Lesson 1: The Minimum Viable Newsletter
Lesson of the Week:
Minimum Viable Newsletter
Consistency is the most important concept for your newsletter. All the good effects of writing online only occur if you consistently publish.
Once you choose a cadence for your newsletter, you've got to stick to it. A consistent newsletter will give you room to improve your writing skills, create a feedback loop for your ideas, help you build relationships, open new doors, and build an audience.
We saw that everyone who could stick to their newsletter cadence gained outsized long-term benefits from it.
We believe a Minimum Viable Newsletter is the key to consistency.
A Minimum Viable Newsletter is the easiest newsletter for your lifestyle. How many modules? What content? How often? Once these variables are determined, you know what you have to do each week. If it turns out to be too much, you can cut back the following week.
To build a minimum viable newsletter, we structure newsletters by modules, like lego blocks.
A module could be three YouTube videos you enjoyed, three Tweets, or your personal writing. Other possibilities are a recipe you made, a bio of someone you admire, or a problem you solved. The modules should cover activities you already do. For example, if you watch a lot of YouTube videos, curate YouTube videos. If you draw every week, include a drawing.
The newsletter launchpad shows how even something as simple as a curation could lead to lots of serendipity. People raised capital to buy real estate simply by curating three tweets a week; writing online regularly is that crazy beneficial.
Newsletters of the Week:
Two newsletters that showcase the concept of Minimum Viable Newsletter. Janahan was a student in our first cohort of Newsletter Launchpad and his TTT newsletter has three modules: a Thing he did, a Tweet he enjoyed, and a Thought he had. Rohun Jauhar has one module, his three favorite tweets of the week. He then adds his reaction to that tweet (A few sentences at most).
Janahan's TTT (Thing/Tweet/Thought)
Tip of the Week:
You can start a newsletter in 10 minutes.
Create a Substack account in two minutes.
Write your first post:
Show us why you want to start a newsletter.
Share content you experienced (Tweet, Video, Essay, anything!).
Show us an idea you have.
Show us a problem you solved.
Share a creator you admire.
It’s that easy! Sticking to a regular publishing cadence is far more important than anything else and that’s why it’s important that your newsletter fits your lifestyle first.
Thank you for reading. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with a friend or two.
Louie & Chris
P.S. you can respond directly to this email. We read every reply. We'd love to hear from you.
Our personal newsletters:
Hi Louie and Chris. Do you think there is an optimal number of modules? Or is the answer, that the best number is the number that you will find easy to keep up as a habit, be that 2, 3, 4 or 5. Cheers Phil