
Ask HN: How do I increase my newsletter subscribers? - eibrahim
I am not going to put a link because I really want good answers without coming across is self-promoting.<p>Newsletter topic is front-end development.
Current subscribers = 1700
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SyneRyder
Indie Hackers just did a podcast with Scott Keyes of Scott's Cheap Flights on
that topic:

[https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/020-scott-keyes-of-
scot...](https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/020-scott-keyes-of-scotts-cheap-
flights)

But in his case, his subscribers mostly came from a story Business Insider did
about his two month round-the-world trip on frequent flyer points. The story
took him from 300 subscribers to 5000 overnight. (Sounds like he's now over
150,000 paid subscribers). Another takeaway is that he doesn't used paid ads,
and puts the money towards on-theme giveaways instead. Since the newsletter is
about cheap flights, the giveaway was for free international flights.

In another HN thread, someone suggested looking at the Cooper Press mediakit
to compare your metrics, most of their lists are in the 10,000 - 20,000
subscriber range and 'only' grow at 100/week:
[https://cooperpress.com/advertising/](https://cooperpress.com/advertising/)

I've been trying to get subscribers to my own
[http://indieconference.com](http://indieconference.com) list, but a couple of
HN comments are the only traction I ever got. I thought monitoring HN
automatically for opportunities to mention would help, but it was a colossal
waste of time - lots of noise and very few relevant moments to mention. So
don't spend time on that :)

~~~
nicholas73
It should be emphasized that there is clear value in signing up for this case,
with no effort at all for the subscriber. OTOH, even for another developer
there is the likelihood of at least time investment in a technical newsletter
without tangible return.

------
michaelalexis
Hey, the basic answer is:

1\. more site visitors 2\. higher subscribe rate 3\. lower unsubscribe rate

There are dozens or hundreds of things you can do to work on any of those.

Here is some low hanging fruit for most folks:

1\. Ask folks that have linked to your previous projects to link to this one
too (SEO & maybe traffic benefit).

1\. Ask current subscribers to share out your site.

2\. Force the email subscribe. Create a landing page or drop down w/ SUPER
CLEAR messaging that folks have to fill out or skip to get to the content. Not
a popup. You should be able to get subscriptions up to 15 - 30%.

2\. Run a giveaway w/ software like King Sumo.

3\. Less fun answer: create more value. E.g., give them free stuff, insider
info, etc.

I wrote a mega guide about this here:

[https://www.michaelalexis.com/10000-subscribers/](https://www.michaelalexis.com/10000-subscribers/)

~~~
zhte415
A nice guide to a lot of the things that make me redflag a website and any
credibility it could have, before this list, had.

~~~
jklein11
So you red flag a website for creating more value?

~~~
Gracana
"Creating value" is a vague concept, but from the context we can be pretty
sure it entails aggressive self-promotion, which is a nuisance for your
audience and does not benefit them. That's why it's a red flag.

------
rwieruch
People already consume too much stuff a day without producing anything. That's
why they don't want to subscribe to yet another newsletter. I guess the
ultimate baseline of getting subscribers is getting more page visitors with
SEO and continuous content production.

I have generated a couple of thousand subscribers with a giveaway ebook. [0]
In the beginning, it was difficult for me to get subscribers with only
content. That's why I decided to write an ebook to grow my audience, to get
exposure and to learn myself more about the topic in detail.

Personally I try to keep the newsletter annoyance low for my visitors (e.g.
avoiding popups to signup for my newsletter). My personal opinion is that if
you are in for the long run with your website, you want visitors to enjoy the
reading experience and in return to come back to your website.

\- [0] [https://www.robinwieruch.de/the-road-to-learn-
react/](https://www.robinwieruch.de/the-road-to-learn-react/)

------
yoongkang
Offer something in exchange for emails. Maybe a short tutorial packaged in a
PDF?

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itamarst
I've been getting a steady stream of subscribers with blogging (150/month on a
slow month). Write a blog post, link to signup at bottom, get subscribers.

My newsletter isn't typical "here's a bunch of links every week" thing,
though, so possibly easier to go this route: the basic pitch is "if you like
this post, here's some more of my writing that will also be useful."

------
Gracana
Should you have more? Be careful, don't sacrificing the quality of your
information/message in the pursuit of gaining subscribers.

------
Theodores
...which equates to a click through total of < 100?

Focus on the 'click through' of what 'customers' you already have. Improve on
that first. The thinking behind this is that it is easier/cheaper to keep
customers than to acquire new ones.

