🌟 Deciding your destiny

Happy 2025, everyone! Nothing beats that crisp and clean feel of a new year. Failed 2024 resolutions? Forget about it. That's in the past, and we all know the past can't hurt you. 😀 (Pay no attention to the giant elephant in the room.) In celebration of a bright future, this newsletter is about assembling an indestructible audience, deciding which newsletter style is best for your work, and adapting to new content challenges. Let's go!

In this week's issue 📨

• The future of audience building
• 6 types of newsletters for any niche
• How to produce content in 2025

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Alive and well

This year, it's easier than ever to grow an audience using the power of social media. Thanks to apps like TikTok (RIP?) and its robust For You page, social algorithms have switched from "How many followers do you have?" to "What are you interested in?", enabling small creators and independent publishers to flourish quickly. Psst! This is where your high-quality, engaging, and relevant writing comes in.

Dan Koe, author of The Koe Letters, breaks down how to build a loyal audience in 2025 by creating an irresistible newsletter.

Your writing

• To begin building your newsletter, decide what kind of copy matters most. If you want to gain traffic and grow your email list, focus on short-form writing. If you'd like to establish trust and authority, aim for long-form content. Both matter, but which is best as a starting point for your publication?
• Think of short-form content as building your audience and long-form content as keeping your audience. Relying on just one can limit your growth and long-term online presence, so find a balance between the two that will see new fans and satisfy your existing ones.

Your strategy

• Use social media as a testing ground for your email ideas, then turn your most triumphant social posts into newsletters. Did one of your newsletters hit the ground running? Mold it into a free download or paid service. If that goes well, evolve it into a physical product, book, or piece of software.
• If you're starting fresh with a low follower count, don't depend on the algorithm to do all the work. Instead, start networking right away with popular posters who can like, comment on, or share your content with their audience. You need to connect with real people to get real results.

Your promotion

• Rather than promoting your products or services using social media, promote your newsletter. Include a subscribe link to your newsletter in your social media account descriptions, about pages, and even under your posts or stories. Promote your newsletter everywhere!
• Your newsletter should be the place to promote your products so your readers stay subscribed. Make your newsletter unique, engaging, and personal so they'll love reading it. In 2025, a robust email list of loyal subscribers is infinitely more valuable than your social media follower count.

Your success

• Realistically, your newsletter audience growth will experience ups and downs throughout your creator career. Your subscriber count could be flat for a few months, but then you may see exponential expansion within a week. As long as you stay patient, flexible, and passionate, you'll get there.
• When you write about a topic that does well, stay the course! Don't try new things once you've found a topic that clicks. Post about it until the cows come home. You'll know when it's time to pivot once interest starts to plateau. Then, you can take what you've learned from that success to create new ones.

Interesting stories & ideas 📚

• The 2025 Notebook archives – Digiday
• Meta flips its misinformation switch – Platformer
• Grow without social media – Growth in Reverse
• Journalism and news media trends – Press Gazette
• 25 predictions for 2025 – Digital Native

Just my type

Time is a precious resource that not everyone has. Whether you're a publisher with a large workload and small team or a subscriber who only has time to check email once a week, there never seems to be enough time to get things done. If you're looking to build better content faster with less work in 2025, it might be time to revisit the style of newsletter you really want to create.

Let's examine the different types of newsletters that can help streamline your publishing process so you and your subscribers are satisfied.

#1 Reporting newsletters are journalistic in nature and can be run by a solo writer or a team of creators. Readers see immense value in a unique viewpoint or exclusive coverage they can't find anywhere else.

#2 Analysis newsletters are run by experts in their niche who create long-form posts that include concrete data and their own opinions. If you're interested in only publishing weekly or monthly, consider analytical deep dives.

#3 Curation newsletters (like this one) offer subscribers a shortlist of topic-focused links and a summary of each one. As the volume of content on the internet continues to grow, curation creators are there to help find the gems.

#4 Artistic newsletters tend to be built around a single creator's unique voice, perspective, and style. You can publish these posts at a wide range of frequencies, content lengths, and value offerings, so choose this path for lots of flexibility.

#5 Practical newsletters are short and straightforward. If you want to teach people how to do XYZ, you only have to give them some quick ABCs. Brief, weekly editions are standard practice here if you're looking for simple and sweet.

#6 Hybrid newsletters combine the best elements from any of the other types to create work that's truly unique. The trick with the hybrid model is not to overwhelm your readers with content. Set boundaries and stick to them.

Worth your while

The content landscape has drastically changed in the last few years. Google has revamped its search algorithms, AI has dramatically increased the number of published articles, and marketing teams have experienced a wave of layoffs. Is continuing to publish content in 2025 even worth it? Well, yes! Don't count out your content just yet, for a time of turmoil can be a time of tremendous growth.

John Doherty, founder of EditorNinja, takes a hard look at what's changed with online publishing in 2025 and how you can adapt.

‣ Focus less on SEO content and aim for more in-depth expertise. If you're writing with your Google ranking in mind to drive traffic, this approach may not work as well as it used to, thanks to an overabundance of AI. Try writing with a strong point of view and using personal human experiences instead.

‣ Remold your content so that it stands out. If you're still writing the same type of article you've been writing for the past few years, the time to switch it up is now. You don't have to change your niche, just enhance your work by deeply studying everything about it, connecting with other experts, and driving industry trends.

‣ Utilize multiple marketing channels like social media, email, video, referrals, and affiliates. SEO isn't dead, but if you aim to build a robust subscriber list for your newsletter, you'll need a utility belt full of solutions. Once you find one or more channels that work, step on the gas!

‣ Think about people and not algorithms when you're brainstorming content ideas. What do you like to read? How does your favorite content make you feel? Inject more soul into your work by voicing your opinions and interviewing experts. Don't short-change your audience in the name of SEO.

‣ Change with the times, and your content marketing strategies will still feel fresh in 2025. Getting your work seen by the masses is more complex than ever, but you still have the power to fulfill your creative dreams by publishing relevant, relatable, and real work. Continuously adapting will always be key.

‣ Have more fun! Fun? Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. If content creation is starting to feel like a chore this year, take a step back and reassess your reasoning for why you put your hands on the keyboard. Revisit the last time writing felt truly fun and bring those vibes into 2025.

Curator's pick ✍️

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