My newsletter journey in 2020

I wish to record my learnings while writing my fortnightly newsletter now merged into the current one - The Curious Quill.

Highlights:

• Started publishing in Sept 2020.

• Published 7 issues consistently every fortnight.

• Did a pivot post 5 issues to be more focussed. (Courtesy: NewsletterOS)

• Currently at ~15 subscribers (It's bad I know 😅).

Some newsletters that I took inspiration from :

• Lenny's Newsletter. One of the first newsletters I read and became a paid subscriber. Loved the content and got inspired to write.

• Dickie's digest. A curated newsletter that shares resources on productivity and growth. Loved the format.

• BrainPint. Another great newsletter which showed how with curation also, you can provide great value with adequate context.

• Ness Labs by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. Great advice for creators on mindful productivity. I picked up how to write on productivity here.

Writing curriculum I underwent to teach myself how to write.

- Guide to Writing well by Julian is 🔥. Must-read for every aspiring writer. Please read it and re-read it every day.

- Josh Spector's tips on writing + For the Interested newsletter.

- Doing Content Right ebook by Steph Smith. (This is a paid ebook but quite comprehensive in coverage and highly recommend it.) If you don't wish to purchase, read her blog post on writing instead.

I started in Aug with a blank page with the name 'Exploranalysis'. It was meant to be a glorified idea-dump on things I was interested in. I went for a hybrid creation and curation mix but without a clear audience and topic in mind.

The first issue I put out was embarrassing even to me. Yet, I just wanted to get started and improve along the way. I decided to put my thoughts on Edtech, strategic thinking, and a story. It was quite raw. I improved the second issue quite a bit. Wrote on communities and founder-market fit. By the third issue, I started to hit my stride on the form factor and the content I wished to put out.

The fourth and fifth issues were good, and I wrote on varied topics. At this point, I executed a pivot based on the advice I read. Without a targeted niche, it isn't easy to write as well as get subscribers. So I introspected. What am I good at? I went to my roots. I joined an edtech startup as an early employee.

All my learnings have focussed on productivity and strategy to succeed as an early employee in a startup. This is a good intersection of what I liked and what others may find useful. So I rebranded my newsletter to 'Early Employee Explorations', going more niche. I started writing on topics related to the growth and success of early employees in startups. (My Topics: Strategy, Thinking models, Productivity, Learning.)

Issues 6 and 7 focused on topics like beating burnout for early employees and principles to succeed for early employees. I hope to evolve my writing further and provide value to the community.

I write and manage my newsletter completely on Newsletter OS. It is a great value product, and I use only 10% of its features. Of course, NotionHQ is where I make notes and manage my learnings to share. (I will share more details in a separate post.)

Being in a community while creating a newsletter is extremely important. Two communities I recommend:

• Newsletter Creators by Josh Spector.

• Newsletter Crew by Yaro Bagriy.

Engage, give back and receive support. (Note to self to do it more.)