Earning income with my newsletter, Top 20 CTAs for Instant Leads, Memberships vs. Online Courses
Growth Currency ⚡ 0️⃣3️⃣9️⃣
Welcome to Growth Currency⚡ #39 — your weekly dose of
If you're new here, thanks for joining us! Welcome to the 53 new subscribers including Carin, Andrew, Martin, Dianne, Wayne, Matthew, Gabrielle, Davina, and Mohammed!
And if you've been here before, you might notice this edition looks a little different...
I'm writing & sending this newsletter to you from ConvertKit as I pivot from Substack. I still believe in the power of Substack for new creators which is why I wrote this How To Start A Newsletter with Substack guide this summer, featuring Substack. But it's time to move on, and I'll be chronicling this change as I progress.
(If you're impatient, feel free to reach out and ask me why I'm switching if you're eager.)
GROWTH INSIGHTS | Earning income with this newsletter
I started this newsletter with zero subscribers in January 2021. I had no idea what I was doing.
But 9 months later, I've managed to grow my list to over 790 subscribers and even earn a little bit of income from it. Just over $1,500 at this point.
My newsletter income is a mix of....
→ affiliate/referral link revenue ($683)
→ reader support (buymeacoffee - $20)
→ ads & sponsors ($815)
Now, if I divided my income by time spent on the newsletter—including growing the subscriber base—I'd be making less than $10/hr.
Not exactly the most lucrative endeavor...
Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the earnings! BUT the real value has been the journey and the learnings I've gained publishing this newsletter for 39 weeks.
In other words, the money is an added bonus.
I'll go into more detail about growing and monetizing this newsletter in next week's edition—stay tuned!
CREATOR SPOTLIGHT 🔦
🔦 ALEXANDRA ALLEN || Alexandra is a writer and instructional designer—meaning she's a pro at creating courses. Check out her FREE guide called DIY Course Creation Made Simple 🚀 and sign up for her brand new newsletter, Wednesday Wonders: food for thought on how to optimize professional development through cohort-based courses.
🔦 ANDREW BARRY || Andrew is a teacher, first and foremost. His company Curious Lion is helping creators like you and I become Superstar Teachers. Andrew has a 34-page FREE resource called 5 Steps For a Flawless Virtual Training—highly recommend.
Want to be featured in the Creator Spotlight? Reply to this email and let me know what you're building.
🔎 Get UnGoogleable Freelance Insight Every Wednesday
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His way is “Flexible Freedom.”
“Your newsletter is one of the main reasons why I reached out to you about coaching… now reading the newsletters are like hearing you during our coaching sessions!” - Chrissy
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YOUR GROWTH CURRENCY ⚡ THIS WEEK
🎨 Brand Yourself as A Creator: The Ultimate Guide by Jessie van Breugel
Jessie is a personal branding expert. He's helped me shape Growth Currency, and now he's scaling his knowledge in the form of an ultimate guide to help the masses.
Who should get this? 👉 "Creators and entrepreneurs that are looking to (1) build their personal brand from scratch (2) or grow their personal brand into a money-making asset."
Check out the community option as well — well worth it! 👌
20 Call to Action Examples that Create Instant Leads by Tim Stoddart of Copyblogger
Add these to your swipe file! Tim features 20 CTAs from some of the best in the business.
As per Tim, here's what makes a great Call To Action:
→ Create a strong setup
→ Use action words
→ Provide instant gratification
→ Create urgency
→ Make it irresistible
✍ How To Write An Atomic Essay (300-500 Words) In 10 Minutes! by Nicolas Cole
Learn how to structure and write a short, powerful essay by one of the best around.
🎙 Welder — Welder is the "easiest way to record your remote podcast in high quality". The platform records each participant's audio locally, then uploads it throughout the recording. This is a great solution for video podcasts and audio-only podcasts alike. You also get a full transcription and a "live" timestamp feature.
How To Get Repeat Customers For Your Business by Darius Foroux
"It can cost five times more resources to attract a new customer, rather than retain an existing one. When you increase the retention rate by a mere 5%, your profit can go up from 25% to 95%."
You should probably focus on retaining the ones you have. Here's how…
Plan multiple products and services
Serve your customer throughout their lifetime
Price your products honestly
Keep serving them
24 Concepts That Will Grow Your Audience and Business by Josh Spector
My favourites…
→ If you’re struggling to grow your audience, you need to do one of two things: Do More [or] Do Less
→ Self-promotion isn’t a selfish act.
→ You don’t need to be everywhere.
→ Your ideal audience are the people most likely to resonate with what you create and who you most want to serve.
🎧 Memberships vs. Online Courses: Which Business Model is Right for You? by Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation
Considering creating an online course? Or maybe a membership-based community? Listen to or read this compelling episode full of experienced perspectives from two people who have successfully done each:
Jacques Hopkins has sold over $2 million worth of his flagship online course, Piano in 21 Days, and teaches others how to create their own courses at TheOnlineCourseGuy.com.
Shane Sams and his wife Jocelyn sold their primary membership website for over $1M and now help other people create and grow membership sites of their own at FlippedLifestyle.com.
Thanks for checking out the 39th edition!
What was your biggest takeaway? What content would you like more of?
Or did it mostly suck and I need to step up my game?
Either way—hit me a reply, I'd love to hear from you and make this newsletter better ++
PS - what if you could LISTEN to this newsletter instead of read it? You get so many emails it's nearly impossible to read them all—even the good ones. What if you could "preview" this email in an audio format first AND THEN decide if you want to hop into the email?
Thumbs 👍 or 👎 ?