"I'm afraid I'm not offering my readers enough value"

And just five more days to buy my new lifetime access course Small business newsletter magic 💌

📌 Just 5 more days to get my self-led course Small business newsletter magic—my new lifetime access course designed to help you feel confident and joyful + create an effective newsletter to support your business.

I’ve worked with and spoken to so many lovely small business owners and creatives over the years who struggle with their newsletter. They don’t know what to write about, feel pressured by the thought of having to send out a newsletter regularly, or feel disheartened about slow grow or a lack of responses.

Another big reason why they aren’t sending their beauty out into the world is fear of not offering enough value. This is such a shame: all of these small business owners, freelancers and creatives have something to say and share with the world (just like you!). But their fear is stopping them.

In this post I go deeper into the fear of not offering enough value with our newsletters, and offer some suggestions to overcome it.

The fear of taking up space

Years ago I had a conversation with an incredibly talented creative, who by all external standards was wildly successful: a multiple-book deal, a beautiful studio, professional recognition. We talked about her newsletter, for which she had loads of plans. But when it came to making them a reality she hesitated. She fell silent for a moment and then said, “I don’t want to overwhelm my subscribers with my emails. I worry that I’m not offering enough value”.

I’ve had many iterations of this conversation over the years. And I definitely experienced this feeling myself as well in the early years of my business.

What makes this fear so tricky and hard to overcome is that it’s deeply rooted in our ideas about how we are allowed to show up in the world. Especially those of us socialised as women carry a lot of baggage around the space we are allowed to take up with our bodies, our ideas, our businesses, our voices. We have internalised that we are allowed to take up very little space indeed.

The only way to tackle this fear is to slowly, gently take steps to take up more space.

Even if you feel generally confident and secure in yourself, you might still find yourself second-guessing whether you’re not being too much with your emails. Whether your newsletter is good enough to “bother” other people.

If you’re a sensitive or introverted person, this fear of overwhelming others is often even bigger. If you’re easily overwhelmed yourself, you absolutely don’t want to overwhelm others. If you’re introverted (me too!) taking up space in the world in any way can feel deeply uncomfortable.

If that is you, I know how you feel.

I have worried whether or not I’m offering my readers enough value too. And when it comes to launches, like the one I’m currently in for Small business newsletter magic, I still hear that voice in the back of my mind: “Aren’t you bothering people with this? What if they don’t want to hear this? What if people get annoyed?”

I’ve also learned that the only way to tackle this fear is to slowly, gently take steps to take up more space. It gets easier to write and send your newsletter. I promise. As you get more confident, you will root more firmly into your own inner compass and writing those newsletters will get easier.

My new course Small business newsletter magic helps you do just that: feel more confident about your newsletter, both in the writing and in the sending. In this self-paced course, I support you to work through both the emotional and practical side of writing a small business newsletter, from finding your voice, taking up space, to creating a really good welcome email, devising a strategy that works for you and growing your newsletter organically.

» And, this lifetime-access course is only available to buy for 5 more days (until November 12th).«

What is “value” anyway?

If you’ve found yourself worrying whether you offer your newsletter audience enough “value”, I’d love for you to think about what “value” means.

When we really think about it, “value” becomes a kind of permission slip for sending out our newsletters. Only if we offer enough of it, are we allowed to “bother” people.

But here’s the thing. What value is or isn’t differs for everyone.

You’ll never quiet the fear of not offering enough value by giving more and more.

For many of the small business owners I speak to, “value” is the opposite of “selling”. Being “too salesy” feels like not offering value for them. Which leads to them hiding their offers and not sharing about their amazing products consistently. Which results in their readers—the people who could be their biggest fans—not knowing that they can buy from them.

You’ll never be able to quiet the fear of not offering enough value by just giving more and more. Traditionally, giving more and more is how women were told to prove their value in the world. But no matter how many free resources, useful tips and tricks, how-to’s or life-changing strategies you share in your newsletter, the fear will never step back. Because this fear is a hungry ghost that can never be satisfied.

A how-to email, a feeling-seen email, a recommendation can be a way in which you feel you’re offering value. But a sales email can also add value. Sales emails have helped me discover new favourite books, supportive business communities and beautiful new mugs.

There is immense value in the human connection that every single one of your newsletters creates.

And, by the way, in Small business newsletter magic I walk you through the different types of emails you can send as well, support you to generate topics and write joyful emails whether you run a service-based or product-based business.

I’m currently doing your newsletter magic course and loving it :)

Susannah

Overcoming newsletter paralysis

A reminder on value

My biggest reminder for you to remember whenever you struggle with value is this:

We need to trust our audience. We need to trust that they want to hear from us. And that they will unsubscribe if they no longer (which is okay).

Your newsletter is a beautiful way of building community and connection around your business and taking up space in the world.

In Small business newsletter magic I support you to do just that: to turn your newsletter into a joyful and effective part of your business. I support you to feel more confident and easeful about your newsletter. And to create a plan for your newsletter that is all you.

Small business newsletter magic is based on 5+ years of writing a small business newsletter that now brings in the majority of my new clients and customers—and on all the strategies and tips I’ve shared with clients over the years.

At the end of Small business newsletter magic…

• you’ll have focus and clarity around the role of your newsletter for and in your business;

• you’ll have clarity about the topics you want to write about;

• you’ll have developed a newsletter strategy that is slow, gentle and effective;

• you’ll be more confident sharing about your offers in your newsletter

• you’ll be writing and sending newsletters that are all you and that feel easeful;

• and you’ll have discovered tools and strategies to market your newsletter in organic, effective and non-sleazy ways.

🗓️ And, for those of you who’d like a bit more accountability…

I’ve added a free email series to the course which you can sign up for through the welcome email. If you do, you’ll receive an email once a week (for six weeks) prompting you to work on a specific part of the course.¹ Thank you to the newsletter subscriber who suggested this option!

FAQ

What if I already have a newsletter? Is Small business newsletter magic still useful for me?

Yes! I have designed this course explicitly to be useful for you if you’ve already got a newsletter in need of some tweaking, as well as if you’re brand new. If you’re in need of motivation, new inspiration, or simply a more aligned way of using your newsletter in your business, you’re in the right place with this course. If you’re in doubt, just send me a message.

What if I don’t have a newsletter yet? Will this course help me to set it up?

In Small business newsletter magic I walk you through everything you need for an effective and joyful newsletter, from the foundations to growing your list. I don’t discuss the technical part of creating a newsletter, as this differs per newsletter service. But, whatever newsletter service you choose, they will always have detailed instructions to help you set up. Once you’ve done that, you can come back to the course.

Is Small business newsletter magic also useful if I have a product-based business?

Yes! Throughout the course, I give lots of examples of ways in which to use your newsletter, topics to write about and how to make your newsletter an organic part of your business—whether you run a service-based or product-based business. In this post I share more about this.

Why can I only buy the course until November 12th?

Once you buy the course, you have lifetime access to it, and you can go through it at your own pace. And while I’ll most likely make the course available to buy again in late 2025, I intentionally settled on a limited launch window to allow me to really focus on sharing this course with you.

What people just like you love about my work

I don't think I would have been able to feel so confident about it all without your gentle guidance. 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!” —

Lottie Randomly

(facilitator, educator, writer and funeral ceremonialist) on Substack for small business owners

I am so delighted to meet Astrid and for her to mentor me. I really feel like I am investing in myself when I am working with Astrid. She is incredibly encouraging, gentle and on your side, which is exactly what I needed. What’s more she has an incredible eye for detail, she picks up on nuances and any hesitations for exploration.

Bonnie Chung

(author and recovering entrepreneur) about working with me 1:1

Thank you for your support during this launch, it’s always a rollercoaster 😅. I’ll be in your inbox twice more before the 12th, and you can look forward to a new workshop and email later this month. 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.

1. If you’ve already bought the course (thank you!) you’ll get the link for this email series in your inbox before the weekend.