5 Newsletter Growth Lessons From 2.5 Years of Publishing
“If you spend 80% of your time making incredibly good content, you probably only have to spend 20% marketing it."
In this special episode, we’re bringing you Chenell’s conversation with Darrell Vesterfelt, VP of Growth at Mighty Networks, for a recent Creator Summit.
In the chat, Chenell talks about why she started a newsletter — and why she chose a newsletter — way back in December 2022.
Chenell and Darrell also dive into the art and science of growing a newsletter from scratch — from picking a topic you’ll never get bored of, to building relationships that fuel growth, to deciding when and how to monetize. If you’re looking for a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most well-known newsletter growth strategists thinks about audience building, this episode is loaded with ideas you can apply immediately.
In this special episode, we’re bringing you Chenell’s conversation with Darrell Vesterfelt, VP of Growth at Mighty Networks, for a recent Creator Summit.
In the chat, Chenell talks about why she started a newsletter — and why she chose a newsletter — way back in December 2022.
Chenell and Darrell also dive into the art and science of growing a newsletter from scratch — from picking a topic you’ll never get bored of, to building relationships that fuel growth, to deciding when and how to monetize. If you’re looking for a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most well-known newsletter growth strategists thinks about audience building, this episode is loaded with ideas you can apply immediately.
>>Get 30+ video lessons and ideas for optimizing your newsletter: https://growthinreverse.com/vault
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Why passion for your newsletter topic is a wildly underrated growth lever
- How Chenell leveraged “content-led growth” to get early traction
- The commenting strategy that landed her first subscribers
- Why treating your social profile like a landing page matters
- The balance between high-quality content and active marketing
- How to use “cryptic teasers” to generate curiosity before publishing
- The biggest mistake she made with social posting frequency
- Why she didn’t run Facebook ads for Growth In Reverse (and when she would)
- The simple poll that landed her first paid sponsor
- How she would structure a paid newsletter if starting today
LINKS MENTIONED
- Mighty Networks
- Darrell Vesterfelt on LinkedIn
- Chenell's first Deep Dive on Mario Gabriele @ The Generalist
- Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
- Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
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Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
