5 tactics to grow your first 100 subscribers

Read time: ~3.25 mins

Requirement: 2/3 social media channels

Hey, what’s up?

The last few weeks have been a bit tense, my dog had an operation, and she hasn’t been able to play or enjoy life properly. There’s been constant dressing changes and care.

The good news is, in 2–3 days, she should be fine again.

Anyway, I’ve also gotten a new SIM card to keep my personal and private life separate, so I can focus more on bringing you value. Shall we start?

90% of newsletters die within the first 2 months. Due to:

I can help you solve these problems, but not all at once. We’ll tackle them step by step, week by week.

And I won’t let you quit too soon. To give you a boost today, this edition is about one of the important milestones: getting your first 100 subscribers.

Not 1,000. Not 500. Just 100.

The first 100 are always the hardest.

I know it quite well, I spent 3 months getting mine.

Because Insideletter didn’t exist back then to guide me.

Start small today, and build big tomorrow.

Here are the 5 ways to get your first 100 subscribers.

Matt MacGarry, in his newsletter, mentioned emailing every freaking person you know and asking every person you have in your social network to subscribe to your newsletter.

I didn’t do it because I felt they weren’t even my ideal readers. Why should I ask them to subscribe? Won’t it backfire?

But I was wrong, I needed that initial boost to understand how my subscribers are perceiving me.

Well, so you need to start with everyone you know. Office colleagues, friends, family, everyone.

Template you can use:

Hey [name], I’ve started a newsletter, and it can help you with

If it sounds like something of your interest, please subscribe. Thanks, your [nickname or something they love to use for you]

It’s easy, but you need to play the volume game here.

If I were hiring for a content marketer, I wouldn’t be impressed by the person who has written it all in their bio, from social media expert to paid ads expert.

I’d look for those who have clearly mentioned that they are content marketers and what they have done.

Similarly, no one wants to read a newsletter which has no clear value proposition.

Let’s take an example:

A newsletter to help you grow your business. meh

A newsletter that helps busy corporate employees lose 5 kg of belly fat in 4 weeks, without heavy workouts, delivered twice a week at 9:00 AM

See the difference?

Clarity matters. Positoning matters.

I don’t trust 99% people online.

Some of them are faking, lying or hiding the real facts.

So, it’s quite difficult to trust anyone online.

And to establish yourself in the crowd, you need ‘trust’.

Trust comes from social proof.

No matter how small it is, show it to people.

Someone loved your copy? Take a SS and post it with a good caption.

Someone forwarded your newsletter? do the same.

Also, in your newsletter landing page or while promoting, use this line:

“Join X+ readers learning X”. It makes you more credible.

People use AI and write the same crap content every day.

Don’t be like them, write with your expertise. If you don’t have expertise, learn it well, borrow it from someone else.

However, ensure the content is authentic and not an AI-generated cliché.

Make content people love to read and share.

Also, do these:

Most newsletters never push the readers to forward it to others. That’s a huge mistake.

You’ve to make it super easy and ask the reader to share it.

Do these:

I always love to give more:

So here’s something very underrated.

Beg for feedback. Yes, ask everyone and anyone how you can improve it, it’ll make them feel more involved, and you’ll improve very quickly.

Thanks for reading today’s issue. Hope it helps you take that first step.

Yesterday I asked you to choose your newsletter pillars. Have you chosen them yet?

Well, today you need to share with me your aim with your newsletter. I’ll wait for your reply.

See you on Saturday.

Ta-da 👋🏻

Anirban ‘helping you to get your first 100’ Das.