Hello! Who are you and what newsletter did you start?
Hey! My name is Jack Raines, and I write a finance newsletter called “Young Money”
How did you launch it and what did you do to get the first 100 subscribers?
I initially launched on Substack, but I moved over to beehiiv in January of 2022. My first 100 (or really ~250) subscribers came from posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that I would be starting a finance blog.
I had been trading stocks pretty aggressively in 2020 and early 2021, and I generated some outsized returns.
A lot of people knew me as a “finance guy,” so early subs were friends and family who figured I would have some good stuff to write about.
What does your process for creating the content look like?
I write about whatever I think is interesting (yes, this is pretty vague.) While I say that I write a finance newsletter, it’s really a life blog that often touches on finance.
My last three posts were:
One philosophical piece about spending money on experiences over the course of your life because you can’t take it with you
One reflective piece about moving to New York
One true story of some British commodities traders who made $660M by shorting the oil market the day that prices went negative.
I write the content that I like to read.
What tools are you using to create, send, and grow the newsletter?
Beehiiv is my newsletter platform, and I can’t recommend it enough. It provides great email delivery and a fantastic web page (I also use beehiiv for my travel blog, Backpackin’).
Beehiiv has a built-in referral program which has driven hundreds of new subs (I send one of my favorite books to anyone who refers 15 readers), a fantastic analytics dashboard that is similar to Google Analytics, and audience acquisition tracking so I can see the top sources of new readers, just to name a few features.
Some screenshots of these features are attached below.
As far as growing my newsletter, I am very active on Twitter, and I have an audience of 17k or so followers.
I share everything that I write on Twitter, and I often link older pieces to conversations when they are relevant.
I have a pretty strong network of other writers, and we share each other’s content frequently as well.
What have you tried to monetize the newsletter and how well did it work?
I monetize my newsletter through ads primarily. Every piece starts with a primary ad at the top of the post:
Ad revenue scales as my audience grows, so more readers = more money. I am also launching a “business of newsletters” course on Maven in a couple of months, and I will promote that through Young Money.
My ad sources have been 50/50 outbound and inbound.
I’ll often cold email companies that I see advertising on other emails, and I work with a few companies to help source ads for my newsletter as well.
As my following has grown, I have received more and more Twitter DMs and emails inquiring about advertising on my page.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain subscribers?
Consistency. I have published 2 pieces per week for a year now. Everything else is a derivative of that. I also reply to every audience response and actively engage with readers via Twitter.
You want people to fall in love with you as a writer, you want it to feel personal.
Superficial writing doesn’t stick, real writing does.
Working with other creators to cross-promote content has been a cheat code as well. I share their posts in my “recommended reads” section, and they do the same for me.
How are you doing today and what are your plans for the future?
My newsletter is doing well.
I have 15,200 readers at the time of writing, with a 54% open rate and high ad clicks.
I’m working on building a more robust referral program to help supercharge growth, but the most important thing has always been the same: keep writing great content. Everything else is secondary.
What’s one piece of advice you’d like to share with someone who wants to get started or is just starting out?
Don’t overthink it, just start writing.
You’ll screw up a lot, and your early stuff will suck. But that’s the only way to improve.
You’ll suck for a while, then you’ll suck less, then someone will like your stuff and share it. Then a few more people will. It will feel like you’re going nowhere for months, then momentum comes out of nowhere.
Your likelihood of success is driven by your willingness to suck for an extended period of time.
Monotonous consistency is a superpower, especially in our dopamine-heavy era.
Where can we go to learn more?
Check out my finance blog at youngmoney.co
Check out my travel blog at backpackin.blog
And of course, follow me on Twitter at Jack_Raines
