Newsletters...
I researched about newsletters so you don't have to. In this post, I briefly dive into the history of newsletters as well as my thoughts on the state of the industry.
Photo by Mr Cup / Fabien Barral on Unsplash
Newsletters…
Everyone you know seems to have one these days, and those who don’t, soon will.
I started this newsletter after spending a vast amount of time searching for a place where I could simply write down things I’d learned. Before creating this newsletter, I spent time on Medium, where I would soon come to realize that my content was not my own(Medium’s paywall primarily prioritized a select few content creators). I even spent time on Wattpad when I first began writing (Not my proudest moment. I was clueless!). Eventually, I would start this newsletter with exactly 0 people on my mailing list. Boy am I proud of how far I’ve come.
Since then I’ve written a lot and through my writing, have gotten to know a lot of fascinating personalities. The nature of writing and the research that goes into it demands that someone learns. As such, writing feels like the best active recall mechanism. It’s not always easy, but it sure is rewarding.
This week I contemplated newsletters. I wanted to know more about them.
Believe it or not, despite being a content writer myself, I had only subscribed to two other newsletters. Therefore, I wanted to know more about the medium and the state of newsletters today.
Newsletters: A brief history.
The history of newsletters is the history of newspapers which is consequently the history of news itself.
The earliest examples of newsletters were used as methods of communication between ancient Roman officials. Later in the Middle Ages, they would serve as information distribution mechanisms between traders.
According to Britannica:
Traders’ newsletters contained commercial information on the availability and prices of various goods and services, but they also could include political news, just as the contemporary financial editor must consider the broader sweep of events likely to influence economic transactions. The commercial newsletter thus became the first vehicle of “serious” news, with its attempt at regular, frequent publication and concern with topical events generally.
This method of communicating would morph into newspapers and eventually become the modern newsletter. I would proclaim modern newsletters to be strikingly similar to the early ones that existed ages ago. A quick look at The Pomp letter by Anthony Pompliano, or Stratechery by Ben Thompson easily elucidates this. A couple of stats here, some musings on the latest business news there, a few sprinkles of insight (to taste) and voila, a modern newsletter!
Excerpt from Stratechery by Ben Thomspon.
The popularity of newsletters comes during a period of mass decentralization. Mainstream media as an industry is dying. The Covid19 pandemic severely impacted the business models of media organizations hence, causing many to furlough a lot of their employees. In the pursuit of stability and a sense of “mastery over one’s destiny”, a lot of journalists switched over to newsletters.
As Oliver Franklin-Wallis writes in this article for Wired:
With the traditional media industry cutting budgets and making mass layoffs, individual writers are turning to newsletters to, in effect, become media brands themselves.
But this isn’t the only reason. Political tensions are forcing people to seek mediums where they can express themselves more freely. For weeks, there’s been heavy discussion on the topic of cancel culture, something even I’ve written about. Authors with socially controversial opinions are seeking outlets that make them immune to cancellation.
On the other hand, many are tired of the way traditional businesses are run and simply seek alternate avenues to express themselves. In short, a lot of people want to join the Passion Economy!
The nature of work is changing, and the growing popularity of newsletters embodies this shift.
So what exactly makes a good newsletter?
I’m still relatively new to all of this. As such, I wanted to understand the makings of a great newsletter.
I subscribed to some of the most influential voices online ( and by online I mean Twitter…only twitter… don’t blame me I’m addicted.. help!). I would then go through a couple of the top newsletters on Substack and other self-hosted newsletters and would see for myself what they were doing so well.
The most surprising thing to me was that a lot of newsletters seemed like… well… news. Many approached writing like daily updates on current affairs but from a niche perspective.
Matt Taibbi writes the newsletter “Reporting” and it primarily focuses on the culture war with an in-depth analysis of the nature of political issues. His takes are always “current”.
Sinocism by Bill Bishop concerns itself specifically with the political affairs of China. The newsletter’s takes are also always “current”.
Nathan Tankus gained notoriety by guiding readers on the economic implications of the COVID19 crisis from a monetary theory standpoint. The best part of it all? This man has yet to earn his bachelor’s degree. And yet, he writes articles that influence the thoughts of some who may influence policy.
The beauty of the passion economy is that it functions contrary to the way the “attention economy works”.
As Benjamin Vaughan explains in this Forbes article:
The passion economy was largely born out of the waning interest put in the attention economy. Today’s consumers have few illusions about how social media giants are profiting from their attention, and the practices are beginning to tire them. The methods used have become obvious or well-known and they fail to stimulate consumers as an audience and according to our research, 52 percent of respondents are desperate to cut the cord and spend less time on their social accounts. Emerging out of this frustration, the passion economy has created space for interactions that are based on sincere, shared passions and interests.
He goes on to emphasize that from the perspective of the creator:
The passion economy creates the possibility of individuals turning their passions into livelihoods. Whether it’s playing video games, running fitness classes, or selling niche fashion items, the passion economy establishes an audience at scale for creators to engage with and the possibility of self-employment for more and more individuals.
In contrast to the attention economy where the widest possible appeal is needed to profit, the passion economy rewards niche, differentiated products and services. The more personalisation or variety there is within a creator’s offering, the better value it offers to niche communities. In fact, our survey highlighted that more than 70 percent of Brits say they’d join one or more community groups related to a personal passion or interest.
The Passion Economy is in many ways, the realization of the entrepreneur’s dream. To work for no one but oneself and to do what one loves. As such the explosion of newsletters also depicts a desire for more meaningful work; not jobs, but work.
Another trend I observed was that there were two different ways in which newsletters are used. There are the generalists who despite being niche figures had more avenues with which they could express their work.
An example of this is David Perell.
David writes on… writing. More specifically, he specializes in the art of writing online. David owns a blog where he writes in-depth articles on various topics. He also owns a podcast. His newsletters though are far more restrained in their output and usually inform his audience about the projects he’s pursuing. He leverages his newsletter and his twitter account as a means to divert a steady stream of traffic to his main blog and more generally his courses.
Jack Butcher, creator of Visualize Value writes a newsletter as well. But he primarily focuses on well… visualizing value; that is, creating and managing social media content that makes it easy to understand insightful concepts through minimalist illustrations. His newsletters are brief, but they still carry over the one-two punch of insight his Instagram posts manage to achieve.
An example of the sort of images of Jack designs.
The generalists(which I’ll refer to as Newsletter Niche type-B) focus on evergreen content. Their newsletters are far less well-known than their other pieces of content. There isn’t an overt focus on current affairs. They also use their newsletters as a way to promote their other work.
The other set of writers(Newsletter Niche type-A) are like those I mentioned before ( Nathan, Matt, and Bill). These are the specialists. They have one primary medium and on it, they create flash floods of insightful content around super-niche yet important topics. The focus isn’t necessarily on being “ever-green” but more on being up-to-date on topics of great relevance.
The biggest difference between these two sets of newsletter publishers is the length of the articles. I learned that the average length of newsletter posts can tell a lot about the target audience. Jack(Newsletter Niche type-B) wants to fascinate his audience while teaching them. His newsletters aren’t long but they are vivid. David(Newsletter Niche type-B) wants to keep his audience updated on projects. Nathan on the other hand(Newsletter Niche type-A) provides an intellectual guide, a sort of weekly lecture on the economic issues caused by the pandemic.
The earlier(NN type-B) has the advantage of being able to manage their energy. If you create little, yet still provide immense value, you stand the overall benefit of having enough time for yourself while also expanding the nature of your work.
That said, the latter(NN type-A) has a significant advantage in terms of their influence. Yes, David is well known on twitter. But someone like Nathan or Taibbi runs content that may affect a society’s perception of the cultural issues of their time. This isn’t to dismiss David’s content in any way. His writings are phenomenal. I’m just trying to depict the differences in the way people approach newsletters.
Nathan is known to have in his audience, some of the most influential Think-Tankers, journalists and Wall-Street Economists.
Of course, the strength of influence a newsletter writer may have has a lot to do with the topics they write about. Writing about the US Federal Reserve and subsequently, Monetary Theory(topics that are seemingly complex but are also very relevant in today’s environment) provides you far more leverage within a given time than writing a newsletter on scientific topics. But let’s say you wrote about the latest scientific discoveries instead. Let’s say every new post emphasizes developments in Image Classification. Your leverage is increased due to the fact that you provide information that can immediately be used.
Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie recently told Business Insider this:
What makes a publication special is something that very specifically serves a need that is not being well-served elsewhere. That could mean writing about corporate accountability through a political lens or a briefing sheet about the most important news of the day affecting China.
There’s also the element of consistency. Publishers(usually a single person) have a fixed schedule through which they write. This can be an article a week, a month, or a year(rarely ever this).
By far it would seem journalists who already had audiences have a leg up when it comes to converting already massive readerships into expanding readerships on newsletters. It’s either them or people with sizeable Twitter followings.
But it shouldn’t deter anyone from starting a newsletter. A unique perspective is all one needs to get going.
To summarize all of this, my greatest realization was that great newsletter niches well. An even greater newsletter niches within a niche, and then provides up-to-date content on topics of significant social relevance.
A mouthful, I know. But reread until it sticks.
Conclusion.
After studying newsletters this week, I learned I had ways to go with my own newsletter. I have yet to focus on the one thing I’m truly interested in; a task I find complicated by the fact that I have a billion interests with new ones every week.
I know I like science. I know I like tech and futurology. I know I like politics with a slight tinge of economic theory here and there.
I hope to find my voice and in the process effectively merge my interests into something unique.
Amongst other things, I realized people are seeking new ways to live, new ways to express themselves, and more specifically new ways to drown out the noise.
If you do choose to start a newsletter, start by providing content that allows people to do all three in your own unique way.
I definitely wish I knew this earlier, but feel no worse of from diving headfirst.
If you enjoyed this article, and aren’t a subscriber yet, what are you waiting for!? Subscribe down below.
Think this article is worthy of discussion? Share it far and wide.
You can also support me in crypto by donating:
Want to learn more about newsletters?
Here are some resources:
The media layoffs and what’s driving them.
Why your own blog needs a newsletter.
The Rise of The Passion Economy.
Newsletters could be the next (and only) hope to save the media.
A bit about the rise of Nathan Tankus.
Thanks for reading and till next time!