Let me start today's edition by saying "thank you" for reading.
I'm humbled and grateful that you trust me with your time.

In May of 2022, I decided to start writing this weekly newsletter for Fractional CFOs.

Today marks the 100th edition of that newsletter.

Over that period of time:
• We've had almost 400,000 views
• We've had over 3,000 subscribers
• We've averaged a 43.58% open rate
• I've spent almost 300 hours writing the newsletter

Through that experience, I've learned a few lessons that I'd like to share with you today - even if you have no intentions of ever writing a newsletter or a blog.

So why do you care?

Most of these lessons apply to multiple areas of life, so I thought I'd share them.

I hope you find at least a few of them helpful.

Lesson #1: Listen to your audience. They'll tell you what they want.

Trying to figure out what your audience wants can be tricky.

This can be true whether you're writing a newsletter, offering services, or selling widgets.

What should you write? What services should you focus on? What widgets should you sell?

If you're anything like me, your natural inclination might be to brainstorm some ideas and then get to work.

The risk here is that this strategy can quickly end up with you creating a solution without an actual problem or need.  

The result is that no one consumes your newsletter, widget, or service.

Oof!  

This is demoralizing (believe me, I know).

What I've learned is that your audience will actually tell you what they want from you - you just have to ask and listen.

Disclaimer: sometimes, this also requires you to check your ego and preconceived notions at the door.

💡 When you learn to ask and listen, figuring out what to talk about, what to offer, how to do it, when to do it, and which modality to use gets significantly easier, less time-consuming, and far less mentally taxing.

Lesson #2: Writing is easy. Writing well is hard.

It's pretty easy to throw words onto a screen and share them with the world.

(That's assuming you can fight through procrastination, fear of the unknown, imposter syndrome, and all the other mental barriers to getting started!)

But writing well is a whole different ball game.

And here's the plot twist: writing a newsletter well is different than writing a college term paper well.

Different readers.
Different expectations.
Different skills required.  

Bad term paper?
Bad grade.  

Bad newsletter?
Lost revenue.

It's a different game that requires different skills and comes with different stakes.

Newsletter writing, in many ways, is much tougher than writing a term paper for school. You've got to 1.) add value, 2.) keep the readers' attention, and 3.) keep it relatively short.

1 of 3 is easy.
2 of 3 is harder.
3 of 3 is really tough. 

The same is true in business!

Getting to the next level of success requires new skillsets and expertise.

The bad news is that picking up those skills takes work. 

💡 The good news is that most people aren't willing to do the work which keeps the field of competition thin.

Lesson #3: Some people are assholes...

When you write a weekly newsletter or do just about anything else in life, you'll find out pretty quickly that there are a lot of jerks out there and they all have an opinion about how you should be doing things.

The interesting lesson for me is that I've received some harsh words about my content - but never, not once, from anyone who produces content of their own.

💡 Don't take criticism from anyone that you wouldn't take advice from.

Lesson #4: ...but most people are awesome!

If you approach writing a newsletter with the reader in mind and you truly try to add value, I suspect that you'll get significantly more encouragement than negativity.

I'd estimate that it's as high as 20:1.

The reality is that most people out there are pretty awesome. And the feedback you'll get from them is really encouraging.

💡 Don't let the crap from naysayers overshadow the gratitude from the supporters.

Lesson #5: It takes longer than I expected.

I tend to underestimate how long just about anything will take.

Just ask my wife how many times I've said that I only need 5 more minutes to get x, y, or z done.

If you had told me in 2022 that I'd spend 2-3 hours each week writing my newsletter, I don't know that I would have even started.

But, to be honest, I'm glad I did.

I also underestimated how long it would take to build my email list. This was despite the fact that I was posting on LinkedIn daily - with a strategy to push viewers from LinkedIn to my newsletter.

💡 The path from 0 to revenue via a newsletter is a long one.

If you're thinking about starting a newsletter, set your expectations accordingly.

Lesson #6: Consistent writing leads to speaking better

In my experience, excellent writing is predicated on organized thoughts and brevity.

Turns out, these are also necessary skills for speaking better, too.

And I don't just mean speaking on stage! These skills transfer to conversations with clients, friends, kids, and spouses. 

I literally find myself organizing my thoughts in my head more often before I speak and I'm 100% convinced that it's because I do this every week when writing the newsletter.

💡 Write clearly.
💡 Think clearly.
💡 Speak clearly.

Conclusion

Writing a newsletter isn't the fast track to success.

In fact, if you're bringing in less than $1,000,000+ a year as a Fractional CFO, I don't even recommend you fool with it (do THIS instead).

But putting out a newsletter or blog can be a really rewarding strategy when the time is right.