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The Ask by Ellen Donnelly
"My newsletter has been the engine of my business growth: by the time we meet on a discovery call they are often fully bought into the idea of coaching with me, which is great."
Learn how to level up your newsletter from successful creators.
Sundays π The unique journey of a different newsletter creator
Wednesdays π Articles with unique insights and recommendations
CREATOR INTERVIEW
There are numerous reasons why running a newsletter is a great idea, and one of my all-time favorites is its power to fuel the growth of a one-person business.
Then, you might assume you need a huge list to achieve that.
Not necessarily!
Ellen Donnelly demonstrates that all you need is high-quality & relevant content and a targeted & engaged list.
She launched her newsletter, The Ask, during the pandemic, reached over 3,400 subscribers and transformed her list into the growth engine for her six-figure coaching business.
In her own words:
βMy newsletter has been how clients either first learn about me or deepen their understanding of what I offer and who I am, so that by the time we meet on a discovery call they are often fully bought into the idea of coaching with me, which is great.β
Today, she shared behind-the-scene insights about:
Step-by-step growth strategies
How she added over 1,000 subscribers in a few months
How she leverages her list for her coaching business
The launch of a paid membership
The importance of doing proactive outreach
Now, Iβm passing the mic to Ellen Donnelly.
Letβs dive in!
π TOOL STACK
ESP β Mailerlite
Writing β Notion
Task management β Notion
Curation & Note-taking β Notion
Digital products β Notion
Sponsorship β Passionfroot
Affiliates β Gumroad
Design of visuals β Canva
Team communication β Slack
Interviews (recording, editing, transcription) β Descript, Vizard
Payment β Stripe
π MEET THE CREATOR
Welcome Ellen. Letβs start with getting to know you.
I started The Ask in 2020 because, after a decade as a startup talent expert, I wanted to provide a destination for entrepreneurial people to make better decisions about their future. The world of work is changing so fast and there is more options than ever, we need to ask better questions.
βI trained as a coach, built a website and marketed myself and I have not looked back since as I get to do projects I love, helping people who are changing the world, and carving my own path!β
π₯ START
Youβve built a six-figure coaching and content business in three years. Did you have the newsletter from the beginning, or did you add it to your content funnel later?
Yes right from the start β I discovered the book βContent Incβ by Joe Pulluzi at the start of my entrepreneurial journey which expressed the importance of an owned audience and committing to a platform.
That really shaped my decisions, and at the same time, Substack had just launched. I saw newsletters as a great medium to explore my ideas and took people like James Clear as inspiration.
π GROWTH
Which growth strategies did you utilize to reach over 3,000 subscribers?
0 - 1,00 subscribers
Friends and other coaches I knew
100 - 500 subscribers
Organic growth and word of mouth - literally asking people to sign up!
500 - 1,000 subscribers
This is where I really made a concerted effort to hit the 1k milestone in a short space of time: creating lead magnets, doing cross-promotions, and just really focusing on high-quality, shareable content.
1,000 - 2,500 subscribers
I ran an online summit in 2022 called Talent To Money, where I paid for amazing speakers and ran the event for free, so I added loads more people to the list.
2,500 subscribers - present
The Substack referral network helped to grow my list to 3.5k ish.
Then, in 2023, I left Substack to move to Mailerlite, and since then, the growth has slowed and Iβve focused more on the growth of my coaching practice than the content side of the business.
How did organizing an online summit contribute to the growth?
βThe best, most rewarding strategy had to be running the Talent to Money summit and adding 1k people in a couple of months.β
Whilst it was a high-lift from an operational perspective, it also created a lot of βgoodwillβ in the online space.
So I would always consider what efforts will grow your list, but also, be a win to you as a business owner in other ways (learning, network, growth, clout and prestige etc.)
In terms of growth efforts, what would you do differently if you had a chance to start over?
I feel I have learned a lot at each stage of the newsletter growth cycle.
Iβd probably change more about what Iβm doing right NOW than in the early days. Instead, I would say that at this very moment in time, I donβt feel I am capitalizing on the opportunities that are available for a newsletter like mine as fully as Iβd like to be (as I am so focused on coaching clients).
However, I know from doing this work with my clients that everything brings an energy trade-off.
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