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CJ Chilvers

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Meet your subscribers.

If you want engagement, you have to be engaging. Get to know as many readers as possible one-on-one. Skype with them, have conversations on social media, and, yes, meet them in person. I’ve always wondered why it’s considered normal for podcasts to hold meetups, parties, and

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Automate when it makes sense.

All parts of the newsletter process can be automated, not all should be. Years ago, I use to write essays weeks ahead of time. I'd plug them into Mailchimp and schedule them to go out at regular intervals. When published, the final version of that newsletter (sometimes I&

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The Smartest Things Ever Said About Email Newsletters

“To all my talented friends: please think about going back to a simple blog or newsletter that you update at a regular frequency. It would be so nice to meet your thoughts and words and images on your own turf, in a simple, peaceful context again. This site is no

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Attracting Readers: Social Media

I won’t go into the usual ways to promote your newsletter on social media, because there’s too many strategies to name: automations, DMs, who to follow, etc. I’ll just tell you about two strategies that have worked for me more than any others I’ve done (and

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Have a personality.

It’s easy to replicate a business model. It’s really hard to replicate a personality. Chances are, whatever your newsletter will be about, there will be many others sharing the same ideas and links. The only thing that separates you is personality. Be vulnerable. Be honest. Be real. People

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Get started.

I’ve received and responded to dozens of great questions the past few weeks, but most of them have a common theme, like this one from Kevin: > ”This month’s theme about newsletters is a daily kick in the groin. I’ve wanted to start a newsletter for a

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Attracting Readers: Forwards

Email newsletters allow for a kind of discovery not possible with other mediums: the forward. If someone loves your newsletter enough to forward it to a friend or colleague, it becomes both a method of discovery and a testimonial in one. It's word of mouth that actually includes

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Go headless.

For years, I had a masthead my personal newsletter. That small step (which often took quite a while to decide on) was something I thought looked pretty good and made the newsletter more pleasant to read. I may have been wrong. I'm not a designer, but I do

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Put your best link forward.

Back in the days when bands sent demo tapes to record companies, they were told to forget about creating a "flow" between your songs. They were told to put their strongest song first, second-strongest second, and so on. If not, the listener would bail in the beginning

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Add your newsletter link to all the things.

Add it to every social media profile you have. Add it to every email you write (maybe develop a good PS line or just link it to your name). Add it to every piece of content you create across any medium. Still use business cards? Sure, put it there too.