Growth In Reverse: Newsletter & Email Growth
30 Creators. 30 Days. 3,700+ Subscribers: How She Did It
· Summarized
Key takeaways
- Launch with a purpose: The '30 Days of Growth' was centered around improving cross-promotion strategies, providing a clear reason for its existence.
- Structure matters: A well-defined structure is essential for maintaining quality and engagement in daily content.
- Engagement is key: Incentives for referrals and fostering community can significantly boost subscriber numbers.
- Reflection is crucial: Taking the time to reflect on the process provides valuable insights for future projects.
- Collaboration can enhance outcomes: Working with other creators not only aids in growth but also builds valuable relationships.
Summary
The Origin of the 30 Days of Growth
Chanel and Dylan discuss the inception of the '30 Days of Growth' experiment, initiated with the goal of enhancing cross-promotion strategies within their community. Chanel aimed to gather data and insights that could assist other creators in executing effective cross-promotions. She decided to create a daily pop-up newsletter that included a cross-promotion in each edition, which resonated with the needs of their audience.
Preparation and Collaboration
The preparation phase included Chanel outlining a clear structure for the daily newsletters, emphasizing brevity and actionable content. She utilized a Google Sheet to compile a list of potential collaborators, deliberately selecting a mix of creators with different audience sizes, recognizing that engagement can vary regardless of follower count. Chanel approached these creators with a proposal for mutual promotion, aiming to foster a collaborative spirit.
Daily Operations and Publishing Process
The discussion moves into the mechanics of producing the daily editions. Chanel describes the process of coordinating with creators, scheduling content, and maintaining quality across multiple platforms, including email and LinkedIn. Each email edition required careful crafting to ensure that it stayed engaging and informative while keeping the word count minimal. Despite the chaotic nature of daily publishing, Chanel successfully managed to send out all the editions.
Engagement Strategies and Results
Chanel implemented strategies to encourage reader engagement, one of which included a referral system that drove about 20% of new subscribers. By offering incentives like a private podcast feed for referrals, they created a compelling reason for readers to share the newsletter. The campaign saw excellent open rates and significant subscriber growth, highlighting the effectiveness of these strategies.
Reflection and Lessons Learned
Towards the end of the episode, Chanel reflects on the lessons learned during this intense 30-day period. She emphasizes the importance of planning and organization, particularly in terms of scheduling, collaboration, and marketing activities. Despite the challenges and the overwhelming response from readers, particularly in their engagement with the welcome email, the experience reaffirmed the value of building relationships with other creators and leveraging community-driven growth.
The Future of the 30 Days of Growth
Chanel discusses the next steps for the content produced during this pop-up newsletter initiative. With thoughts about repurposing the content into a lead magnet or possibly packaging it into an online course, Chanel is keen on maximizing the value of the insights gathered. She shares her vision for future iterations of this experiment, perhaps focusing on different themes like monetization or audience growth.
Sponsors
- Senja · Senja is a social proof tool that offered to give away some annual licenses during the giveaway.
- Tella · Tella is a video alternative tool that provided annual licenses for the giveaway as well.
- Viral Loops · Viral Loops was used for the referral system in the 30 days of growth campaign.
- RightMessage · RightMessage was mentioned as a tool that could help with user engagement during the campaign.
Show notes
"I thought this would grow my list. It did—but the real win was something else entirely." — Chenell Basilio on her 30 Days of Growth experiment.
In this special episode of Growth In Reverse, Chenell & Dylan break down the whirlwind that was Chenell's 30 Days of Growth experiment.
What started as a simple idea to improve my cross-promotions quickly snowballed into a full-fledged daily popup newsletter, complete with giveaways, podcast episodes, and a ton of valuable insights.
We dive into the gritty details—from the unexpected chaos of daily publishing and coordinating with 30 creators to the strategic plays that made the campaign a success. I also share the raw numbers, what I’d do differently, and how this experience has reshaped my approach to newsletter growth and content creation.
→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Why Chenell launched a 30-day pop-up newsletter to improve cross-promotion tactics—and how she pulled it off in just two weeks
- The exact structure and format she used to keep each daily edition short, tactical, and engaging
- The referral system that brought in 20% of new subscribers and why the private podcast feed became a surprisingly powerful incentive
- What worked and didn’t work with cross-promotion strategies, Substack distribution, and leveraging LinkedIn newsletters
- How Chenell handled massive reader engagement, including 200+ thoughtful replies to a single welcome email
- Lessons learned about launching under pressure, collaborating with other creators, and building a flywheel from content
- The future of the 30 Days of Growth content—and how others can repurpose similar efforts for their own growth campaigns
LINKS MENTIONED
- Check out the 30 Days of Growth FREE >>
- 30 Days of Growth Course Pre-launch
- Tools mentioned: Senja, Tella, Viral Loops RightMessage (via Brennan Dunn)
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Want your newsletter roasted?Submit it here.
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
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Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
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