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23 Comments

I am overwhelmed and I may sell my newsletter to cope...

Hello everyone ,
So yeah, as you read.

I am too overwhelmed taking care of three side projects...

I am making templates in one side, a site that doesn't requires nothing, but then I have this newsletter that requires lot of my time.. . If I want to monetize it.

I curate the newsletter the week around, I just ended up here....without realize it.

I really want to learn more and build stuff...but I feel that I owe to 1300 subs the Tuesday's newsletter....that they said the really love it...

I have not monetize it yet, I haven't really bother to look for sponsors either....but is possible to find them...

In the other hand I am rebuilding Wicked Templates and building a fourth project related to it, that I enjoy like a kid enjoys candy.

What would you guys do? Sell it, keep it ...

During the day at times it feels like I am doing the right thing ny selling it, bit then someone comes and motivates me to do it right this time..

I guess I am lost....

Any help,opinion is welcome...

Thank you.

  1. 9

    This is something nobody else will suggest: Rent out your newsletter.

    Email 20 other newsletters you think your readers would like. Ask the writer if they'll pay $65 and you will send their newsletter to your readers, with a note "I'm taking a break, subscribe to this awesome newsletter"

    If you do that 10 times: You got $650 in your pocket and you didn't have to sell your newsletter audience. Also you didn't have to write a newsletter.

    OR... email 10 people you know and ask them if they'll guest curate your newsletter. They can promote anything they want. Five 5 people to do it once per month and you can come back to your newsletter anytime you want.

    You don't have to trade logins, just have them do it in a google doc.

    Also this is just a suggestion. I've never seen anyone do it. It's a crazy idea. Happy to help you out in any way I can if you'd like to try it. Or sell the list and move on. I'd say, that it's more work selling it than it's worth, but that's just me.

    1. 3

      This is some very thoughtful problem solving. I love it.

  2. 2

    Sell it here: https://duuce.com/
    made by fellow IH'er: @Jonass

  3. 2

    Yo

    Keep colorsandfonts. Scrap the other two projects.

    For colorsandfonts, keep a goal in mind. Something like, 'x dollars in 1 month' or something.

    Go and get advertisers, products with affiliate programs, etc.

    If you don't meet your target then shut it down but reflect back on what went wrong.

    Only reason I'm telling you to work on this is because a sizeable portion of traffic is coming from colorsandfonts. Added to the fact that its low maintenance means that you can go really hard on marketing.

    1. 1

      But, colorsandfonts gives nothing....

  4. 1

    Hey man! Sorry to hear, If you want I can list your newsletter for free on Duuce.com, marketplace for buying and selling newsletters

  5. 1

    Very easy solution. Just instead of weekly, make it bi-weekly or monthly newsletter.

    1. 1

      But, isn't that disappointing the audience?

      1. 1

        I personally don't need newsletters to be weekly (or even regular). Just send me something when it is worth it...

        I cannot speak for everyone but I would guess that many of your subscribers would not even notice...

        1. 1

          Me neither to be honest, but is like I owe them that...

          1. 1

            I would understand you if it was a paid newsletter, but free?

            1. 1

              Yeah,...they are not just subscribers,...they have been there really long time.

  6. 1

    Having such a large and valuable audience is a very valuable asset if you have other related projects. Have you used the newsletter to promote any of your money-generating projects?

    1. 1

      I do have a link in CLASSIFIEDS about Wicked Templates but, I don't want to abuse that....
      Is not right,..

      1. 1

        Right. I was meaning occasional announcements and updates on paid products.

        Such a large mailing list is absolutely essential, for example, for self-published indie authors. Most of the time they deliver only valuable content to their newsletters. When a new book or information product is out, announcing it can generate a substantial sales spike, especially if the subscriber base is large and the product is related.

        1. 1

          The thing is that, the newsletter wasn't created for me to sell my stuff bit to actually bring value and the thought was to get sponsors...

          Maybe is a wrong idea ...

          1. 1

            Not necessarily wrong, but cross-sharing is an easier (less time investment) way than going out there and calling for sponsors).

            Marc Kohlbrugge actually created a startup sharing website to share his own startup (WIP community) on it. And he shares useful updates etc regularly on it there as well... I don't think your audience would mind, even if you are having a hard time doing it.

            Perhaps just do it once, and find out if people react on it or think its just fine?

  7. 3

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    1. 2

      I've never only run one business. I've never had a single project without other projects in progress as well. I'm always stacking bricks.

      The only thing consistent is that I'm always relentlessly focused more on how to be helpful, and to who I can help with their goals.

      Success doesn't require a singlular project focus. It just requires a singular focus on the customers you serve.

      1. 1

        This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

        1. 2

          What you're saying makes sense though, too.

          And I think an important piece of clarity on doing multiple things: I'm basically never starting two things at the same time.

          Everything I'm doing is staggered. There's a gap of time between the starting points, and if I want to do two things at once, I start with the one where I see the greatest chance of building the advantages I need to do the other one.

          At the beginning of my career, the gaps were bigger. I'd work on a freelance client for a while, earn money and gain experience, and then apply some of that money and experience to a project that I wanted to do. I'd do both, but the client work came first, and I didn't have to wait until the client work was done to start on my own stuff.

          Now later in my career, I have more experience and more resources, so I don't have to wait as long between things starting but the same basic principle applies.

          I choose things where my odds are good to build an advantage to make the next thing (which is layered, not consecutive) more successful.

          In your example, that'd be choosing the global (and presumably english speaking market) first, working to get things off the ground, and then re-investing some of that success into an Italian-focused set of resources for the same base biz audience.

          Another concrete example is how we've been creating products for MANY years for designers and developers, but now we have the resources to make sure that we can also provide those resources to folks who speak different languages (like your example!) but also those who are otherwise underrepresented in our community, like those who are hard of hearing. So we're adding transcripts/captioning to all of our recorded resources to everything.

          This is a HUGE undertaking, and will be costly, but a) 100% worth it when we can welcome this part of our audience and b) something we now have the resources to do.

          We call this "being your own angel investor, since it's a way to avoid giving up equity and control by stair-stepping your way forward.

          The key is that the different audiences aren't TOO different. In your and my examples, it's more about subsets of the same audience, vs totally different ones!

          1. 1

            This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    2. 1

      I started to think honestly...

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