I’ve written 5 newsletters per week for 27 weeks straight.

Here are 27 things I’ve learned in the process:

1. If you are comfortable writing, you should challenge yourself to present. If you’re comfortable presenting, you should challenge yourself to write. I find that the best can do both. 

2. Batched content hits different and not in a good way. Writing 5 newsletters on Sunday and scheduling them for the week might be efficient, but you miss relevance that make something fun to read and the realness of recalling something that -actually- just happened. Writing every day means writing every day. 

3. Still, it never hurts to have some articles from the archives for a day when you just simply can’t. There are for sure gonna be those days. Use these wisely and sparingly. 

4. Your work expands to the time you give it. Don’t give yourself all day, give yourself 3 hours. 

5. You know when you’re talking about a blue Ford Bronco and suddenly you start seeing them… everywhere? That’s your reticular activation system (RAS) at work. Your RAS is your best friend. Look for content in everything you do, and you’ll find it.

6. Start before you’re ready. We wrote and sent over 40 newsletters from our CRM software before we got something official...

7. That being said, there’s something about using a platform for what it was created for. beehiiv is incredible for hosting a newsletter.  

8. Commit to more than is comfortable and allow yourself to rise to the occasion. The me who committed to every week day was ambitious and I’d love to ask what she was thinking (she couldn’t have been)… But be careful ever choosing something just because it requires less from you.

9. Nobody cares about you! Or me! You can write about things that you care about as long as you give the readers something that’s helpful for them. Always, always, always think/write/speak about what’s in it for THEM. 

10. The same message can be said, or in this case written, an unlimited amount of different ways. This should thrill you.

11. Specificity is what makes your content memorable. 

12. Giving yourself too many rules can sabotage creativity. We almost made Mondays a certain topic, Tuesdays a certain topic, etc etc…. Very glad we did not.

13. Accept that your message won’t resonate for everyone who subscribes. Unsubscribes are part of the game!

14. Which brings us to this: Subscriber count isn’t king. Setting up automations to weed out people who don’t open the emails hurt at first (that number should be going UP NOT DOWN), but your other metrics will thank you. You’d rather have fewer engaged readers than live in the junk folders of many. 

15. Writing more increases your chances of writing better. It’s literally math?

16. You need more evidence than you think you do to strongly support a case. 

17. Engaging with readers is the best part of the job. Since writing Salesgirl Social, we always respond to emails that we enjoyed reading and we never even thought about doing it before.

18. If you want people to open your emails, you need to give them a reason to. It won’t always be your best work, but if there’s even a chance they might learn something and be entertained, your open rate will show it.

19. Learn AND entertain, not OR. You can google anything. You can read a dictionary. Adding an entertaining element to your writing can put you lightyears ahead of the market. 

20. You become better at anything by doing it. Writing is no exception. Discipline boosts quality. 

21. The most used app on my phone besides Twitter: notes app. It is full and very confusing. 

22. Speaking of confusing…. Write in full sentences when you jot down ideas for yourself. I bet “apple gen 2” was gonna be an amazing newsletter if I could only remember WTH it meant. 

23. Keep it brief. You want your email/article/meeting/literally anything - to end while the other people are still glad you’re there. Overstaying your welcome is not just for parties.

24. Consistency is key. Salesgirl Social started the first week of November 2023. There were so many holidays in its first few months we could have skipped. If it’s a weekday at 6am EST, a newsletter is going out in some form or another. It doesn’t have to be long or groundbreaking, but let people relax and know what they can expect from you.

25. Write/create how you talk. If people wanted academia, they probably wouldn’t run to their inbox or reels first…

26. Did I mention to keep it brief? I know that I did. But, seriously. Look at every sentence and ask yourself: “is this necessary? Does it make sense without it?” If it’s not and if it does, cut it. 

27. Input 10x the amount you need to output. I definitely made those numbers up, but if you’re writing every day, you need to read/watch/listen to A LOT. Ideas, inspiration and evidence all lie among your inputs. 

The person who will be changed most by your writing will always be you.

I hope you are just insane enough to try something and watch it succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Xo, The Salesgirls