How I Got My First 100 Email Subscribers

Hi Reader,

Carlos wrote in a few days ago. He’s thinking of writing a newsletter. Smart move.

He asked me, “I have no email list other than things I signed up for. What should I do?“

I started my email list years ago on MailChimp. I picked MailChimp because it was free. I didn’t have any money for software, let alone ads or a plan for growing my newsletter.

So, I messaged a few friends and said, “Hey, I’ve started this new blog. Could you join my email list?”

I sent them a link to the opt-in page, and they opted in.

It doesn’t cost me anything.

A few friends opted in. Now, the subscribers weren’t writers, and I wasn’t trying to sell them a product or a service.

These early subscribers were like the well-meaning friend who popped into another friend’s new coffee shop. They’ll buy three coffees and a croissant even though they hate caffeine.

In the early days, I needed that support.

Seeing “Total subscriber count” change from 0 to 10 gave me a small audience to write to.

It gave me an ideal reader... at least in my mind.

Now, I was writing to someone and not into the void.

Over the years, I grew my list to 1,000 and then 10,000 subscribers. I did it via SEO, ads, guest blogging, lead magnets, and a dozen other online marketing strategies (some of which still work today).

As my email list grew, I switched to ConvertKit. By now, I was earning a nice side income from my email list. But, I was also spending more money on a higher-tier ConvertKit plan.

More money. More problems.

You see...

Subscribers sometimes opt-in with fake email addresses to get the free lead magnet.

So, I used ConvertKit to find cold subscribers who hadn't opened my emails over the past few months. I sent them a re-engagement campaign asking them if they still wanted to read my newsletter. Some said yes.

I removed hundreds of cold subscribers who didn’t engage or say they still wanted in.

One day, I met a friend for a pint in a pub near where I live outside Dublin. The same friend who opted in when I started my newsletter.

He asked how my writing business was doing.

Then, he said, “Hey! I don’t get emails from you anymore. Did you stop your newsletter?”

I thought something was wrong with the deliverability of my emails. You see, I was sending weekly emails at this point.

The next morning, I logged into ConvertKit and checked my stats. I found his email address greyed out.

When I’d cleaned my list, I’d removed his address because he hadn’t opened any emails over the past three months or engaged with my newsletter.

I felt guilty about purging an early supporter.

But then I realized I didn’t need the crutch of a friend or family member.

I’d grown an audience of ideal readers.

Many of these readers went on to buy my books.

Books I wrote and self-published.

You can do the same. My friend Cary explains more in his new short ebook Dream Big. Read it here.

Write on,

Bryan Collins