Why Every Personal Brand Needs a Newsletter
When I first started ArmaniTalks, my Twitter was growing at a rapid rate.
I was gaining 100 followers a day for a while.
Life was good.
One day, a friend told me to start creating a newsletter.
I thought, “Why?”
He explained that if I needed to get a direct message to my audience, having a newsletter would be a wise move.
I thought he was crazy.
Dude.
If I want to get a message to my audience, I can just tweet!
What’s the big deal?
That’s when he explained the difference between an audience and my audience.
The Difference Explained
On social media, people are flooded with content.
When someone sees your tweet, it appears in their feed, surrounded by tons of other posts.
Even though these people follow you, they’re not really following you.
They’re following their feed.
On the other hand, when you have an email list, the game changes.
When someone opens your email, they’re only reading you.
Sure, there are other emails in their inbox, but when they’ve opened yours, it’s your content in front of them and nothing else.
Plus, getting on your email list is an intentional move.
In the digital world, one added step is like 10 extra steps.
When someone types in their email address, it shows intent.
This intent represents trust and curiosity.
Most people hate spam.
They associate email with spam.
But if they give you their email anyway, it means they genuinely want to hear from you.
Building Your Newsletter
Newsletters might seem like an outdated concept, but it depends on your intent when building a personal brand.
Ask yourself:
- Are you trying to become famous?
- Are you trying to build a business?
Maybe it’s both.
But you need to figure out what’s more important.
For me, I want to share art first and build a business around that.
Fame is secondary.
If it happens, it happens.
With this understanding, I realized I couldn’t rely on algorithms to promote my work.
What if I say the wrong thing one day? What if the same platforms that support me decide to ban me the next day?
After considering these risks, I decided to build a newsletter.
A newsletter gives me an audience I fully own.
Even if a newsletter platform bans me, I can take my email list elsewhere.
Email subscribers are your most loyal audience.
I’d argue that 10,000 newsletter subscribers are more valuable than 100,000 YouTube subscribers because the email list is yours.
How to Grow a Newsletter
I’m not an expert at this, but I’ll share what worked for me:
- Start Posting Online
Build an audience by consistently creating valuable content. - Create a Free Product
Once you’re known for something, make a free product your audience will find valuable.
My brand focuses on communication skills, so I created a free product called 6 Ways to Become a Confident Communicator.
I give it away in exchange for email addresses.
Don’t just slap something together for the sake of having a freebie.
Make sure your free product is high-quality.
Treat it like something you could sell for $20.
When people download a good product, they associate positive feelings with your brand.
Slowly but surely, your email subscribers will grow.
Posting at Your Desired Interval
When I started my newsletter, I wrote one email per week.
Over time, I increased this to daily emails.
Here’s why this interval works for me:
- It gives me daily writing practice.
- The entries from my newsletter become material for books, like my 101 Short Stories and Insights to Improve Communication Skills series.
If I write daily, I can create about three books a year.
Additionally, daily emails help me identify my true fans.
The ones who consume anything I put out.
Don’t Be Upset When People Unsubscribe
Unsubscribes are part of the game.
I remember using Aweber, which allowed unsubscribers to leave comments explaining why they left.
Some comments were mean, but I appreciated the feedback.
It made me care less about other people’s opinions and more about improving my craft.
That said, constructive criticism can be an opportunity to refine your skills.
Use it wisely, but don’t dwell on unsubscribes too long.
As content creators, we need to develop a thick skin.
- Don’t let positive opinions inflate your ego.
- Don’t let negative opinions crush your spirit.
Focus on your message, serve your core audience, and ignore the haters.
Building a newsletter is one of the smartest moves a content creator can make.
Platforms can become unpredictable, but your newsletter will remain a reliable way to connect with your audience.
If you’d like more insights on content creation, subscribe to my free daily newsletter
– ArmaniTalks 
