Category: Email MarketingCategory: Email Marketing

From Cody Cook-Parrott’s recent newsletter, “Marketing without Instagram: does it even work?”

“One of the most meaningful things about this round of Witnessing Practice was promoting the entire class without using social media. As I return to a phase of being fully off all platforms, I still bump into that old fear:
Will my business work without Instagram?
But the answer keeps being yes.”

They’ve got 6,000 people on their marketing email list, and 27,000 subscribers to their Monday, Monday newsletter.

They had 171 sign ups.

Now, please understand this: 171 people is just 0.5% of their total email audience.

Not even 1% “converted,” but they still made $8,109 (gross).

Don’t make the excuse that you only have 20 subscribers. Or that growing your audience is harder these days.

Instead, ask how you can get 0.5% of your subscribers to do anything. Click a link. Reply. Hit save. Buy something.

That’s why getting 5% of an audience is hard. That’s one person out of 20. But if you can make that happen, you’re onto something.

Be careful if you’re sending important information in the custom header or footer of your Substack newsletters. If you’re sending Zoom information or Luma invites or other special links to paid subscribers and they’re reading your newsletter in the Substack App, they won’t see it.

This is troubling, as Substack just recently said this:

We’re doubling down on the Substack app, which is designed to help audiences reclaim their attention and connect with the creators they care about.

Get everyone to subscribe to multiple publications, then users have messy inboxes. The cure? Just use the Substack App!

Then, when a publisher leaves Substack and sends a newsletter via a new service, the email will show up a users inbox again – this can be jarring!

“Wait, I thought I was getting all my newsletters in the Substack app?!?!”

So now it’s almost like people won’t be subscribed to a newsletter, they’ll be subscribed to a Substack.

This seems like a slippery slope.

This is a recording of a Substack Live I did on Sunday, July 6, 2025, edited down a bit. This is mostly based off a piece from Pixel Envy called “Pressure on Substack.”

“(Substack) is still another platform hosted elsewhere. It simplifies the process for writers, podcasters, video creators, and others to publish their work for money. But their stuff is still made available at the mercy of software they do not control…”

I talk about my buddy Tom who is my “WordPress guy.” He runs I Heart Blank, so get in touch with him if you need WordPress installed with reliable hosting, and maybe some set up help. He’s solid.

(more…)

I’ve been saying that your email newsletter isn’t your permanent address, it’s a delivery truck – just make sure you’re delivering your audience to your permanent address!

I see so many artists hype their latest video in a newsletter and link it to YouTube. YouTube is a platform where you give up all control over branding, design, layout, vibes. The entire site is built to keep users (your fans) on their site – not yours.

Instead, put the video on your own site, and link to it. Deliver your fans to your permanent address.

Put something new on your website this weekend, and link it in your next newsletter.

Your newsletter isn’t your permanent address, it’s a delivery truck. Build an archive of work on your website and link to your stuff from your newsletter!