📌Five Minutes a Week - 104K Subs in Two Years

What makes a newsletter great? Concise, valuable, and easy to read.

What do operators want? Easy to write, fast-growing, profitable.

What’s such a newsletter called?

What's in it for you?

1. The power of a strong niche.

2. How to create a newsletter that doesn't suck your time.

3. Methods that turn your newsletter into a money machine.​​

Content

Exploding Topics showcases current and future trends (up to 12 months ahead).

Simple, habit-forming, standardized format.

The best way to spend 5 minutes for your business.

Creating a newsletter is quick, using past pre-researched trends.

Following the standard format takes 5 minutes to construct a newsletter.

Exploding Topics delivers:

4 trends in 4 sections: All in a familiar, easy-to-follow format.

Its format is:

1. Trend name

2. Trend chart

3. Description

4. Forecast

5. Deep dive links

Trends create intrigue, so there's no need for a complex subject line.

The simplest formula is used: ET + [Date] (e.g., ET: May 21, 2024).

The blend of familiar format and daily mystery builds great expectations.

200 words give the big picture and help decide where to dive deeper.

​​Want to boost readers' experience with a Exploding Topics newsletter template?

I've attached a template to inspire you to optimize and create your own.

Here it is - customize it to suit your needs.

​​​​​ET Content Template.docx​​​​​

Deliverability

Exploding Topics has a classic sign-up flow that gets emails into inboxes.

Opt-in Page:

1. Curiosity-sparking offer

2. Sign-up button

3. Single opt-in

Thank-you Page:

1. Welcome message

2. Newsletter schedule

3. Signature and Twitter CTA

Welcome Email:

Subject Line is: Welcome to Exploding Topics

It's plain, but it doesn’t affect an impressive 50%+ of the Open Rate.

Inside the Welcome Email, you find:

1. What to expect and when

2. Spam avoidance instructions

3. Content creation explanation

4. Click a Link CTA

5. Reply CTA

Want to leverage Exploding Topics templates?

Download these ready-to-use Sign-up Flow templates.

Get Your Templates:

​​​ET Optin Page Template.docx​

​​​ET Welcome Email Template.docx​

Growth

Exploding Topics grew to 90K+ subs in the first 18 months organically.

Now, two years later the email list is 104K+ subs.

How?

1. The niche & business idea: Knowing future trends is a great lead magnet.

2. Authority figure: Brian Dean has a strong social media presence.

3. As Brian explained growing a branded newsletter has more potential.

The website has a dedicated tab for newsletter sign-up.

Auto-navigation to the opt-in page after a few seconds on the main page.

Monetization

With 104K+ readers, the newsletter is a direct channel to buyers.

Methods used by Brian and Josh:

1. Product updates sent to 104K+ readers who test and give testimonials.

2. Newsletter editions feature teasers of:

a. Customer testimonials

b. Gated trends for sign-up

c. Trials for limited periods at $1

3. Primary offer: 12-month future trends in 3 packages.

6,000 paid members find it valuable, generating over $3.2MM ARR.

To sum up:

1. Niche is your best lead magnet.

2. Content must be simple to create, and easy to read.

3. Newsletter is the best testing and promotion channel.

Could you answer just ONE question?

Was this issue awesome or awful?

Please reply & share your thoughts!

P.S. Oh, and..

Questions about newsletter growth, monetization, or other hard-to-find topics?

Reply to this email or connect with me – always happy to chat!

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