Year 1 Review
It's been a year of writing this newsletter.
Read time: 5 mins
This is a bit of a special edition. It's been a year since I hit "send" on the first newsletter. I’ve been looking forward to writing this one so much, I delayed it by a week.
Today, I'll share what I've learned from the past 12 months. It's been a "learning curve" (I know, sorry), and I’m excited to recap the milestones, share the metrics, and outline the strategy for the upcoming year.
Whether you're a long-time subscriber or new here, the behind-the-scenes of this newsletter can help you on a project of your own.
Many newsletters fail because they try to appeal to everyone and resonate with no one. They lack focus, consistency, and genuine engagement with readers.
I know because that's what I did a year ago.
At a glance:
Year 1 metrics and recap
What happened in the 1st year
Now what? 2nd-year strategy
Year 1 biggest learnings
Year 1 metrics and recap
Before we dig in, I just want to say thank you, {{ subscriber.first_name }}. Your support through opens, clicks, replies, and in-person feedback has made all the difference. So, thank you!
For those who are new around here, or don’t know me personally:
It’s been a year since I started this newsletter. During a tough time, I focused on what I could control and decided to start this newsletter. Here’s why:
Three levels of motivation
Base Level: Keep my skills sharp with the latest digital tools.
Mid Level: Stay visible for opportunities by sharing quality content.
High Level: Long-term goal of generating revenue and achieving work-life balance.
A year ago, my first newsletter was list of links to things I found interesting on the internet.
Today, it's a bi-weekly newsletter, curating research-backed insights, exclusive surveys, and practical strategies to use technology and devices, not be used by them.
Year 1 review
Highlights from Year 1
Total subscribers: 124 (at time of writing)
Average open rate: 70-75%
Average click rate: 12-20%
Expenditure: €350 (Google Workspace, Convertkit, promotions, social event)
My Converkit dashboard - The flat line representing the time I took out for the birth of our son.
Image by Visualise Value. Represents to me, what many would think during that flat line.
Thoughts and learnings
Those are some tangible metrics, but they don't capture the excitement of starting and staying committed to a project that's so different from the instant feedback and viral reach of social media.
I chose to create a newsletter to escape the dopamine hits and vanity metrics associated with online platforms and build MY audience. Profiles on these platforms can change or be hacked, forcing you to start from scratch. I wanted to invest my energy in something more stable and meaningful. I'll discuss the value of patience learned through this journey a bit later.
Niching Down: My wife and another mentor suggested sending the newsletter in Catalan too. This has been one of the best decisions. Acting locally helped me build a strong, engaged audience in Manresa. Of the 124 subscribers, 90 are subscribed in Catalan. This also allowed me to carry out local experiments quickly and connect with like-minded people.
Focusing: Personal interactions with subscribers have been invaluable. One-on-one coffees and even a dinner event turned readers into ambassadors. Focusing on creating substance instead of just GPT-generated content has been key.
Personal Brand: Consistency, differentiation, and genuine connection are key. Authenticity matters more than a large subscriber base. This newsletter allowed me to celebrate my diverse interests and create my own personal monopoly.
Yes, you read that right. Social event! After the newsletter "Why shared meals matter", I asked readers if they'd be interested in getting to know fellow readers in the area over a meal. It gave me the chance to try out the simple but effective "waiting list strategy". If there's interest, I'll make it happen, if not, no.
30 readers registered their interest, and after finding a date that worked out, we ended up with 14 people in a private venue run by one reader, with a homecooked meal by another reader, for a night of communal food, no work talk, and no phones.
Dinner's ready. Venue: Tercer Segona Creative Coworking
It felt like the perfect end to the first year of this newsletter had to end with The Perfect Bite. Check out the recap video here :) or click on the photo above.
Now what? 2nd-year strategy
Calm Marketing
Authentic, stress-free, and minimal social media. My focus will be on providing value through the newsletter.
As our son grows, he requires and deserves my undivided attention.
The time I do have is better invested in providing value within the newsletter, not playing the virality lottery on social media.
Strategic Goals for Year 2
Content Focus: Share research, surveys, and strategies for a healthy tech-life balance.
Email Format: Stick with email newsletters for their digital wellbeing benefits—ad-free, algorithm-free and permission-based.
Social Media: Use sparingly, mainly as reminders for upcoming newsletters. Prioritising LinkedIn.
Events: Organise events for learning and digital disconnection.
Scaling: Consolidate the local audience as leverage for broader growth, especially through referrals via current subscribers.
Year 1 biggest learnings
If you are considering starting your own newsletter and my experience can be of service, here is a list of elements to consider incorporating. Just because they are on my list, it doesn't mean I've successfully incorporated them all of the time, and I'm still working on it.
Essential Elements of a Successful Newsletter
A clear niche
Mostly insights; some promotion (95/5 ratio)
Clear expectations on the subscribe page
A welcome email to create a sense of belonging
Add your personal touch
Always reply to readers
Block out time in the calendar for different parts of the process (ideas and research, writing, editing, maintenance)
Use momentum within issues (start with a question, end with the answer)
Easy unsubscribe process
Relax, have fun, and open up
Some additional quick lessons. Warning: some of these are unpopular in marketing departments.
A newsletter for everyone will be ignored by everyone.
Don’t confuse a newsletter with email marketing — one provides value, and the other extracts it.
You don’t need as many subscribers as you think to achieve your goals.
Subscribing to the right newsletters can turn your inbox into a valuable social feed.
Subscriber count doesn’t matter if they don’t regularly open and read your newsletter. Newsletter subscribers are more valuable than social media followers because your message reaches more of them.
The less “news” you feature in your newsletter, the more interesting it will be.
Don’t get bogged down by your tech stack — it’s the least important element.
People chase the external value of a newsletter (subscribers), but the internal value of writing one is even greater (learning).
Newsletters don’t go viral (and that’s a good thing).
A great newsletter will do more for you and your business than a great social media account ever could.
You can learn a lot about your audience by seeing which links they click in your newsletter.
Writing a newsletter teaches you many skills. Most importantly: patience.
No one wants a newsletter from a company, but many would like one from a smart person at that company.
Which of the above points had you going "yeees 🤌"? Add to the conversation here.
Conclusion:
If you got this far, you're part of 75.95% of subscribers, so thank you {{ subscriber.first_name }}.
Your support and feedback have been invaluable. As we move into Year 2, I’m looking at ways to provide value to you. I've already got my eye on a couple of future events too.
You can expect two more emails from me before September as I take a bit of a summer break.
one about disconnecting over the summer
another with a quick survey to gather your thoughts and ensure I'm making your time spent reading this worth it
If this email was forwarded to you, please consider subscribing. (The landing page has probably changed since you signed up.)
See you in two weeks.
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