Why Your Newsletter Probably Sucks and How to Fix It: Insights from Alex Lieberman at RevCon
We all know the state of our inboxes—crowded and chaotic. So, the last thing the world needs is another newsletter, right? Wrong! In an exclusive RevCon session, Alex Lieberman, co-founder of Morning Brew, proves why newsletters are more alive than ever. With over 4 million subscribers and $50 million in revenue, Morning Brew’s explosive growth speaks for itself. Alex shares his insights on what makes a newsletter thrive, and trust us—you don’t want to miss this. We loved it!
We all heard that “Newsletters are dead”. But as Alex pointed out, email usage has only increased over the years, and email remains one of the most widely adopted forms of comms. It outperforms social media across the US.
Another popular misconception is that the email space is too saturated. Tools like Substack, Beehive, and ConvertKit have made creating and monetizing newsletters easier than ever. But this saturation doesn’t equal high quality.
The opportunity is huge!
The four classic excuses that hold us back
Alex identified four common excuses people make about their newsletters:
- Email newsletters have peaked: Numbers speak for themselves and newsletters remain one of the most popular forms of comms.
- The market is saturated: While more people are creating newsletters, many of them lack quality. The challenge (and opportunity) lies in creating a standout one.
- We have a great newsletter, but it doesn’t perform: Harsh truth? Your newsletter might not be as good as you think. It probably lacks clarity, relevance, or consistency.
- We can grow faster on socials: While social platforms are great for rapid growth, email offers something more valuable—ownership. Social media audiences are rented; they can be taken away if an algorithm changes. Email allows you to own your audience directly.
Creating a great newsletter comes down to four main steps: picking your niche, setting a content strategy, picking your team, and creating the product. During his talk, Alex focused on the first two, which he argued make up 90% of the work needed to build an effective newsletter.
Step 1: Pick your niche
Choosing the right niche is the foundation of creating a successful newsletter. According to Alex, there are three critical questions to consider when picking your niche:
Is your audience a high-need audience?
A high-need audience either has a strong emotional attachment to the topic (like passionate hobbies) or is motivated by professional interests. Newsletters that succeed usually address one of five key needs:
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- Make you better at your job: For example, Morning Brew’s “Retail Brew” helps retail professionals stay updated.
- Increase status in a community: Some newsletters cater to niche communities, such as those who collect luxury watches or garden passionately.
- Help you save or make money: Financial newsletters that provide practical tips for budgeting or investing are examples here.
- Save you time: Curated newsletters that gather and present the best information so readers don’t have to do the research themselves.
- Entertain: This is often the hardest niche to crack, as it requires excellent storytelling.
Is the audience trending up?
You need to assess if your potential audience is growing or at least stable. Ask yourself: Will this audience be bigger in five years? Is their need for the information increasing? A successful newsletter targets an audience that is growing and whose informational needs are expanding over time.
Is this audience valuable financially?
There are two ways to monetize your newsletter: through indirect monetization (advertising) or direct monetization (subscriptions, selling your products, etc.). If your audience is highly valuable (i.e., high CPM), advertisers will be willing to pay well to reach them. If you plan to go the direct monetization route, you should feel confident that you can eventually generate at least seven figures annually through direct revenue channels.
Step 2: Setting your content strategy
After determining the niche, setting a clear content strategy is essential to establish your voice and value. Alex outlined six steps for defining this strategy:
Identify Your “Market of One”
You need to know exactly who you’re writing for. Define one specific person—your “market of one”—in as much detail as possible. For Morning Brew, Alex defined his market of one as a specific type of young professional: Aaron, a 32-year-old in private equity, who needs a reliable, conversational business update to sound knowledgeable at work.
Pro Tip: To refine your content, conduct user interviews with people similar to your “market of one.” Ask them:
- Where do you get your favorite content about this niche today?
- What makes your favorite content so good?
- What would a perfect newsletter look like and what job would it do for you?
- What topics or challenges keep you up at night?
These questions help you understand what your audience values and expects, guiding your content creation process.
Clarify the problem your newsletter solves
Great newsletters solve a specific problem. Are you helping your readers become better professionals? Are you saving them time? Identify the pain point clearly and concisely.
Define the newsletter’s goal
The goal should be succinct: “We help [market of one] avoid [specific problem] by [providing solution].” For instance, Morning Brew’s goal is to help young professionals avoid looking uninformed in front of their peers by offering a five-minute update on the biggest business news.
Determine the frequency
Depending on your niche, determine how often you should send your newsletter. For news-based newsletters, daily delivery is ideal. For evergreen topics, a weekly newsletter should already maintain audience interest and establish a habit.
Define content sections
Content sections in your newsletter should be consistent and reflect the solution to the audience’s problem. For Morning Brew, the newsletter starts with a brief introduction, offers long-form news stories, follows up with shorter items, and ends with a lighthearted “brain food” section to keep things engaging.
Establish a strong voice
Voice is what keeps your readers engaged. If someone were to read your content without your brand logo, would they still know it was you? That’s the level of distinctiveness you should strive for. Morning Brew’s voice is defined as “witty, deeply informed, and conversational,” ensuring that the content is not only informative but also enjoyable to read.
Pro Tip: How to develop your voice?
- Build a persona for your brand’s voice
- Define the personality traits of the brand
- Provide examples of each trait to ensure consistency
The risks of building only on rented land
Rented platforms, like YouTube or Twitter, can change their algorithms overnight, impacting your reach. With an email list, you have direct access to your subscribers, reducing risk and ensuring long-term engagement. Building your own email list is about creating a more sustainable, reliable way to connect with your audience.
Make sure to check them out!
- Smart Nonsense: A comic-strip-style newsletter with a unique take on storytelling.
- Marketing Examined by Alex Garcia: Focused on providing insights for marketers.
- Big Desk Energy by Tyler Denk: A creative and engaging perspective on business.
- Five Tweet Tuesday by Shaan Puri: Curated top tweets with insightful commentary.
- Money Stuff by Matt Levine: Offers deep analysis on finance, loved by industry professionals.
- Internet is Beautiful: Celebrates the quirky and fascinating aspects of the internet.
The trick is to analyze each of these and determine what unique methods they use to capture and engage their audience. For your newsletter, take the best elements and see how you can apply them to provide value to your subscribers.
The final steps: Build the team and create the content
While much of the talk focused on picking the right niche and establishing a content strategy, Alex also mentioned the importance of having a capable team to create and sustain the newsletter. Whether you’re doing it solo or assembling a small group, a clear editorial process and a dedicated approach are key.
Stop making excuses and start creating value
Ultimately, the key to building a successful newsletter is about understanding your audience and delivering consistent value. Stop making excuses about saturation or growth limitations. Instead, invest the time to pick the right niche, set up an effective content strategy, build an owned audience, and start creating something your subscribers genuinely look forward to!
If you want to watch the whole session, check it out here and make sure to join our upcoming RevGenius webinars on RevOps, GTM, marketing, sales and all in between!