My newsletter subscriber growth has slowed down over the past month. I decided to stop trying to push it so hard, mainly because I lost some followers on X due to too much spam.

So, yesterday I spent all day looking for different ways to promote my newsletter. The knowledge gained while studying how grew their newsletters while researching for UpGroves came in handy.

After this hard work, I came up with over 20 growth levers. Obviously, I can’t tackle all of these at once – I want to work smart, not just hard.

I organized everything into a Notion board. This helped me filter options based on difficulty, effectiveness, and cost.

Here are the top 3 (free) strategies to grow your newsletter:

1. Reaching out to your network
2. Cross-promotions
3. Referrals

I’ve already tapped into my network, so cross-promotions were the next logical step.

What’s a cross-promotion?

A cross-promotion or newsletter swap is when you collaborate with other newsletter writers or in your niche to cross-promote each other’s content.

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of my cross-promotion campaign strategy and the email templates I’m using to reach out to fellow newsletter writers.

Step 1. Identify Newsletters

Criteria

• Relevance: Choose partners whose content, products, or services complement yours. Their audience should be likely to find value in your newsletter.

• Similar Audience Size: Ideally, look for partners with a similar or slightly larger audience size to ensure mutual benefit.

• Credibility: Ensure potential partners have a good reputation and credibility in their field.

Where to find newsletter partners?

• Substack Recommendations

• ConvertKit Creator Network

• Newsletter creators communities:

  • Newsletter Blueprint Community

  • Newsletters Subreddit

  • IndieHackers Newsletter Crew

  • Newsletter Creators Facebook Group

  • Substack Subreddit

• Passionfroot

• Lettergrowth

• InboxReads Search

• Communities in your niche: look for newsletters that are recommended by members of the communities.

• Social media: look for hashtags relevant to your niche and check if the creators own a newsletter.

Once you’ve identified potential newsletter partners that might be a good fit, you can add them to your CRM to track your cross-promotion campaign results.

Step 2. Engage and Reach Out

• Engage with the identified newsletters. Leave them a comment and hit like a few times.

• If you get any replies it might be a good sign it’s the right moment to reach out.

• After a while, send a personalized message highlighting the benefits of the cross-promotion, stating clearly what you can offer.

• Be transparent about your audience size, engagement rates, and the type of content you produce.

Step 3. Plan

• Discuss and agree on how often and in what form each one will promote the other’s content.

• Decide whether you’ll share each other’s existing content, create new content, or offer exclusive deals to each other’s audiences.

• Ensure that the promotional messages are consistent and align with both creators’ brand voices.

  • Here’s an example of a cross-promotion between Chenell Basilio from the newsletter Growth in Reverse and Alex Lull from The Steal Club:
    
    

Step 4. Execute

• Feature each other’s content or offers in your respective newsletters. Share, retweet, or post about each other’s content on social media platforms.

• Track the results and tweak as needed.

Best practices to have in mind

• Audience First: Always keep the interests and preferences of your audience in mind.

• Transparency: Be transparent with your audience about the nature of the cross-promotion.

• Quality Over Quantity: It’s better to have a few meaningful partnerships than numerous low-value ones.

Doing cross-promotions offers a great opportunity to connect with other creators and reach new audiences.

Have you tried implementing this growth strategy? I would love to know how it worked for you! Leave a comment below and let me know.