October Round-Up: Results So Far

The results so far, my thoughts on each platform, and focus for the month ahead.

Lisa Slater
October 31, 2025

October Results

Platform: Beehiiv

Publication: My Content Marketing Experiment

This is a weekly email (the one you are reading right now) that goes out every Friday. I share my thoughts, findings and learnings each week, with a results update at the end of each month.

Results this month:

Total subscribers: 65 (up 3 since last month)
Average open rate: 47.64% (up from 40.61% last month)
Financial investment this month: £37.67
Earnings (as a direct result of the publication): $2.40

Thoughts:

I don’t have much to say about this month’s results, but it’s nice to see a bit of growth. Most of that has come from a referral from another newsletter (link below), which is nice.

I added their newsletter to my recommendations a few months ago, and they recently reciprocated - I’ve had five new subs from their recommendation so far (hello if you are one of them 👋🏻). Here’s the link to their newsletter if you’re interested in hearing from them.

	Get Shit DoneA short & sweet newsletter for solopreneurs about productivity, buyer psychology, copywriting & email marketing to supercharge your business! 🚀 Delivered freshly squeezed to your inbox on a Wednesd...

I’m going to be changing my newsletter up slightly in the new year, but for the final two months, you won’t see any major changes.

Platform: Ghost

Publication: The Freelance Fairytale Newsletter (TFF)

This is a monthly newsletter that goes out every Monday. It replaced my old daily emails and my LinkedIn newsletter. I send a weekly email which includes my general observations and a ten-minute task. I also write a longer weekly web-only post.

Results this month:

Total subscribers: 36 (no change from last month)
Paid subscribers: 2 (no change from last month)
Average open rate (this month): 42% (down from 59% last month)
Financial investment (this month): £0
Stripe fees: £8
Earnings this month (as a direct result of the publication): £300

Thoughts:

My open rates have dropped again, but I’ve got a pretty good idea why. I recently switched to a custom email domain, so the emails now come from a different email address. The first few I sent went into my junk folder, so I can only assume this has happened for a few of my subs, and they just haven’t missed me yet. Not sure there’s much I can do about it other than hope they eventually check their junk folders and add me to the “not junk” list.

Website traffic has increased, which means my blog posts are attracting visitors to the site. Unfortunately, not many of these visitors are converting into subscribers. I do have subscribe forms on all my posts, but I may need to look at gating some of the content to encourage more sign-ups.

Platform: Substack

Publication: Write With Lisa (WWL)

This publication is all about writing, whether it’s for business, money or pleasure. I add one blog post per month (free to view) and write one free email that goes to all subscribers. I also create a monthly audio post and email for paid subs only.

Results so far:

Total subscribers: 21 (up 1 from last month)
Paid subscribers: 4 (no change)
Average open rate (last 30 days): 24% (down from 32% last month)
Financial investment: £0
Commission and fees: £4.26
Earnings this month: £30

Thoughts:

As I mentioned last month, I’ve lost interest in Susbtack, so I’ve barely done anything with it (other than the monthly blog post, emails and member-only content). I’ll be running it until the end of the year, but I can’t see myself keeping it up beyond that.

As I’ve said several times throughout the year, I think trying to grow four lists at once has played a big part in the slow growth. I’ve spread myself too thin and can’t give the publications the attention they need, so dropping one should help me make things more manageable.

Summary (for the year)

Totals for 2025	Beehiiv (MYCC)	Ghost (TFF)	Substack (WWL)	Medium	All
Free subs	65	36	21	164
Paid subs	0	2	4	N/A
Average open rate	51%	55%	35%	N/A
Costs & fees	£262.32	£215.04	£61.76	£39.67	£578.79
Earnings	£0	£800	£401.07	£75.60	£1289.54
Profit	-£262.32	£584.96	£339.31	£35.93	£710.75

When I started this experiment, I joked about how I could either end up as a six-figure guru or end up exhausted and broke. As the figures show, I’m neither. And despite not making six figures, I have enjoyed the whole process.

As we head into the last two months, I’ll be reflecting on what I’ve learnt, what I would have done differently, and where I go from here. And, of course, I’ll be creating an ebook all about it (she says optimistically 😬).

I haven’t got any major plans to change things up in the last two months, but I will be revealing my plans for next year across the final two monthly round-ups. I hope you’ll stay with me until the end of this experiment, but I also hope you’ll stay with me beyond that too (and I’ll be letting you know all the reasons why you should as soon I’ve figured them out 😉).

Upcoming events

If you’re interested in starting an email list (and growing faster than I have), I’m hosting a lunch and learn all about email marketing on Thursday 27th November. You can book for £15, or it’s included in my membership.

I’m also hosting a free event on Tuesday 30th December, focused on creating sustainable and realistic marketing strategies for 2026. I’d love you to join me - it’s free and will give you a break from watching cheesy Christmas films and gorging on selection boxes. Here’s the link to register.

I’d love to hear from you

Thank you for following my progress so far. I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to email me letting me know whether you find this content useful and what else you’d like to see.

And if you’d like some help with your marketing strategy, you can book 90 minutes with me for only £150.

That’s it for this week and the month. I’ll be back next week with more updates. Don’t forget to let me know your thoughts - I reply personally to every response.

Join my Membership

Get access to monthly lunch and learns, co-working sessions, personalised email support and more with my monthly membership for only £20 per month or £200 per year.

October Round-Up: Results So Far

The results so far, my thoughts on each platform, and focus for the month ahead.

October Results

Platform: Beehiiv

Publication: My Content Marketing Experiment

Platform: Ghost

Publication: The Freelance Fairytale Newsletter (TFF)

Platform: Substack

Publication: Write With Lisa (WWL)

Summary (for the year)

I’d love to hear from you

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October Round-Up: Results So Far

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