How to Grow a Newsletter [Tips from an Expert]

How to Grow a Newsletter [tips from an expert]

Last week in Creator Studio, we interviewed Hannah Doyle, one of the writers from the Publish Press. We talked about newsletter best practices, how to research, and how to foster community both online and offline.

Hannah’s Background

Hannah graduated with a degree in journalism, then went on to freelance for Morning Brew. Now, she writes for Colin and Samir’s newsletter, the Publish Press (a creator economy newsletter).

Our Favorite Takeaways

Here are some of our highlights from the conversation.

Starting a Newsletter

• Don’t start a newsletter simply as another advertising source. It’s easy to tell when that’s a creator’s sole motive and it can lead to less engaging content.

• Focus on what your audience wants and your capacity (in terms of output).

Writing a Newsletter

• Send content that’s topical and interesting to your readers.

• Hannah uses X to do a pulse check on what people are talking about.

• She also checks YouTube and Trending pages and chats with creators in different niches to see what’s happening on their side of the internet.

Creating a Newsletter Community

• The Publish Press hosts in-person creator events to build community offline.

• They’re also working on their first reader survey to better understand who their audience is.

• They host quarterly events called Coffee with Creators, and they’ve also done a creator movie screening in New York.

Want to watch the full recording for all of Hannah’s tips? The full recording is in the Discord!

This Week in Creator Studio

This week in Creator Studio (our free Discord community) we’re interviewing Muaaz—a Youtube growth expert. We’ll be picking his brain on the best practices for growing on YouTube in 2025.

TikTok Ban Update

(as of 12/16 at 2 PM EST)

Last week, TikTok requested a temporary pause on the TikTok ban. If approved, this would’ve granted them 90 days—which would put us into President-elect Trump’s presidency.

Given that he’s said he doesn’t support the TikTok ban, this could’ve been TikTok’s saving grace.

Unfortunately, over the weekend, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the temporary pause request. Their reasoning? It’s “unwarranted.”

TikTok will now request the Supreme Court take on the case. (This is basically their last hope.)

Here’s a great video that breaks this down.

This could go one of a few ways:

• The Supreme Court responds before January 19th and decides not to take on the case. TikTok gets banned.

• The Supreme Court doesn’t respond at all before January 19th. TikTok gets banned.

• The Supreme Court responds and decides to take on the case. The app will remain until the Supreme Court rules on the case (which could be in the fall).

TikTok has already said they will not divest their US ownership to non-Chinese companies. Some sources have said it’s frankly impossible to do so. So that isn’t an option either.

We’ll keep you posted on any other news as we hear it. 🫡

Matcha & Yap: a Casual Convo for Creators 🎀

This Wednesday at 4 PM EST, we’re hosting Matcha & Yap—an hour for creators to connect, chat through 2024 reflections, 2025 goals, and more.

Hosted by myself (Grace—the gal who writes this thing) and our Chief of Staff Langni—two creators actively trying to grow our platforms just like you.

Quick Links

👀 Another app predicted to replace TikTok.

⏰ IG now lets you schedule DMs.

✉️ Stan releases DM automations (like Manychat). Sign up for the BETA.

📈 Open brand campaigns looking for creators.

See ya next week,

Karat