Why Start an Email Newsletter?

It’s easier than ever to blow up by creating short-form content on TikTok, growing a channel on YouTube, or driving engagement with a snappy viral tweet (as long as you pay your $8 a month). So why have I decided to build a newsletter before testing my luck with virality on a social platform? The reasons are multiple and are as follows:

1. Low Friction

2. A Sandbox for Honing Skills

3. A Valuable Asset that You Control

1. Low Friction

Starting a newsletter is one of the easiest first projects to build when getting started with digital marketing. All you need to do is sign up with an email marketing platform (most have free options) and start writing — simple as that.

So, what are email marketing platforms? In short, email marketing platforms provide an easy way to manage an email list, design your posts, schedule them, and track their performance to see how many people are opening them and clicking on their links. There are more advanced functionalities that these platforms offer, but at the start, this is all you really need. After doing some research and comparison, the platform I decided to choose was Beehiiv. I went this route mainly because Beehiiv offers a free tier that provides all the essential functions I’m looking for up until I reach 2,500 subscribers. At that point, I can upgrade to a paid version at a fair cost compared to other platforms. Beehiiv also has a modern look and is very simple to get started with. If you're interested, try out Beehiiv here (my first affiliate link!).

Once you select a platform and do a little brand customization, all you need to do is write. To some people, that might be easier said than done, but consider that any other growth channel you pursue will require writing at its core. With a newsletter, writing is the majority of the work; with mediums like YouTube or TikTok, writing is just the beginning.

But What About Other Platforms?

Okay, but what about Twitter, LinkedIn, or starting a blog? Sure, these outlets are also built on writing, but they come with more extraneous variables than writing emails. With social platforms, much of your focus needs to be on optimizing for an algorithm or achieving virality. With a blog, your traffic depends heavily on the effectiveness of your search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. These mediums can also lead to discouragement when you're just starting out. Having few followers, low engagement, or ranking poorly on Google can be quite disheartening. These are feelings you will eventually need to overcome in this field, but when just starting out, it's nice to be able to create without having to worry about these things too much.

It’s not that newsletters are devoid of performance metrics, but the thresholds for what are considered "wins" can be much lower. Consider having 50 followers on Twitter — that’s not much at all. But that same 50 means a lot more in the context of email subscribers. These are 50 people who went out of their way to allow you to reach them directly in their personal inboxes. They have enough interest in you and what you are saying to take time out of their days to read your creations and maybe even interact with them. These are 50 people who are invested in your journey and the value you provide. The value of each subscriber here feels greater than that of a follower who just needed to click one button to have you be a small part of their vast Twitter feed.

Anonymity Makes It Even Easier

One final point that really drives home why newsletters are so easy to get started with is the potential for anonymity. Putting yourself and your creations on the internet for public display can be intimidating, especially when you're just starting out and not yet confident in your craft. The beauty of a newsletter is that it can be as public or private as you choose. My newsletter utilizes a brand with its own name and logo. I don’t need to put my face anywhere in my content, nor do I need to share my full name. I know that eventually, I will need to turn my own likeness into my brand to reach the goals I’m aiming for, but for now, it's freeing to be able to learn and create without the pressure of putting myself fully on display.

2. A Sandbox for Honing Skills

Given the ease and freedom a newsletter offers compared to other mediums, it truly serves as a sandbox for developing and sharpening essential skills. The first skill I mentioned earlier is really the backbone of digital marketing and content creation itself: writing. Being a clear and effective writer is a skill that will only serve you well in furthering your career down the road.

• Ghostwriting a social media post? Writing.

• Starting a YouTube channel but need a script? Writing.

• Creating an informational blog post to drive traffic to affiliate links? Writing.

• Building a website that advertises your credentials and experience? Writing.

Writing is an essential skill in this industry, and it is one that you should look to practice any chance you get. Starting a newsletter provides just that opportunity. When you need to create and provide content to your audience on a regular schedule, it incentivizes you to sit down and write more often. Just from deciding to start this newsletter, I have found time to dedicate at least 1-2 hours each day to writing. I see the value in it and the power of building a schedule and structure around it. Dedicating time to writing in this context has also allowed me to take everything I am learning and repackage it in a way that makes sense in my mind — to, in turn, repackage it in a way that makes sense to another person. This has given me a much deeper understanding than simple content consumption on its own could. You might think you understand something, but until you can sit down and explain it to another person, can you really say you understand it? Taking what you've learned and sharing it with others through a newsletter will greatly accelerate your growth.

Aside from being a medium to hone your writing and further apply your knowledge, a newsletter also gives you first-hand experience with email marketing. When comparing email marketing platforms, it became very clear that they are all fairly similar. Sure, some will excel in certain areas or look different visually, but at their core, they all serve the same functions. Once you learn how to use one platform, you effectively learn 95% of all other platforms. Email marketing is an essential and highly profitable avenue in digital marketing, so getting comfortable with it early on will only help you down the road.

3. A Valuable Asset That You Control

Wealth can be achieved when you own assets that you have control over — a house, a company, a vending machine. These are all assets you can utilize as you see fit. A successful newsletter is no different, as it builds two unique assets: your content and your email list.

First, let’s talk about your content. Over many weeks and months of consistently creating for your newsletter, you will develop a stockpile of writings, curations, resource lists, and more. The beauty of this content is that you are the creator, owner, and manipulator of all of it. This content can be adjusted and repurposed for use within any other marketing channel you decide to pursue down the road. It can serve as the drafts for your future YouTube videos, the framework for your personal website, or even the curriculum for an online course. Creating consistently for your newsletter gives you a pool of reserves that you can repackage and utilize however you see fit.

But this platform-agnostic content is not the only valuable asset you gain from growing a newsletter. Consider the email list itself. The email list you grow is what really sets newsletters apart from other marketing channels. This is a community of like-minded, interested, and invested individuals you’ve cultivated, which is the unique value creation of a newsletter. Think of this email list as a group of people who care about what you are learning and creating. They can be the first to hear about your future projects, and many will likely follow you when you pursue other ventures. When you create a YouTube channel, they will be your first subscribers. When you get an affiliate partnership, they will be the first to help you generate revenue. And when you launch your own products or services, they may just be your first customers. This community is the real value of a newsletter, and building a tight-knit, invested one should be your main focus when starting out. The community you build here can grow with you and support you in all areas along your journey.

Start Your Own

Starting a newsletter is the first large project I’ve taken on in my digital marketing journey, and it’s one that already provided me with so much value. With its frictionless entry, freedom from performance pressures, and the chance to develop core skills in a low-risk environment, a newsletter is the perfect first project for new digital marketers. If you're considering starting your own, why not just try? You have nothing to lose. Choose a platform like beehiiv, set up a brand, and begin writing. Don’t overthink it — focus on teaching people about what you are learning and enjoy the process of creating and growing. This first step could lead to a thriving community and countless opportunities down the road.

Tell me about your own newsletter or if you are considering creating one!

-Joseph