what I needed!”—
about my previous course, Substack for small business
📌 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
price | €220 (around $240 or £185), in full or in 4 instalments at no further cost
what | self-paced, with lifetime access to the course
when | limited time only: available to buy until November 12th 2024
📽️ Take a look at the course
As you can probably tell, I am very excited about Small business newsletter magic and I’d love for you to check it out if you want to make your newsletter work better for you and your business.
If you have any questions, reply to this email or pop me a message through my website.
Have a beautiful rest of your week, and I’ll be back in your inbox soon x
P.S. And don’t forget: while you get lifetime access to Small business newsletter magic, you can only buy the course until November 12th 2024.
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! the new mini podcast series!) and behind-the-scenes posts right in your inbox.
Hi Astrid and everyone. Just wanted to come back and say I bit the bullet and launched my newsletter this week, aargh! Thanks for the encouragement. https://substack.com/@mickirose. We're off! x
Helpful info here, thank you! A quick question - do you re publish your newsletters as blog posts on your website? I couldn't tell if that's the case but would love to know! I definitely see the value in having all the content provide SEO value to your primary site. But then if the content is duplicated across two places is that a bad thing?