This week, we're learning about the benefits of building an email list.

Well, not just any email list. Like those mass marketing messages you can't help but cringe at the sight of. Those absolutely suck.

I'm talking about something way better...

A weekly newsletter.

A place where hungry knowledge seekers come to learn more about their craft and level up their lives.

That's what we're both doing right now!

Learning and leveling up.

Anyway, hope this helps!

✍🏼 Build a Writing Habit

Of all the incredible benefits that come from writing newsletters, there's one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The actual habit of writing it.

Here's the thing.

Without a proper writing habit, you'll never get the opportunity to share your thoughts with the world. And if the world doesn't know what you're thinking, you'll never see a cent from your words!

At the end of the day, that's pretty much why the two of us are here.

To learn, have a good time, and make some money!

A solid writing habit will:

• Improve your cognitive function (you'll think better)
• Increase your creative output (you'll think of better ideas)
• Instill discipline in you (you'll get way more done, every day)

And you'll become a better writer! But that one was obvious.

You see, that little list of traits is secretly responsible for a thriving internet business. And here's the best part about a writing habit:

It gets easier as you go.

Now that I've been doing this for 25 weeks, it feels like a walk in the park! I sit down, start typing, and voila!

My newsletter is born.

People might try to tell you that it's hard, not worth it, or a losing game, but I'm guessing those people failed to check box #1 in building the habit. Because if they stuck with it for more than a millisecond, they'd see just how lucrative it is.

And that happens to be what's next.

Monetization!

💰 Revenue Generator

Get this.

A free weekly newsletter can make you money.

"What? Are you crazy? Did you read what you just wrote?"

Yeah, I did. Don't pick up that pitchfork just yet.

There are actually a couple different ways you can monetize a (free) weekly letter. We'll go over the two most popular (together of course).

Sponsorship

This is probably the most common form of newsletter monetization.

Every week, creators are bringing in thousands of dollars for doing the same amount of work they always have. The only difference? They have sponsors.

Based on list size, you can actually charge a fee for people to plug their project (or business) somewhere within your weekly letter.

One person to model would be Justin Welsh.

He's booked out for months, so he knows that money is coming in as long as he writes (which he's done for quite some time now).

A typical rate (per send) is 5-7% of the list size.

Example:

A newsletter with 1,000 members, charging 5% of the subscriber total would earn $50 per send. If it's a weekly newsletter (4x per month), that's $200 per month!

Pretty cool, right?

I'm sure you can see how this scales over time. Make it 10,000 members?

You got yourself 500 bones per send. And that's on the low end!

Digital Assets

Another very popular form of monetization is through the sale of digital products and services.

If you have:

• SaaS
• eBook
• Course
• Services
• Templates

Anything. You can plug them into your newsletter!

The reason this is so lucrative is that the other option to make money from those digital assets is through social media.

But there's one issue with that.

Many social platforms don't like links, so they suppress the content. And on top of that, not every single person in your audience will see everything you post.

The algorithms show your content to a portion of your people, and if they engage with it, the content goes out to some more. And so on.

But if the writing doesn't resonate? Hardly anyone will see it.

With a newsletter, everyone gets your content. You own that list. And they're more likely to purchase from you since you've already built a relationship.

You've done the work. Built the trust. Forged the bond.

It's wildly beneficial.

🎓 Instant Credibility

Here's the thought process when people see you with a weekly newsletter:

"Oh, they've written a newsletter for weeks on end? They must know what they're talking about."

It's proof you know what you're doing!

On top of that, you're most likely creating content online to back it up. This is what's called "credibility."

• Authority
• Trustworthiness
• Reliability

Whatever you wanna call it, these are steroids for your brand. It tells people that you are a legitimate source of information.

And the best part about it?

The archives can live on your site forever and continue to teach people. A newsletter gives you some crazy street cred.

It's awesome.

🎁 In Summary

So, are you convinced?

These are some great reasons to start a weekly newsletter. But, there still may be some doubts. I recently talked about this topic on Twitter and people came up with some concerns.

Things like:

• What do I write about?
• How do I stay consistent?
• What if people don't like it?

They're all valid.

Until you realize that starting is half of the battle. There's a market for almost anything these days.

You just gotta get going!

❤︎ Enjoy this newsletter?

Let me know. Leave me a message here.
Can I help you? Order my writing skills here.
Want to make money writing? Learn how here.