Starting my first newsletter with Gumroad Workflows. Is that the right first step to get started?
I always wanted to start a newsletter where I could send my own weekly emails to my subscribers. But I just needed to find the right content to start with. So I decided that I would start journaling about my journey as an indie developer and progress on my weekly goals, interesting achievements, etc...
And I thought about starting with Gumroad Worfklows since it doesn't take much to get started with and it seems pretty straight-forward and free.
I know that at some point I could move to something like Mailchimp, Sendinblue, etc... but now I'm just experimenting and see how it goes.
What advice would you give me?
It's pretty easy to migrate email platforms, I wouldn't worry too much about what you choose now.
I've personally iterated from Mailchimp, to Substack, to ConvertKit, to Revue and now to Ghost...and I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with Ghost now!
You could also consider Substack or Medium if you don't need customization/branding and just want to start sending your newsletter asap.
I run a small newsletter that I started a couple of months ago and have picked up a few lessons.
Make sure you write with a fixed cadence. For example, I deliver my newsletter every Friday at 10 am. I have a very small audience and do it for shits and gigs...but even then, I got people reaching out to me asking where the newsletter was. Felt amazing but I felt bad for being late xP
Keep to your promise of what you will talk about. And try and provide value to your audience -- not value to yourself. In your case, it could be about the ways in which you solve problems and help out fellow indie hackers.
Whatever your stack, make sure you know how to use it effectively.
Pay a lot of attention to your subject line. Some of my subscribers hit me up about how funny or interesting it is - but when I ask them if they read the issue, they admit that they didn't. I don't mind that!
Respect their inbox. I like to make the cadence explicit when they sign up
I like to post my newsletter editions on my website so if anyone wanted to reference it without it being in their inbox, they can.
Have a clear newsletter structure. Mine is based on case-based learning and is always less than 500 words. My subheadings are Case, Concept and Something To Think About.
All the best for your newsletter. Would love to subscribe :)