You will only build real connection when you own the connection. Take your relationships off social media and foster real community.
I stared at the white screen on my computer in disbelief.
A few minutes before, my sister had just sent me a message on Whatsapp. “My bro, what’s good? I can’t find you on LinkedIn”
“Say wha…”
I hopped out of bed. I tried to log in. They were asking for verification and my passport details.
For a few months, I had been running a fundraising campaign for my second book.
I did it all on LinkedIn.
I was hiring new consultants in three countries. I did it all on LinkedIn.
I identified my clients for my business. I did it all on LinkedIn.
When I traveled between California, Cape Town, Nairobi and Lagos – all within a 10-day window, my changing IP had spooked the good folks of LinkedIn records.
They put a hold on my account. Cleared out all my content. Deleted all my DMs.
My sister said: “I can’t even find you on your company page…they’ve off’d you haha”
That was the day I realized I had to do better with my relationships.
I had to get them off these corporate platforms. I went the voice, newsletter, and web3 route.
More LinkedIn, More Problems.
People want to reach others but don’t know how to be effective. Too many platforms. Divided attention.
There are all these tools to stay connected but we are feeling more and more isolated. When we do decide to engage with people. It’s hard to stay consistent. Engagement can be discouraging.
You are the whims of the algorithm.
They can choose to boost you or keep you in the shadows.
A lot of us want to start businesses, go out on entrepreneurial endeavors, influence people positively, or just share stories that have been burning a hole within us for years.
The internet has made it easy to publish. But it’s so easy, anyone can do it. Competition is a lot higher.
There is a power-broker in the form of an algorithm between you and the people you want to connect with. If you don’t pay your toll, you’re given a speed limit.
The reality is that you can have all the followers in the world.
But you do not own anything on social platforms. Not the content. Not your name. And especially not the connections.
The point of building connections is to maintain them. You want to curate a space where you own the connection and the narrative.
Do this with your newsletter.
7 Steps To Jumpstart Your Newsletter Journey:
I’m on week 67 of writing this newsletter.
Before this, I wrote a monthly newsletter for my first business. I’ve learned a thing or two about newsletter writing. When you start your newsletter, you own the connection with the people you want to stay in touch with. You can drive the narrative. There is no business, power broker, or entity between you and the people you stay in contact with.
It creates a community you can be in contact with if you just want to share your thoughts, connect with like-minded people, or build a business.
Here are the 7 steps to start your newsletter journey.
1. Don’t pick a niche (just yet)
I know this goes against everything you’ve heard.
“Pick a niche.” “Identify who you’re writing for.” “Drill down into a sub-niche.” “Don’t start until you have it all figured out.”
The sad reality is you’ll never figure it out by just thinking about it.
Now, if you are already clear that you want to write for “dads born in March that watch basketball on a Samsung TV”, please go ahead and send your newsletter to the two of them.
Writing is the process of getting clarity, so just start.
Instead of niching down to a tiny pond, here are the four evergreen markets that will always be relevant.
Write about:
- Safety & Health
- Money
- Love & Relationship
- Creativity & Expression
These are intrinsic needs that all humans connect to. Choose one, pick 3 subsets, and write about that. The most important thing is that you must find your topic interesting enough to write about it.
Your niche is the intersection of your curiosities.
2. Ask people to join you
Your niche is also your network.
The best way to jumpstart your writing is to develop accountability. Most writers either join writing workshops or accountability groups. If you’re busy with your job or business, the next best thing is to have a group of people to write to.
Make a list of 10 people that you can write to for the time being and get ready to start sending them your newsletter.
This is how you practice.
When you know there is someone on the other side, it makes your writing more authentic and worthwhile. This list will also be your first group to give you feedback (more on that later).
Build a list.
3. Give them an offer they can’t refuse
Be like the Godfather….give an offer they can’t refuse (without cutting any heads off)
Instead, create something of value that will make the people you want to attract exchange their valuable email for the value you’ve created.
That’s a free offer.
To create something of value, answer these questions:
- What “big problem” am I solving in the world?
- How can I solve that problem as quickly as possible for someone?
- What would be “step 1” to solving this problem?
- Why does someone need this solution NOW?
- What is the story nobody else is telling about this problem?
- How could I solve this person’s problem in a way that would BLOW THEIR MIND?
As you begin writing, brainstorm 4 – 7 topics based on the answer to this. Write 500 – 800 words around each topic. Put it together and export it as a PDF.
Now you can offer: “get my FREE resource on this and join my newsletter.”
Here’s one of mine: Become A Thought Leader in 7 Days. Get my 7-day email course to upgrade your writing and audience-building game.
4. Send out a newsletter on the same day, weekly
Choose a cadence for your newsletter.
And stay consistent.
Decide a format for the newsletter:
- Writing an essay, or
- Curating resources.
Choose a length:
The ideal length based on attention span is 800 – 1000 words (mine was at 2000 last year, I’m bringing it down to 1500 this year, I’m trying lol)
Choose a schedule:
- Daily
- Weekly (ideal)
- Bi-weekly (every two weeks)
Anything more than every two weeks might not gain traction.
If you do weekly, choose a day and send it out the same day, same time.
Commitment:
- Do this for at least 12 months
The goal here is to develop your system and style while practicing within constraints and matching expectations of readers.
5. Drive traffic to newsletter (you still need social)
I guess we still need LinkedIn, Zuckerberg, and Elon Stuff.
Yes, the goal is to build your own connections. But you have to go to where the party is. Most people are on social networks to be on socials. You have to find a way to drive people to your newsletter.
Here’s my process:
- Take snippets of your newsletter and turn them into tweets and LinkedIn posts.
- Schedule 2 tweets and 1 LinkedIn post daily
- When you get engagement on your posts, do a light plug of your newsletter (something like: “if you like this post, get insights like this in your inbox every Wednesday by joining….”)
- When more people join your newsletter, you write for them.
- Then share it on social media, and the cycle continues.
Alternatively, another very effective way is simply to ask people.
If you notice people engaging with your posts, DM them and ask if they want to join your newsletter.
This approach has the highest conversion rate for me.
Just ask.
6. Ask for feedback
You can’t grow without feedback.
2 months into your process ask those first 10 people what they think about your newsletter. Get on a call with them.
Ask:
- What do you like about my newsletter?
- What value do you get from them?
- If you were to describe it to a friend, how would you describe it?
- What is one thing you would improve about it?
You’ll use it to adjust and understand your style and the niche you are evolving.
7. Use the right tools
To website or not to website.
You can write all you want, but you need to write to drive people to what you are writing. COmmunicating your value is as important as your value itself. So you need two things:
1. Your writing (the newsletter as a product)
2. Your writing (as distribution)
You can either “socialize your website” by the method I described in step 5.
OR
You can use a social blog like Substack, where there are already readers and writers ready to join newsletters.
The reality is that you can do both.
My advice for starting now is to go the substack route.
There are pros and cons.
If you went the website route, you’ll need an email outreach tool. I use Convertkit.
Pros:
- It’s fully your content
- You have a central repository of your content
- You can customize your website
- You can personalize your emails, thats right, YOU.
- You generally have more flexibility
- You can segment your list into different groups
Cons:
- You have to design your website
- You have to be very diligent to drive traffic there
- You have to pay for web hosting and convertkit (almost $80 combined a month)
If you went with substack route:
Pros:
- You can start today at no cost
- You don’t have to create a website
- There are already writers and readers there
- You can collaborate with other writers
- It’s an out-of-the-box solution for you
- You can just focus on writing and building your list
Cons:
- You only get the email not the names
- You cannot personalize your emails 🙁
- You don’t have the tools to segment
These are a few pros and cons.
If you want to start right away, go the substack route, you can always switch to a more personalized system when you get a bigger list.
Final thoughts
You have the tools you need to make deeper connections with people.
Follow your interests, write about them, and consistently send them out to a small audience.
With time you will have your own style and find your tribe of like-minded people.
Yours truly, Nifemi
P.S. Here is my 7-minute challenge to you today. If you’ve ever wanted to write a newsletter, go to substack now, create a profile, start a publication, name it [{Insert your name}’s {Insert 1 of 4 general topics in step 1]} Letters].
