You've heard it time and again - content is king. We marketers are always chasing the next shiny object - virtual reality, AI, the metaverse. But you know what often gets overlooked? That boring old newsletter that's been around since the dawn of the internet.
I get it, newsletters don't seem sexy or cutting-edge. When was the last time you heard someone raving about an amazing newsletter they subscribed to? But here's the thing - newsletters are one of the most powerful marketing tools in your arsenal if you know how to leverage them properly. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret...boring newsletters can make you billions. Yes, billions with a B.
Now you're intrigued, right? How can something as drab as a newsletter printing a few articles and updates possibly generate that kind of income? It all comes down to the psychology of marketing and consumer behavior. You see, we're instinctively drawn to patterns and routine. While constantly chasing ephemeral trends is exhausting, a humble little newsletter delivering value to your inbox like clockwork? That builds trust and loyalty.
Think about some of the most successful newsletter-driven businesses out there - theSkimm, Morning Brew, Stratechery. They're not flashy, they're not disruptive tech. They simply provide their audiences with a curated, consistent dose of information and analysis that those people have come to rely on as part of their daily routine. And that's marketing gold.
When you build a massive, invested audience through a newsletter, you've created a tugboat that can pull an entire economy. You can upsell premium content, events, merchandise, or introduce new product lines. You can even raise billions by taking your newsletter-powered media company public like BuzzFeed or Vox. All from the humble newsletter roots.
But how do you build a profitable newsletter, you ask? By obsessing over delivering ridiculous amounts of value. Don't make it about promoting your products and services - that's a surefire way to get unsubscribed. Give away trade secrets, contrarian perspectives, in-depth analysis, insider information. Be funny, insightful, bold. Challenge your readers' assumptions.
If your newsletters read like boring corporate spam, then you've already lost. But if you put in the hard work to make them unmissable, engaging reading material, you'll build a loyal cult following. And those are the fans that will quite literally buy anything you put out there with your name and stamp of credibility on it.
The best part? Starting a newsletter has virtually zero upfront costs. You just need a way to capture emails, some writing chops, and a brilliant mind to fill that digital real estate every week, every month, whatever cadence you choose. Compare that to the millions lashed out on tech R&D, manufacturing, filmmaking, and other content creation costs - a bare-bones newsletter outperforms them all in ROI.
So don't brush off newsletters as some antiquated, irrelevant channel. Some of the biggest names in media, finance, tech, and beyond have their roots and money trains fueled by humble email communications. Master the deceptively simple craft of newsletter marketing, and you've got a powerful engine that can churn out audiences, products, and ultimately...billions of dollars.
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Srinidhi Ranganathan
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