Companies spend a lot of time on social media strategies but often overlook a valuable channel: email. It is one of the web’s oldest tools and has already survived for 25 years. I doubt it is going away anytime soon.
Social networks come and go. When a platform fades, the audience and advertising investment you built there can fade with it.
That is why I try to connect my social media activity to my mailing list. If a network disappears, I still have a way to reach readers who subscribed.
Revue
I have tried this before. Years ago, I gave away free ebooks on my first website to encourage people to subscribe. I also shared useful articles on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, hoping that some followers would eventually join my mailing list.
I used Mailchimp to send the occasional email, usually about my own business. But that approach felt stale, and I wanted to try something new.
Then I found Revue, a newsletter tool for writers and publishers that focuses on curating quality content and engaging with readers. I started using it for a monthly newsletter about online business.
Subscribe if you would like to read it.
Goals
I would like to reach 1,000 readers a month, inspired by Kevin Kelly’s 1000 true fans theory. With open rates between 25% and 50%, I estimate that would take roughly 2,000 to 4,000 subscribers.
If I reach that goal, I may launch a paid weekly version. For now, that is not the main point.
I want the newsletter to help me:
Reach more people
I have more than 1,000 followers on Twitter and 500+ on LinkedIn, but followers do not always see my posts. I would rather have newsletter subscribers who actually read what I send. I will also occasionally share news about my own products and blog.
Improve my English
My English is fine, but there is room to improve. I always want to keep learning. In Barcelona I learned Spanish but found that I sometimes struggled to recall words in other languages, even my native language. Reading books and articles, and writing blogs, should help me sharpen my English again.
Read more articles
My Instapaper queue has always been full of articles I mean to read, many of them found on Twitter. Curating a newsletter gives me a reason to read them and share the best ones.
Become a better writer
I enjoy writing, especially blog posts. I often express myself more clearly in writing than in conversation, perhaps because of my personality. The newsletter gives me a reason to develop article ideas I have been carrying around for years.