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Ahhhhhh, this week has been hard. The work was normal but everything else around me took a toll - and my energy levels are as low as they can get.

It’s hard to even focus at this point but be assured, I write good shit.

I am doing an AMA (Ask me anything) about newsletters, and I answered five questions in the first part of this series. I spoke about niches in newsletters; do check it out. Today, I’ll cover the questions in management and writing.

We will start immediately after saying hi to our sponsors:

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Ready?

Management

The ability to turn content into business is on top of my mind.

Most newsletter writers are good at content, but they fail to grow because they don’t understand growth and business.

Growth = Growing email lists, Marketing, Repurposing, Distribution, etc.
Business = Monetizing the audience, Creating products, Paid memberships, etc.

Most creators and businesses I have worked with - irrespective of their primary newsletter goals - want their content to generate some revenue.

To do that, your growth and business models should be solid and ideally automated.

Ex: I have set up Cognition’s referral program to passively nudge my readers to invite more subs every time they read the newsletter. Or I have consultation call details in my footer that currently convert one reader per issue.

Writing

Talk to your audience. Seriously.

By talking I don’t mean a survey form. Actual messaging one on one. If you have been a Cognition subscriber for a while, you might have noticed I encourage you to reply to the emails.

I do this for two reasons. One, I am curious to know my readers and build a relationship beyond writer-reader. Two, I want to make them comfortable enough to say, “You write bad” when I do.

The more I converse, the more I understand what questions my readers need answers to.

But But…

While I continue to do this, I am also getting more technical and research-oriented. These days I am tapping into top Reddit posts, search engine queries, etc., to find highly engaging topics/discussions. You might see me implement this strategy in September.

Never take for granted? Readers of course.

Cognition averages a thousand words per issue. I am grateful to have an audience that reads long-form content. But I can never write whatever I want just because my readers patiently invest their time. The moment I take it for granted and think, “Oh, they’ll read anyway,” that’s the endgame for me.

The truth is word count doesn’t matter. If there’s value, readers read 3000-word newsletters too.

Some basic things to keep in mind while writing newsletters:

1. Check content formatting for both mobile and desktop versions

2. Always proofread the test email - not in the text editor or the preview

3. Always give at least 10x value of what you offer in socials (aka ToFu)

4. Writing from experience > Writing from reading (unless you’re in niches like books, history, science, etc.)

5. You should be aware of your differentiator. There are 1000s of creators who talk about what you say. Topics are the same, but only a few standout. How? That’s the question you need to answer. My answer is I always talk about how I implement stuff and not how usually things can be successful in general

6. Mix it up with paragraphs, pointers, infographics, images, quotes, memes, etc. to break the monotonous nature

7. Don’t chase crispness at the cost of human touch. I don’t mind 20 extra words to make the content feel like a person messaging a person

I love GrowthX in this context. The way they include numbers is exceptional.

This is a snippet from their newsletter:

If I had to include more numbers/data in the newsletter content, I’d do these:

• Structure the data: More numbers can get messy. GrowthX made it easy to read by categorizing it in different waves and using the blockquote.

• You can keep internal word limits (no more than 30 words per sentence when discussing data) or set frequencies (including numbers only once every five sentences.)

• Infographics, aka visuals, are good representations of data. You can add context with words and a graphic explains all nuances clearly.

You might already know all the formulas and popular techniques, so I'll ditch them and share my personal opinion.

I TRY TO REPLICATE REAL-LIFE CONVERSATIONS

Writing is communication to me. I am conscious of how I talk to people around me and even more observant about how they respond. This need not be business-y. Any casual talk is good enough to assess when/where you lose their attention.

Be it in person or writing, the core is communication and I follow the same principles:

• It’s more about them than you

• Make sure you have an interesting story if it’s all about you

• Respect people’s time

• Nobody wants to be spoonfed

• People are smarter than you think

• Simple vocabulary that is not boring is that sweet spot

• When dealing with complex concepts, focus on visuals, analogies, case studies, etc.

That’s all I have this week.

I have answered all the questions I received about management and newsletter writing. Next week, I will answer questions on newsletter growth and monetization. It will most probably be the last issue in this series.

This is not important but I just wanted to share my new desktop wallpaper:

I will see you soon! Take care.

Love,
Vikra