Outdoor Status

I sent Outdoor Status' March issue to 167 subscribers. Open rate is stable at 56%. I only gained 26 subscribers this month because I didn't have much time to work on Outdoor Status. Work has been hectic and I didn't have the time nor the energy to think about Outdoor Status. I wish I could be full-time on it but unfortunately, it will have to wait!

I sent Outdoor Status' March issue to 141 subscribers. I didn't expect to gain this many subscribers in a month (almost 100!). The open rate is still high, at 55%. More importantly, I think I'm really adding value -- many of my friends have told me that they applied for a permit because of the newsletter.

Most subscribers came from 2 posts in r/WildernessBackpacking. The first post was a summary of the newsletter I had sent with a direct link to subscribe. There was a lot more engagement than I expected, but there were some negative opinions as well. Therefore, I won't use that tactic anymore. The second post was a photo I took on a recent backpacking trip. The post went viral, with over 3k upvotes! I responded to all comments and linked to the newsletter when appropriate. That is probably the way to go, but it's hard to scale.

In this newsletter, I also included a Yosemite trail guide that I created. The guide didn't see much engagement for the time I put in. Instead of spreading myself too thin, I should stay focused on outdoor permits, because 1) there's traction, and 2) I've barely scratched the surface.

I sent the very first Outdoor Status newsletter, just a week after pivoting from my previous project. I advertised on Reddit and my personal Instagram account. In total, 47 people signed up -- largely exceeding my expectations. The open rate is high, at 64%.