Hey, so it’s been 500 days since I launched HEAVY METAL EMAIL, and here’s some things I learned along the way about running a very niche email newsletter.

➡️ I got more sign ups from Substack than all of the social media networks put together. Lots of people subscribe to various newsletters on Substack, which makes it easy for them to subscribe.

➡️ I mostly stopped promoting HEAVY METAL EMAIL on social media months ago, and stopped the LINKINBIO dance.

Now I use the extra time to write better newsletters – take care of the people in front of you, and stop chasing MORE subscribers / fans.

Hone you craft, learn new skills, build better.

➡️ One of my most popular posts was my interview with Matt DeBenedictis, Manager of Compliance at Mailchimp.

Think of all the different people you could collaborate with in your orbit.

Not just because they’ll share it with all their social followers (and reach like 5% of their audience, bah!) – but because you’re making something awesome together, and that good energy flows in places that aren’t controlled by algorithms.

I hit 250 subscribers around December 24th, 2022 (and wrote about it here), so in the last 74 days I grew HEAVY METAL EMAIL by 58 subscribers, mostly without social media.

I get it – the allure of social media is real. But here in 2023 we’re all spending multiple hours a day on these platforms already.

What’s next? More hours?

That’s the only thing these platforms are interested in – keeping you hooked on what they offer so they can mine your data and show you more ads.

I’ve been saying it for years – it will never get easier to reach your fans on social media. It was hard last year, it’ll be harder this year. Best of luck in 2024.

Get a website, build an email list, and develop a real connection with your fans.