Helloooooooo,
What is one fun thing you did this week?
I went on a road trip with my parents! It was good!
Someone recently asked me. Do I have a newsletter edition where I talk about newsletters, and it hit me!
I have run three newsletters; this one has been running for over a year now. I work with 100k+ newsletter subscribers every day, and I still haven’t spoken about newsletters.
*Wah shampy wahh*
But we correct the mistake today!
It’s 2026, and if you are thinking, let me start a newsletter, STOPPP!
Like literally anything else in life, we start with the question.. WHY? Why do you want to start a newsletter?
Is it fomo?
Then no. DO NOT START A NEWSLETTER BECAUSE OF FOMO! Nope. Not happening.
Is it because you are passionate about something and want to talk more about it? Could be cats or parenting or work or just your life.
Then yes!! Start a newsletter right now.
A quick story of how/why I started and stopped my newsletters.
When I started working on my own, I shared my journey on LinkedIn. But there were details like the clients I am working with and bitching about my ex-manager which I could not do publicly.
And to be completely honest, I just wanted to write longer LinkedIn posts.
So I started this newsletter.
Then, in July 2024, I started reading. And when I was still doing it after a year, I realised I wanted to write longer reviews and create a community of readers who don’t just read about a particular genre!
So I started a reading newsletter on Substack. I knew I’d read at least 1 book a month, and I’d definitely have something to write about, even if it’s going once a month.
Somewhere at the start of 2025, I also wanted to attract content heads and founders by talking about my work in detail. My process, my ideas, how working with me is super easy, etc., etc. I started Fully Content just to do that, but it just never felt right.
I changed direction 3 times and then eventually decided to pause it. (spoiler alert, it’s still paused)
I had another newsletter (lol), which was life-focused. Very emotional. Very personal. I eventually realised I didn’t want my life details to be so publicly available, so I decided to delete the publication. But my dumb ass deleted the entire account, and the reading newsletter also got deleted.
RIP. It was good.
But then I never felt like restarting it again!
Why am I telling you this?
To make you realise if you are not confident and passionate about something enough to talk about it very often, then starting and, more importantly, maintaining consistency and growing the newsletter will be a headache.
I was never sure about Fully Content, hence it is still paused (more than 6 months now), and I was not so passionate about writing book reviews, so never restarted the reading newsletter.
This right here…yes.. the newsletter you are reading right now… is my babyyyy. She is 58 weeks old now, and she grows as I grow :)
Anyway.. Back to business!
Answer these with me!
Thought about it?
Here’s the most acceptable answer: Social media audience is a borrowed audience; I want an owned audience where I can speak more directly to my audience.
Another follow-up question here is: What will you do with this newsletter?
You want to build an audience, have something to sell? Want to attract your ICP who will eventually buy/collaborate with you?
Whatever it may be, just have this purpose clear in your head. This will help you pick your theme and choose topics in the future.
Next question.
What will you talk about in the newsletter?
Think think think.., no peeking.
Oh come on, I cannot answer this one. You need to do it yourself. Here are a few things you can talk about.
Pop Culture, Music, Coffee, Fashion, Hobbies, Journaling, Reading, Life in the mountains, Modern Dating: would be good to reach a wider audience who would want to learn a thing or two about these topics.
Content, Newsletters, LinkedIn, GTM, SEO, Sales/Content Strategies, Tech stuff: basically, your services would be a good start to reach your ICP.
Next Question.
Can you be consistent?
Since you’ve picked the theme in the previous question, quickly, think of 5 topics you can talk about.
Quick!
Thought 3? Yeah, not good enough. You’ll struggle with regular publishing and will give up eventually.
Take another minute or two and think again. It’s fine to ask ChatGPT for ideas, but you should feel good about your topics so you can keep writing about them.
Next question!
How do you grow it?
No matter what the purpose of the newsletter is, you need another platform/medium to drive in subscribers (unless you are doing it on Substack).
Do you have social capital? Can you build both simultaneously? Answering this is important too because without a strong distribution, narrowing readers to owned channels will get difficult.
When I started my newsletter, my LI had 3k followers, I think. You don’t need a big number to get started. You just need something to help you propel in the upward direction.
Bottom line (or in this case, word)?
Intent.
Do you have the intent to be consistent with it?
Do you have the intent to work towards growing it?
Do you have the intent to share your passion with the world?
If yes! Amazing! You can get started with your newsletter right away! If you are still unsure, think about it. You have a week.
You'd better have all the answers ready before next Friday! I’m watching you!!
Will do a part 2 of this and talk about:
Which platform to choose
How to pick the frequency
How to grow your newsletter
As always, nothing will be preachy, will share everything from my own experience.
If you have specific questions you want me to answer, reply to this email, and I’ll answer them in the next edition.
I wish you warmth (cause I really need it)
‘k bye,
Nikita