Lessons from 100 Editions

// The Newsletter

I can't quite believe it myself so don't even think about sending me a message and saying congratulations or "I didn't think you'd do it" because when I started almost two years ago, my only focus was on 'Just one more' and never about the 100th edition.

The landscape for me has changed massively since I started writing this newsletter - life has become something I'm enjoying again and I think that carries through in my writing, it's a process which I enjoy every week and I know that even though others may read it and a lot of my subscribers don't - I know that there is value for me in writing down my thoughts in a way which feels beneficial to just one person.

The Clique has become a part of my brand in a way that other things haven't - I started a little company in lockdown called 'SalesChange' and it grew an Instagram to nearly 10k followers (it's dwindled over the last three years to somewhere around 8k) and I thought that was 'me' - it was a brand which stood out and I had a little affection towards it but 'The Clique' has now surpassed that and I bloody love writing it.

Writing a newsletter can be tough - there are piftalls and disasters waiting to happen and if I can share just a handful of lessons with you - I hope that you get something from it and start your own because writing, just once a week does amazing things for you.

// Lesson One

I'm going to say something now which you've probably heard a million times before but I'm going to say it because it's true - consistency gets easier with time.

You have to go through the hardship in the early days, you have to write in the fallow periods and make yourself become creative in order to push through and become a writer.

When I started (and if you look at my early writing it's true) - I was writing about nothing. There was no opinion, there was no voice and there certainly weren't any readers so it didn't matter. I set out to write a newsletter and I knew that if I just did one more week then I might find just one more reader to write to and that's all that mattered.

It's really tough to write something when you're 12 weeks in and you've only got 7 subscribers - I know that feeling all too well because I've been there. Anyone who isn't a celebrity and who starts a newsletter from scratch has been there and it's when you get past that and you're suddenly at 10 people, 20 people and then it jumps to 50 - that's when you start to land and that's exactly how it should be.

When I first started, I thought for a brief second that if I just wrote something that people would want to read it but it's never about that - it's about getting better every week and showing up for those who do want to read what you have to say.

Writing a newsletter is NOT social media. You can't just write a great hook, slam a couple of words down on a page and get that dopamine hit when it lands because there are no likes, no follow buttons and you rarely get comments - in fact, it's like writing to no-one sometimes (especially in those early days) and thats fine - it's how it's supposed to be.

The more you write, the more you build up a pattern, the more you want to write because you know it's fun and then fun turns into a wonderful habit and you end up on your 100th edition.

// Lesson Two

The temptation to find that perfect prompt to throw into ChatGPT and have it write something for you is ALWAYS there and with the ever increasing efficiency and creative output that it can generate, it won't ever go away.

I've been tempted to shortcut the process like many other people but I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that every single word that you read in my newsletter blog is written by me and only me.

It's a badge of honour when someone says to me "I read your article this week and it sounds just like you" and thats because I try to write as I would speak it - I want people to feel like they're receiving a kind of monologue from me in a way. They should be listening to me as they read this in their heads and thats the space I'm pitching for.

A.I will always be a temptation - but the thought of taking my last 10 editions of The Clique and giving them to ChatGPT to 'find how I talk' is not something that I will ever do. I would be too scared of losing my sense of enjoyment and creative output and that's the whole point of this.

Some people start newsletters because they see other people with newsletters being successful and 'selling' shit - they think that a newsletter will bring them immense wealth and fame because it's worked for others but the thing about the 'others' is that they've been at it for YEARS and they've learned the way that they can connect with their audience - if you're just starting out and everything that you publish is A.I and you don't know how to communicate through writing then how can you connect with your audience in the future, how can they tell it's you and more importantly, how can you have an opinion when it's not you that's written it.

By the way, I feel like this about Linkedin posts too.. don't use A.I - just get better at writing. Don't skip the hard work.

// Lesson Three

You started your newsletter because you saw the benefits from someone else - you saw that they were able to land their message and you thought that you wanted to start one too.. it had always been at the back of your mind, that you wanted to write for people and you thought to yourself.. I'm going to give that a go.

And then you start...

You write, you've got all the excitement, all the adrenaline from writing your first edition and you send it out. Then again... and again.. and it keeps going. You're on your 20th edition and for 20 weeks you've written something that feels like you're gaining traction.

But then... someone else starts their newsletter..

And you feel like you might lose a little bit of your space out there, that they've come for your audience and their attempt at starting their newsletter will be better than yours. And they have the same fanfare from others - they get the plaudits and their first edition feels like it landed better than yours..

Another 10 weeks goes by, they're still publishing and you're now on your 30th edition.

Then another new voice crops up.. by week 33, you're competing with two 'new' newsletters.. and then another.. but then the second one that started - they fail to reach 5 newsletters and they've stopped.. then the 3rd one who started doesn't even make it past two editions.

The one who started when you were at 20 editions, they make it to your 46th edition and then they stop.. but another.. and another..

And so the pattern goes - you'll always have someone starting a newsletter and there will always be that sense of judgement from you because you now know the lessons you've learned and you know what they can do better but you never ever have to worry - other newsletters will join in and some will leave, some will definitely stay but if you're in it for the long haul, no-one will surpass you.

Your saving grace is that you started first - you'll always celebrate those big milestones before anyone else.

// Lesson Four

I said this to someone the other day - I was asked what my newsletter was about this week and when I told them, I was pretty clear on what the subject was and how I was going to communicate it but that only happens because I'd been thinking about the email for several weeks.

You see, when you're starting out, you're looking for things to write about and when you get an idea, you splurge it onto paper and you hope that it lands.. the longer you write, the more ideas that come around and then you have the time and space to form the idea into something thats worth reading.

I write my newsletters on the morning they are sent - these blog articles are written on the Tuesday morning (for example, right now it's 5:52am) and do that for two reasons - firstly, I like the routine - it's my space and time to write and secondly, because I know that's my time to write, I have time every single week to think about what I have to write and how I can form my ideas into something cohesive.

Take this newsletter for example - I knew that it was going to be my 100th edition and slowly but surely, I've been thinking about how I can structure it, how I can share something worth reading and what that looks like.

Some weeks, I have an idea for a newsletter article but I have no idea on how to communicate it and it rolls around in my head, like a little snowball - it gathers ideas and stuff and the momentum builds until it's picked up enough weight to mean something.

Eventually you pull a little thread, land a sentence or a sense of how and it all comes out (last weeks article was just that) - the writing of a newsletter each week becomes less about the publishing and more about the processing and understanding how you can communicate your message - that's a super powerful thing to learn.

// Lesson Five

And finally, the final lesson from 100 editions.

Every single week - you're writing to a small group of people and every single week - you're hoping that what you say and how you say it will resonate with someone so much that they take the time to send you a DM or they click the reply button and they tell you how much it meant to them.

Email newsletters connect with people and when they do, the dopamine hit you get from a hand crafted reply or a DM is waaaay better than any nonchalant 'like' button.. it takes effort to engage with something that someone else has written and when you get that little note - it's big.

I've lost count of the times that people have spoken to me about my newsletter - that someone has taken the time to say 'I really enjoyed your writing last week' means that I get to nod, grin in a weird way and say "thanks" - but deep down, it's what makes you want to write the next edition.

So I guess the final lesson here is that you connect with people when you write - sounds lame but it's true, the fact that you can spend 30-60 minutes putting your thoughts down onto paper and write something that takes someone about 7 minutes to read and then they take the time to say thankyou - makes it really special.

I won't be stopping any time soon, i've still got plenty of 'snowballs' rolling around inside my head that I want to write about and when it's time to throw them, I hope that they land just perfectly.

Thanks for being here - see you at the 200th edition in a couple of years.