Most newsletter growth advice focuses on the first 100 subscribers: tell your friends, post on social media, add a signup form to your website. That is fine for getting started. But it does not scale.
Here is the playbook for sustained growth at every stage.
Stage 1: 0-500 Subscribers (The Foundation)
At this stage, every subscriber is hand-won. Do not try to automate growth. Focus on personal outreach and high-conversion channels.
What works: - Personal emails to your network: "I started a newsletter about [topic]. Here is what it covers. Would you be interested?" Conversion rate: 30-50%. - LinkedIn posts about your newsletter topic (not "subscribe to my newsletter" posts, but actual content that demonstrates the value). Add a soft CTA in the comments. - Website popup or banner with a clear value proposition. Not "Subscribe to our newsletter." Instead: "Get weekly insights on [specific topic] that [specific audience] actually uses." - Cross-promotion with peers who have similar audiences but non-competing products.
What does not work yet: - Paid ads (too expensive per subscriber at this scale) - Referral programs (not enough base to generate meaningful referrals) - SEO-driven content (takes 6+ months to generate meaningful organic traffic)
Stage 2: 500-2,000 Subscribers (Building Momentum)
You have product-market fit for your content. People who read your newsletter like it. Now you need to reach more of them.
What works: - Guest posts and newsletter swaps: Write a guest issue for a larger newsletter in a related space. Their audience gets a taste of your content, and the interested ones subscribe. - Lead magnets: Create a high-value resource (template, checklist, framework) and gate it behind an email signup. Promote it on social media and through partnerships. - Speaking and podcasts: Every podcast appearance or conference talk should end with a newsletter CTA. "If you found this useful, I go deeper on these topics in my weekly newsletter." - Social proof: Share subscriber milestones, reader testimonials, and engagement metrics. People want to join something that others value.
Stage 3: 2,000-10,000 Subscribers (Scaling Systems)
Now you need repeatable, scalable acquisition channels.
What works: - Referral programs: At this scale, referral programs generate meaningful growth. Offer incentives that your audience actually wants (exclusive content, community access, swag) for referring new subscribers. - Paid newsletter recommendations: Platforms like Beehiiv, Substack, and SparkLoop allow you to pay per subscriber acquired from partner newsletters. Cost: $2-$5 per subscriber. Highly targeted. - Content SEO: Blog posts optimized for search terms your audience is searching for, with newsletter signup CTAs embedded throughout. - Paid social ads: At this scale, you can test small ad budgets ($500-$1,000/month) to find profitable acquisition channels.
Stage 4: 10,000+ Subscribers (Compounding Growth)
At this stage, growth becomes self-reinforcing if your content is strong.
What works: - Viral loops: Design your content to be shareable. Every issue should have at least one insight, statistic, or takeaway that readers want to forward to a colleague. - Community building: Create a space (Slack, Discord, Circle) for your most engaged readers. Community members become evangelists. - Brand partnerships: Larger brands want access to your audience. Trade sponsorship revenue or cross-promotion for subscriber growth. - Audience segmentation: Send different content to different segments. Higher relevance = higher engagement = more word-of-mouth growth.
The Constant: Content Quality
No growth tactic survives bad content. If your newsletter is not genuinely valuable to readers, every subscriber you acquire will churn within 60 days. Growth strategies amplify what is already working. They do not fix what is broken.
Ted handles both sides: writing content that retains subscribers and implementing growth strategies that acquire new ones. On the Growth and Scale plans, subscriber acquisition is an active part of Ted's work.