What I learnt from 6 months of writing a newsletter

It’s been six months since I launched this newsletter, time for a reflection post

At the start of each month, I open my personal goals file. This is part of the annual review ritual I wrote about earlier. At the top, I keep a list of questions and guiding principles. One of them is “Create more than consume”. It’s been on the list for years. That month, I realized I’d been consuming too much and creating too little. I wanted to do something more, besides work, family, and health.

I remembered taking on a bigger role at work and thinking, “I should create a set of resources for my team: how to hire, scale, push back the right way”. I had books to recommend, but my leaders didn’t have time to read them. I didn’t have time to write then, but I made a mental note for later.

When

Dave Anderson

launched his [paid] newsletter, it felt like the kind of resource I had in mind. Practical, clear-headed, and full of uncommon common sense.

I think we will see many ex-Amazon writers in the future. We write a lot at Amazon. The famous six-pagers are now trimmed to three or four, but the pace has only picked up. There’s even an internal joke: we paraphrase the “Right a Lot” principle as “Write a Lot”.

So I asked myself: what could I create in just a few hours a week? A newsletter seemed like the natural answer. So, on a cold November morning, I opened my browser and hit “Start a Substack”.

Here’s what I’ve learned from the first six months. Welcome to the kitchen - I always loved those “how it started” posts from other creators.

Lesson 1: The first step is the hardest

What if I embarrass myself? What if my writing offends someone? What if it’s just... not good?

Writing under your own name takes courage. So does telling friends and colleagues, “Hey, I wrote this newsletter - what do you think?”

This first step is like stepping out on a stage. The choice is yours: to step forward or step back. But once you choose to step forward, you need to perform the best you can.

I mulled over the first post for a few days. I didn’t want to start with “Hello world”. But I didn’t want to write War and Peace either. So I followed Simon Sinek’s advice to start with “why”. I wrote about why I’ve stayed at Amazon for nearly 14 years. I sent it to my husband and my mum. They subscribed. 😊

After that I started sharing my posts with my LinkedIn network. I had about 1.8K followers, mostly current and former colleagues. And something amazing happened: I got an overwhelming positive feedback from colleagues and friends.

These messages gave me a huge morale boost.

Lesson 2: Good posts take time

Most of my posts are under 2,000 words. Still, each one takes 6-10 hours to write. I thought I could do it in two or three. But good writing takes time. I research, re-read books, rethink stories. I’m hoping to get faster, but I suspect quality will rise while the time stays the same.

It reminds me of ballet. My husband, who never did ballet, once said, “Sure it’s beautiful, but what’s the big deal?” If you have danced, you know how much practice it takes to make ballet look effortless.

Now, when I read a good Substack post, I see the work behind it. I have deep respect for other writers. Check out How to collaborate cross-functionally by

Torsten Walbaum

and 15 principles of managing up by

Wes Kao

, both are masterful.

Lesson 3: After initial spike, the growth slows down

When I started, I set a goal: 300 subscribers in six months. That seemed realistic, based on some newsletters I knew. Then, as a good Amazonian, I took a stretch goal: 300 in four months. And I hit this in two.

At first, I thought, “This is taking off!” But by early February, the growth slowed to a crawl.

I wasn’t prepared for that. Reading Grow in Reverse, a newsletter that reverse engineers successful newsletters, it looked like everyone grew steadily. Lenny hit 2.8K in 6 months, Dave Anderson got 9K. The only one who mentioned a long, quiet grind was Gergely Orosz, and that was pre-Substack. He had one viral post a year for five years before he switched to a newsletter format and it took him 2 years to grow to 9K.

Plateaus are hard. Even if you say it’s about the craft, it’s hard not to look at the numbers. I put in the same effort, yet each post now brought 5 new subscribers, not 50.

I think this is the Great Filter. The point where many creators stop. But I’ve pushed through dry spells before and seen the payoff. As Randy Pausch said: “The brick walls are there for a reason”. MrBeast made videos for ten years before going viral. Ten years without a signal! He earned his breakthrough.

I started exploring why my growth slowed.

Maybe Substack gives you a short-term boost to solve the “cold start” problem? Maybe I’d run through the “early adopters” in my network? Maybe my writing no longer struck a chord?

I looked closer. Lenny cracked the Twitter flywheel by engaging tech influencers in the early days. Dave wrote a viral Amazon interview post that earned him 10K LinkedIn followers before he even started a newsletter. And they did not have a full-time job when they were starting. They had 20x more time to experiment and fail.

Time to cut myself some slack.

In January, I had shifted from weekly to biweekly posts. Writing each one took too long to sustain weekly publishing. I couldn’t find any proof that Substack gives new writers a boost, but it clearly favors frequent publishing and engagement. That’s logical: it’s good for their business.

This realization helped me make peace with my numbers. I know what to do if I want to grow faster.

Six months in, I have 492 Substack subscribers and 912 new LinkedIn followers. That’s incredible. Thank you all for the vote of confidence. 😊

Lesson 4: Most of my audience don’t know me

Given that I have just started and I was marketing to my LinkedIn network, I expected my readers to be mostly the people I know. Turns out that 85% of my subscribers are people I’ve never met. Hi! 👋

Lesson 5: Twitter didn’t work (for me)

I dusted off my Twitter account with 200 followers and did the same I did on LinkedIn - short post with a takeaway from each newsletter. So far my best post got 125 impressions. 19 people clicked on the newsletter link. Yield: one subscriber.

Maybe with more time and engagement I could’ve cracked it. But it felt like pushing water uphill. The feedback loop was too weak.

Substack Notes worked better. Every note or restack gets a few likes and an occasional subscriber. None have gone viral yet, but one day, one might. Just 9.5 years to go 🙂

Lesson 6: Writing makes you better

I started writing to “scratch a creative itch” and build a content library for my team and mentees. What I didn’t expect was how much it would sharpen my thinking.

• Writing about my weekly planning made me streamline the process and stick to it more rigorously.

• Writing about how someone on my team sped up the query 50x reminded me to follow up with my head of BI.

• Writing about the productivity killer that is interruptions made me reflect on how often I ping my team, and adjust.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. Reflective writing has helped people for centuries, from Marcus Aurelius to da Vinci to countless anonymous parents, immigrants, and farmers. Putting thoughts on paper gives you perspective. I’m grateful for that part of the process.

Lesson 7: Productivity resonates

My most-read post was about weekly planning. It got 2,500 views and brought in 91 subscribers. Clearly, productivity hits home, especially for readers focused on career growth and leadership.

Interestingly, my post on leverage didn’t get the same traction. I see leverage as an extension of productivity, but “Leverage that Lasts” drew only 700 views and 5 subscribers.

Each post is an experiment. Some work, some don’t. My post on career success and job satisfaction flopped: 277 views, 5 subscribers. Maybe it was the topic, or the title, or how I wrote it. Cal Newport turned the idea into a bestselling book ;)

What I’m looking forward to

It’s been a great ride so far, thank you for coming along! We’re just getting started, and here’s what I’m excited about next:

Getting better at writing. I recently read Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield. It’s brilliant. Great writing follows a rhythm: Hook → Build → Payoff. William Zinsser is another hero of mine. In fact, he helps me improve my posts - I ask ChatGPT to critique my drafts “as if Zinsser were editing”.

Getting better at marketing. I have a lot to learn here. I want to try guest posting, but it takes time to write something that another creator would consider sharing with their audience. I plan to use Substack Notes more. I just figured out how to get analytics for them. I also want to apply lessons from

Justin Welsh

’s LinkedIn OS course. Since taking it, I am stopping myself from writing listicles like “5 Things Your Boss Wants You to Know” or “12 lessons I learnt at Amazon”. It’s tempting. But I’m pushing myself to do better. I’ve also added Contagious by Jonah Berger to my reading list - looking for smarter ways to create ideas that spread.

Increasing the surface area of luck. This newsletter has already opened doors. I’ve had two speaking invites and great conversations with colleagues. A few candidates even told me they applied for roles on my team because of my writing. Just being out there increases your surface area for good things to happen.

Practicing openness. A year ago, a team member gave me feedback: “You need to show more vulnerability, you’ll feel more human.” I took it to heart. I started sharing my mistakes. I practiced discomfort. This newsletter is part of that practice: showing up, sharing, letting people see the work-in-progress.

Learning what resonates. Maybe, one day, I’ll write a book. If I do, I’ll have a clearer sense of what topics matter, how to write about them, and, hopefully, a few beta readers from this community. 🙂

Discovering more creators. When I was just a reader, I felt that a lot of advice came from young men, often without kids. The “wake at 6am, journal, cold plunge, 4 hours of deep work” advice was... fine. But it felt like another planet. Try doing that with three kids home sick and a 60-hour workweek. I felt the absence of voices like mine - women, parents, non-native speakers, Europeans. Since starting writing, I’ve discovered amazing newsletters by

Deb Liu

and

Yue Zhao

(Yue also wrote a book). They tick some of those boxes and I hope to find more people like them. We all need role models.

I’m looking forward to more learning, reflection, and growth. I am looking forward to sharing the journey with you and learning from you. Let’s keep going and do it together. Thank you for reading!

P.S. I’d love your input. What would you like me to write about next? Vote in the poll or hit “Reply” if your idea isn’t listed. I read every message. 🙂