How Newsletters Transform Careers
Over 40 newsletter creators answered how they grow professionally thanks to their newsletters
Newsletter Circle is the newsletter for newsletter creators.
👉 Every Sunday, you will read the unique journey of a different newsletter creator and learn more about how to start, grow and monetize your own newsletter.
👉 Every Wednesday, you will read articles and the list of curated resources to level up your newsletter business.
Running a newsletter can change your life
A newsletter is more than just a newsletter.
It has a transformative impact on creators’ lives, both personally and professionally.
And I'm not the only one saying this.
I asked the same question to over 40 newsletter creators I've interviewed so far:
How did building a newsletter contribute to your life professionally and personally?
Honestly, this question is my absolute favorite – it's like unwrapping a present every week. Because their answers are always encouraging – doors opening, fears fading away, and opportunities coming their way – all thanks to their newsletters.
Their responses help us comprehend why it's worth investing time and effort to build a newsletter despite all the challenges.
In today’s piece, I dived into how running a newsletter helped them grow professionally.
Based on the insights I gathered, here are 5 areas where newsletters can elevate your professional life.
1. Career Transformation
After starting their newsletters, several creators experienced a significant shift in their professional trajectory.
From writers to authors, from solo creators to entrepreneurs, the newsletter became a catalyst for change.
It led to creating best-selling books, consulting businesses, escaping corporate life, and even landing a dream job.
“Writing Mostly Metrics helped me land my first CFO gig and dream job at a high-growth tech company.
It got me on the radar of a VC firm that was recruiting on behalf of their portfolio companies. So by putting myself out there, and writing about things I knew really well and was very passionate about, it helped get me on the radar of like-minded people. I think they read my stuff and said wow this guy (nut) talks about financial metrics in his spare time. He’s passionate about the space.”
“It led to me escaping supply chain and landing a job at Product Hunt.
It showed me that you can make money on the internet.
It’s truly been the best.”
2. Networking and Connections
This one is mentioned by almost every creator I interviewed.
A newsletter is a powerful networking tool, connecting creators with like-minded individuals globally.
Opportunities arose, professional relationships developed, networks expanded, and doors opened.
“I’ve met so many incredible people through my podcast and newsletter.
Each conversation I have with an entrepreneur opens my mind to new ideas and concepts I deploy in my own life.
It’s definitely been an accelerant to my own growth and entrepreneurial journey.”
"People, people, people.
I met so many amazing people through the newsletter that I would never have in a million years. It still blows my mind."
“I’ve met a lot of cool people so far. I’ve met some of the biggest newsletter creators on Twitter through Exploding Ideas.
Almost every day, it feels like someone interesting is DMing me to ask about my strategies and connect.
It’s helped me expand my network of high-value people.”
3. Skill Development
Building and maintaining newsletters serves creators as a continuous learning process.
Thanks to running a newsletter, they developed skills such as writing, curating content, marketing, growth strategies, and team management.
“Seeing the newsletter as a business (rather than a hobby) and trying to grow it has taught me a lot. Marketing, growth, copywriting…
I’ve learned much more in a year than I could learn in a corporate job.”
"Professionally, it’s helped me develop skills like copywriting, understanding media businesses, social media.
It’s created a high-margin income stream."
“Building the Raising Empowered Kids newsletter has been an enlightening journey, both professionally and personally.
Professionally, it honed my skills in communication, research, and creativity, pushing me to stay updated with the latest parenting trends and psychological insights.
This endeavor sharpened my ability to distill complex ideas into relatable and engaging content, a skill invaluable in any professional setting.”
4. Personal Branding
The newsletter contributes to the development and enhancement of personal brands.
It provides a platform to showcase expertise, share thoughts, and gain recognition.
"It's had an impact on my personal brand and also isn't incredibly time consuming which has left me time to tinker on other things and spend less time working overall. My wife is a fan!"
“Blitz became a huge identity of who I was, my personal brand essentially has become the Blitz. So much of my personality is in the brand, and so much of the brand makes up my personality.
It’s opened the door to a lot of cool opportunities in life with athletes and events I’d only dreamed of experiencing.”
5. Creative Outlet
For many creators, the newsletter becomes a creative outlet, allowing freedom to explore topics and ideas of personal interest.
It also provides an avenue to switch from a solo creator mindset to an entrepreneurial mindset.
“I am so glad I decided to create My Sweet Dumb Brain.
It’s changed my life for the better.
It’s made me a stronger writer and thinker and has given me much-needed confidence in my creative abilities.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but I quickly landed on the managerial track in my career—editing and helping others to be better writers and journalists. It wasn’t until my husband died that I was reminded that now is the time to chase my writing dreams.
The fact that I get to share my thoughts, week after week, to thousands of willing readers—and get paid for it?!
It’s honestly surreal. It’s a dream come true.”
Wonder Tools is a creative outlet for me.
I used to write for Time Magazine, and after that other publications, and got into the rhythm of writing regularly. Now I have more freedom than ever before to choose what I write about.
Bonus: Nobody can take your audience from you
This is a no-brainer, yet one of the biggest advantages of building a newsletter-led online business: if your subscribers want to stay with you, no platform can steal them.
You own your audience → You own your business.
“I’ve made way more great contacts and friends who have newsletters than I ever did with websites, where people tend not to share their URLs for fear of having their niche copied or negative SEO.
And I sleep well at night knowing that Google can’t take away 50% of my traffic and revenue overnight in an algo update.”
That’s all for today. We’ll continue with the impact of running a newsletter on a personal level.
See you on Sunday.
Ciler
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