How do you stay consistent with writing your newsletter?

I have been writing Micro SaaS Ideas Newsletter to 25,000 subs every week. Frankly, it was much tougher in the beginning to write to zero audience. As your audience grows, you will get more accountability and interest to publish every week.

This is a big challenge,

I believe accountability is crucial.

I've been struggling with content creation and the newsletter. So, yesterday, I decided to write a free ebook as a "build in public" project.

Hopefully, this will make it easier for me to stay consistent with a project that needs to be finished. ( So, i hope :)

I publish a weekly newsletter (and actually had to up to it 2x per week due to demand).

I think consistency is 100% the key to growing something like a newsletter.

I have now grown to 12,000+ subscribers without any sort of paid acquisition. It took a long long time (there have now been over 300 editions of the newsletter).

The main thing that kept me consistent was knowing how easy it would be to slip into the mindset of "I can just publish this tomorrow" if I missed even one scheduled publishing date. I couldn't let that happen.

A lot of the needed consistency for a newsletter needs to come from your own desire to keep a strict schedule and not let down your readers who are expecting something (even if this # is super small to start).

I don't have a newsletter but I have a routine where I code exactly 06:30 to 08:30, before my full time job. I wake up everyday at 04:30 and go for a run before.
I found sticking to the same routine makes thing way easier.
I've doing it for 3 months now. It is automatic now.

I also found that having accountability buddy beneficial. Like logging into any discord group where people study, open camera and just do stuff, without interacting with anyone.

i hacked my brain! 🙂

i promised every new subscriber to send an issue every Monday. so when it is Monday, I have to compose a letter and send it 😁

i write about trends, tools, and tips for indie makers: https://10k.isora.me/

You can pay someone to do it for you. So you can stay focused on building your software or business.

I don't

My first question would be if you need to post a newsletter every week. Usually, the arbitrary pressure to write something every week results in a mediocre piece of writing.

Instead, increase the time period between your postings and focus on updates and insights that will truly move the needle with your audience.

With that being said, I have been experimenting with an accountability method that so far has been working out well for me. On a sheet of paper, I write what I want to achieve and promise myself that I won't go to bed until I finish the said task. This simple act of reinforcement has worked wonders for me.

I'm a big fan of working smarter and not harder. As mentioned above, setting a standard for your newsletter is important (every Monday, every Month on the 1st, etc.) so readers know when to expect it.

Strategy #1 - Work Ahead If Possible

To actually the content out, pre-write as much of it as possible. If you can, write 2-3 newsletters ahead of time so you are always working ahead. If something happens, and you need a week off, you can take it without scrambling. Most podcasts (even IH) do this for this very reason + this helps with logistics.

Strategy #2 - Work Partially Ahead with Templates

Design a template that you can duplicate in Mailchimp (or whatever you are using). This gives a consistent feel + you can fill out 90% of the template so you only have to spend your time on the important parts. Yes, the important parts are likely 90% of the content, but it's the last 10% that always drags on and kills your time!

Strategy #3 - Structure Content As You Go

I love to use a few apps to save content for later. Google News as a Save for Later feature and you can save relevant news, etc. Alfread Reader (this is not my app) is another I use to track articles I want to read or remember. Notion, Notes, Todoist, etc are also items you can use to build a list of content to return to.

Another thing we have implemented is a specific email for newsletter content. news@foundersforge.com is where anyone can send us news for our newsletter but we also send items to it as well. Anyone on the team can submit something and then when we go to add content to the newsletter we just login and go through all of it. We archive anything used, and leave recurring items in there for later.

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No matter what you do, newsletters take a ton of time. It's a commitment to your readers and it will pay off as you build your list. Think of this as a marketing day and not a 'newsletter day'. This is important and the very fact you have people willing to give you their email and open your newsletter and read it is amazing. It's a valuable asset to be investing in, so treat it like an investment instead of a chore!

Good luck!

-David

Can chatGPT be an answer ?

Determine the length and format of your newsletter based on the time and resources you have available. It's better to consistently deliver shorter newsletters than to struggle with lengthy, sporadic ones.

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