Week 11: Pledges & Planning

Earlier this week, I was asked how long I’m going to run this experiment.

Initially, the idea was to run it for six to twelve months. I knew I was unlikely to generate any revenue in the first three months as I had no clear plan for a paid subscription and ads were unlikely to make any money until I had a healthy number of subscribers. I hoped I might sell a few books and get the odd consultation, but I wasn’t expecting to replace my other sources of income from these newsletters alone.

I knew growing a newsletter would be tough and that trying to grow three at once would be even tougher. If I only had one to focus on, I’m confident the numbers would be increasing much faster.

That said, I can’t keep using that as an excuse and I need to focus on growth next. It’s going in the right direction, but progress is considerably slower than I’d like.

So the next quarter will be heavily focused on growth and monetisation. After that, I’ll see where I am with it.

But even if the experiment ends, the publications will continue. I have no intention of scrapping any of my other newsletters.

Write With Lisa (WWL) - my new membership programme - is something I intend on running for years to come. I have big plans for it.

New Brew Thursday (NBT) is a passion project right now, but I’d like to grow the networking events and even do some in-person events. And eventually, I’d like to find a way to make a little beer money from it.

The Freelance Fairytale (TFF) replaced the daily emails that I started writing in 2021, and I have no intention of ending them (although I don’t know whether I’ll stick with Ghost).

And that leaves this newsletter.

Certainly for the next few months, I’ll continue it in its current form - weekly progress reports and then a monthly results update. But after the twelve months, it will likely change to a more general marketing theme. After all, once I’ve figured out how to attract subscribers consistently and make a steady amount of money, my updates would probably become a little samey.

So I guess the answer to the question of how long I’ll run this experiment for is indefinitely. I might not continue using all three platforms and I won’t continue sharing the results forever. But, for as long as I am in business, I will continue writing newsletters.

I recommend anyone with a business has some kind of newsletter. They are such a fantastic way of communicating with people who are actually interested in what you have to say. And if you need help getting started, hit reply and let me know.

Weekly Progress Report

Last week, I launched my new Substack publication and membership - Write With Lisa, and that is my priority right now.

My paid membership goes live on April 1st and I have three pledges so far. My goal is to have ten for the launch.

I’ve been visiting family this week so most of my time has been spent entertaining my nephew and niece.

That said, I did get chance to write a new blog post for WWL.

Apart from that (and this email), I haven’t done much of note. I wrote and scheduled posts for TFF in advance and I’ve shared the odd social media post.

Next week, I have a lot of consultations and client work (got to pay the bills somehow), but in between times I'll be working on getting more subscribers and pledges. plus, I’ll be signing up to a free trial of Beehiiv’s scale plan.

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That’s all from me for this week, but I would love to have you in my Write With Lisa membership.

As always, if you have any questions, hit reply and let me know. Thanks for reading.