Yesterday it happened: I sent the Blogging for Devs newsletter to 5,000 people for the first time

Even starting with 9K Twitter followers, it still took 8 months, 2 launches, and 26 editions to get here.

Here's where I learned along the way:

1/ This was my first time building a list via Twitter (as opposed to organic traffic). Launching worked well for 2 reasons:

• Gave people a sense of urgency with a "kick-off"
• Launched an email course, not another newsletter

Result: 1.3K subscribers & an amazing opt-in rate.

2/ Next was Summer, a hard season for me in 2020. I turned 30, had (have?) an existential crisis, & took a looong Twitter break

Two things kept the newsletter growing:

1. Custom confirmation page with Tweet button
2. Word of mouth referrals

Growth was slow, but still there.

3/ At the end of August, I launched on Product Hunt. And made #1 Product of the Day! What I learned:

PH is a great place to launch *second*

After you've got a critical mass of people who love what you're making & can leave reviews and feedback.

+1,200 subscribers in 7 days

4/ In October, I made my first ever "Build in Public" Twitter thread + announced the Blogging for Devs community.

With every update, new people joined the waitlist and the newsletter. The format worked great.

(It also kept me accountable to post near-daily updates)

5/ After that, I had some, err, unexpected attention from everyone's favorite online club of haters: Hacker News.

Someone had posted my article. And HN hated it

Oh well! It reached #3 and drove 10K visits to my blog.
+200 subscribers & helped hit $1K MRR for the community.

6/ Sooo close to my arbitrary year-end goal of 5,000 subscribers. And what got me there was friends (aww).

@jsjoeio alone referred 40+ people with his recommendation on Twitter. @raae, @AshleeMBoyer, and many more helped out.

5K for Christmas

7/ With just days to spare, I published my 2020 Retrospective as a Twitter thread and article ( https://monicalent.com/no-prize/ )

Both resonated with people more than I could've hoped for. They brought 200+ subscribers & 1K followers on Twitter.

If you're one of them, wassup

8/ What hit home while building this newsletter last year:

1. Growth is slow, but compounds
2. Positioning is everything
3. Launch multiple times as you build support
4. Make it easy to share
5. Try high-exposure platforms (PH+HN)
6. Ask for help!
7. Quality + distribution =

Starting a newsletter was the smartest thing I did in 2020.

I've met so many cool & interesting people, made friends, formed partnerships, all thanks to my newsletter. It's also a foundation for what's coming in 2021.

In case you're thinking about it: the time to start is NOW!