How to build a newsletter as a side hustle
This season, we're talking about the issues that founders in the School of Splice mentorship program have faced on their journeys. In this episode, we're focusing on Zurairi A. R., the news editor at Malay Mail, Malaysia's oldest newspaper.
Zurairi wanted to figure out a way of explaining what was going on in parliament to Malaysians, and decided to fill that gap with a newsletter. He teamed up with his assigned School of Splice coach, Pankaj Mishra, to work through building it out.
Also starring Dan Oshinsky of Not a Newsletter and Sarah Ebner of the Financial Times.
Hosted by Alan Soon and Rishad Patel. Produced by the mighty folks at Lawson Media.
Notes
Connect with Zurairi on LinkedIn
Or listen wherever you get your podcasts
The transcript
RISHAD: Welcome to the School of Splice. I’m Rishad,
ALAN: And I’m Alan.
RISHAD: And in this series we’re going to help you build a viable business by exploring the problems faced by other media entrepreneurs.
ALAN: Email newsletters are one of the oldest forms of internet publication, and in the past few years they’ve been having a bit of a renaissance.
RISHAD: Yes, independent journalists around the world have been quitting their jobs to go out on their own - using newsletters as the core of a viable media business. Some audiences pay a small subscription fee to access the publication, and some newsletters are completely free but supported by ads.
ALAN: What’s great about newsletters is that you’re sending content directly to a user's inbox. You’re entering their personal space, and so they don’t have to go anywhere to engage with your content. But success in the newsletter game comes down to providing value to a reader, without being spammy.
RISHAD: On this episode of the School of Splice - we’re profiling a media creator who wanted to build an independent newsletter to help solve a very specific problem: a key information gap in Malaysian politics.
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Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 01:05): I was inspired to do this, uh, basically because, uh, uh, Over the past few years, uh, we have seen more and more, um, malaysians. Uh, I, I find that I see the more and more Malaysians, uh, paying much more attention to our parliamentary settings. And this is a pretty, this is very evident, uh, since our change of government in 2018.
Uh, the first change of government ever in six decades. Yeah. When we had a new administration under the Pakatan heroin coalition. And I think because of that change, um, there is a hope of, uh, For Malaysia, to have, uh, more, uh, transparent and open governance. And also because people want to see that their votes actually matter.
ALAN: This is Zurairi Abdul Rahman. Zurairi is a News Editor at Malay Mail, and went into the School of Splice wanting to work on a side project to engage Malaysians with the parliamentary system. It’s a gap that Zurairi felt needed to be addressed in the Malaysian market.
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 01:58): And because of, because of that, we, we have seen. More and more and more people on social media paying attention to parliamentary sittings, uh, before this, uh, th the, the things were just broadcast on television, but over years, they have also been broadcast or streamed, uh, online, which can be accessed by anyone with any intimate service.
And I think more and more people are tuning in just to. I think part of it is the drama. Right? All the shouting matches all the name, calling all the insults being thrown around. But I think part of it is because of also because they want to actually know what is going on inside. Right? I mean, like you, you vote these people in, but, uh, and they are basically civil servants, right?
They, they, they work for us voter, for the public. We don't know what exactly is going on inside the apartment. I did actually representing us. Uh, I D actually speaking up for the issues that matter to us as voters. And, uh, we also, I also saw more and more people actually like, uh, They post a running commentary on social media while, while watching the, uh, sittings.
RISHAD: Zurairi’s core idea was quite simple. Launch a newsletter that covers the Malaysian parliament. But Malaysia already has news services that cover the day-to-day of parliament. What Zurairi was looking to provide was a level of analysis that you don’t get in the regular news cycle.
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 04:47): Sometimes when you do day to day breaking news, you tend to sort of like focus more on the, uh, immediate drama inside the, uh, parliament, uh, as it happens rather than, you know, trying to analyze or think of, uh, think of things in a more. Uh, longer term. So this is, I think this is where, uh, there is a need that needs to be served here.
Uh, and I am also, I was also, uh, partly inspired by, uh, Punchbowl News, which is a subscription, uh, exclusively subscription-based newsletter. That based in Washington that, uh, discusses the house of Congress as well. And I find this, I, when I, when I first heard about budgetable news, I was very much surprised because it's a, it's a newsletter only product.
It's not, it's not even, I mean, if you go to the website, it's literally just, you know, um, uh, a field for youth enter your email address. Um, they don't actually. Uh, display, uh, the content that they produce and they are only made available, uh, to the subscribers. So I think, uh, you, you probably, then that I thought, no, there is, there is, there is this shift on how, uh, the video and the press can, um, uh, can sort of like, uh, Sure how, uh, you know, uh, the way they can, they can present their product.
And I think that was part of what motivated me to, you know, pursue this.
ALAN: There are so many examples of companies that have been built around newsletters. Zurairi mentioned Punchbowl news, but there’s also Morning Brew, Axios, Stratechery, Crikey, or even The Sizzle. All of these publications offer readers a core newsletter product. Some of them, like Morning Brew, have large teams, and others like The Sizzle are just one-person operations. What Zurairi wanted to create was closer to Punchbowl News which launched in early 2021, and focuses almost exclusively on the US parliament.
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 07:53): When I first entered journalism, I think taking a look at the big picture is one of the lessons I was first taught. And, uh, I think it kind of stuck with me until today, which is why I think there is perhaps a need for a product that can. Um, take a view of the polyman in, in a bigger picture rather than just, uh, day to day, hour by hour happenings. Uh, not to say that, uh, day-to-day, uh, happenings are not important because I think there is also an ID.
Need there for people to actually know what is happening on, on, on, on, on a day of a sitting of a meeting. Right. Um, but I am talking more when it comes to, uh, policies and laws that are being enacted. Uh, most of the times these tend to be, uh, lost in daily news coverage because. Very much attention being paid on the members of parliament themselves.
Right. Then the laws that are being formulated inside the parliament. And I think, uh, W w when, when, when I sit, um, why there is a need for, uh, this and also have a day-to-day, uh, explanation on what is happening, because I think currently the only outlet, uh, for, uh, someone who wants to find out what is happening, uh, on the next day or today in parliament sittings.
Right? There is only one source, which is the state news agency, which we call a better Nama. If you have access to the service, which not everyone does, then you will know what is being debated, uh, or going to be table, uh, on the next day. And, uh, often times even often names when, uh, news publications, uh, take this, uh, Uh, explanation of what is going on, uh, in, in a certain day, it is usually buried, you know, because of course for, uh, for a news organization, there are so many things that they are covering, so things tend to be buried under, right.
RISHAD: Zurairi was mentored by Pankaj Mishra, who runs FactorDaily out of Bangalore Pankaj was a coach for School of Splice, and helped Zurairi figure out some of the specifics of what the newsletter would be. And key to kick starting this process, was figuring out who the target audience should be. Here’s part of one of their conversations.
Pankaj (Zurairi With Mentor 13:23): No, no, absolutely. This is where I think someone like you brings a very unique lens through which people will make sense of it because the current frameworks would be looking at it in different ways. It's really the other thing I think, uh, you know, we, we need to spend time, uh, getting to understand better is, is so the audience that we are talking about, uh, what is the watering hole where.
Currently where we're all, do they go and consume whether it's news or information in your mind, the kind of persona, the kind of people that you have in your mind? Can you, can we talk a little about their behavior in terms of consuming content and.
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 13:56): When I think of, uh, people who, uh, who may be interested in the product, I immediately, um, picture at least two archetypes.
Uh, first is the political junkie, obviously. Uh, and at the, at the moment, um, much of the, what the color composition tends to be of us on not only on social media, but I think specifically, uh, Twitter, um, Facebook there's a, to a certain extent, but I think most of the more. Um, exciting. Progressive even conversations about the extent to be on Twitter.
And also, um, uh, the conversations are mostly driven by, uh, not only, uh, news articles from, um, new alternative online media. Um, but I think, uh, is also being driven by, uh, conversations. Uh, from politicians themselves on, on Twitter and on social media, all the oppressed it's been that they, uh, they, they, uh, they, they produce, uh, and also sometimes, you know, random, uh, conversations or things that they retweet, things that they post on social media.
It becomes. Uh, it sparks conversations with, uh, with this, uh, political decade junkies and, and this, uh, the people who, uh, part of the public, part of the forties who want to get, want to know more and want to get, to be more involved with. Policymaking and democracy. And the second persona archetype that I imagined is the more, uh, is, is I guess you can call them parliament professionals.
So this would, this would include, you know, um, academics who always keep track of, uh, policies and laws. And also of course, uh, the staff members of this members of parliament themselves, um, Uh, special offices for ministers, um, uh, research officers for members of parliament, and also it is associated with society.
Obviously. Uh, we have, uh, uh, quite a number of, uh, human rights organizations and also, uh, watch docs that are also working on, on democracy and elections and policymaking. And when I, when I, when I imaging the second persona, I would image it them mostly, you know, Uh, either exchanging views in the corridors of parliament themselves, or perhaps in a very, very esoteric, very close door, uh, seminars, conferences, uh, where they exchange information.
Um, so as you, as you, as we can see already, there is not much overlap between these two. Um, these two, uh, groups, but I believe, uh, there can be much, um, benefit if, um, we can create some sort of overlap of a sharing of information within this district groups, but also find a way for a product that can serve these to, um, uh, I guess, find a middle ground to serve this dish to most. Uh, I would say pressing, uh, audience of, of.
RISHAD: As with all media businesses - whether you’re starting a newsletter, a podcast, or building an online news brand - it’s important to figure out who the audience is FIRST, and test your theories against people who aren’t wanting you to succeed. You need to have conversations with people you don’t know, to test whether or not your assumptions are valid. If you don’t find a community, or a problem to solve, then perhaps you need to change your idea before you invest a lot of time — or money — in the product. Best to fail fast, because then you fail cheap.
ALAN: Zurairi had created a few personas of the ideal subscriber - and he was using these to picture who the audience was.
Pankaj (Zurairi With Mentor 17:48): Have you, have you spoken with, uh, any of these personas? Have you put the names to these that you have? Because one of the things I always, again, not been to a journalism school, but I always push myself and I think you would like. What names to faces because that's when we meet the meet the reality. So have you tried doing it?
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 18:19): Uh, I have, I know, I know, I know this is a common exercise, but I. Perhaps half a, you know, I haven't never put any names through this, so I guess it is time to come up with names that describe them. Right.
Pankaj (Zurairi With Mentor 18:39): Uh, not, not just as a fictitious character, but I think it, it would be good actually to kind of. Of people and speak to them who could be interested because as we go on this journey as really, I think it's almost like having a shadow board, even if there are two people who, you know well, who would be interested in a product like this, we can keep them as a shadow board or something where, you know, once in a while you can, you can talk to them, things that we discussed, we can quickly validate, you know, that kind of a thing.
So your circle of trust in that sense. So think of a couple of names that would really help.
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 19:21): Yeah. Okay. Sure. Um, yeah, I will have a think.
Pankaj (Zurairi With Mentor 19:28): Uh, 1 kind of a flag bear is that a lot of time and we are willing something new. Uh, people were too close to us, the wrong people to have, because no matter what we do, they will be like, Hey, this is great idea. This is awesome.
Zurairi (Zurairi With Mentor 19:53): And it's top of my head, I would probably call these two personas, you know, uh, Kira and Nadia, which are two of my friends when it comes to, uh, uh, uh, you know, human rights and, uh, uh, journalism, uh, and, uh, yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
ALAN: If you’re stuck trying to figure out what sort of newsletter to build - Sarah Ebner- the head of newsletters at the Financial Times has a great perspective on what type of newsletter to create. And this advice can be useful for anyone - whether you’re trying to start an independent newsletter, or whether you want to create a newsletter for your current brand.
Sarah Ebner (0:33): When it comes to what newsletter to build next, I think it's vital to check out the competition to see what's out there already. You should also research your own readers to see if there's demand for the newsletter that's proposed. Is there a topic that's popular, but that currently doesn't have a newsletter or is this too near to another one and might cannibalize its audience? Is there a writer who looks as if she or he could engage both existing and new readers? There's a lot more to consider, but those are the basics, along of course, with knowing who will write it and when, and who will cover when they are off.
RISHAD: The other thing Sarah recommends is thinking about the way the newsletter is written. Nobody wants to read a bunch of marketing material, or writing that sounds like it was generated by a robot. You need to be human.
Sarah Ebner (Sarah Ebner 0:11): When it comes to engaging newsletter audiences, there are so many ways to do this with the most basic being to make sure your newsletters are direct, great to read, and have a lot of personality, obviously highly dependent on the person who's writing them. Don't forget the 'letter' part of the newsletter, too many people concentrate only on the 'news' part and that you are writing to one person.
Pankaj (Zurairi With Mentor 47:34): You need to be a voice. And that is very important because if you don't, if we don't have voice or if you are not wise of something or issues that matter, then, uh, there is no persona. What do you stand for? So, so having voice is very important, but that doesn't mean which leads us to tonality, which you are referring to, right.
Now that tonality is also about who you want to be seen as. Uh, you know, and, and that's the first principles that you have about, you know, no name calling or, you know, no, no shaming, and basically trying to be constructive about it, trying to be more solution oriented about it. Uh, of course, red flag flagging issues that matter, but that doesn't mean you get on a, you know, the you know, almost like a street fight, kind of a thing you don't need to go there. So having a tonality design language, a style guide of voice, uh, is, are all building blocks off the question that you asked.
ALAN: Once you’ve figured out your audience, you’ve worked out your brand, and what you want to write about - it’s time to test your theories. So how do you get started?
RISHAD: One of the easiest ways to start a newsletter is by using something like Substack or Revue. These are one-stop platforms that allow writers and journalists to launch a newsletter in minutes. These platforms are great for those just starting out, and can allow you to charge subscriptions.
ALAN: What these newsletter apps don’t offer though is a lot of control. So If you want to build something more substantial and flexible, you might also consider launching a website with Ghost - a content management system largely geared towards newsletters. Or perhaps you sign up for a free Mailchimp account, and embed the signup form in your existing website.
RISHAD: Yes, starting a newsletter can be really easy, or really challenging - depending on what you want your end product to be. Remember to keep things simple. If all you want to do is launch a newsletter, then don’t overcomplicate it. Use one of the free or low cost tools to launch, and then once you have an audience you can expand your vision.
ALAN: The other consideration with newsletters is how to make these a habit. The best newsletters have strong open rates, and one of the best ways to improve open rates is to create a habit. You want to be the newsletter that everyone opens in the morning, or what everyone reads before the weekend.
RISHAD: And the key to forming a habit, is to create consistently useful, relevant content that is valuable to your audience. If you promise audiences an email every day - make sure you deliver on that promise.
ALAN: Dan Oshinsky, the founder of Inbox Collective, helps media companies figure out their email strategy. And says focus is one of the biggest issues for media startups.
Dan Oshinsky [Dan 1:16]: The biggest mistake I see media startup founders make in their first year is a lack of focus. There are a lot of opportunities coming your way when it comes to content to growth and monetization. But in year one, try to maintain a focus on your core strengths. Then you can chase down some of those other opportunities in year two and beyond.
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RISHAD: So say you do all of the above. You start your newsletter. You build an audience, and you create a habit. How do you tell if that newsletter is actually working?
ALAN: One obvious way, is to look at how many people are subscribing, and how many people open each newsletter, or click on the links within it. The higher the open rate, the more relevant you know your newsletter is.
Dan Oshinsky [Dan 0:45]: So you know you need to do a newsletter if you're building a reader revenue strategy, if driving revenue from your audience through subscriptions, donations or memberships is at the heart of what you want to do, then email should be at the heart of your content strategy. It's the thing that's going to allow you to build a loyal audience, drive habit among your readers, and ultimately convert them from free to paid.
RISHAD: If driving memberships is your larger strategy - then you might want to make it simpler for subscribers to convert from the newsletter, to become paid members.
ALAN: Newsletters can be incredibly powerful for any media business. So if you can find value in building a community of subscribers through a newsletter, you should definitely consider it. Here’s Sarah again.
Sarah Ebner (1:36): You can measure the value of your newsletter in many different ways, from what it gives to existing subscribers, enhancing the value proposition that you offer them, stopping churn, leading to better engagement to whether it leads to new subscribers. Newsletters are fantastic across so many areas: acquisition, retention, engagement, promotion of other rents. You won't be surprised to know that I simply think they're an excellent product.
OUTRO (Swap roles for each episode):
ALAN: Thanks for listening to the School of Splice. This episode was hosted by me Alan and Rishad Patel. Production by the team at Lawson Media.
In case you didn’t already know - Splice has three newsletters - you can sign up at our website, where you’ll also find previous episodes of the show. Just visit schoolofsplice[dot]com
We’ll speak to you again soon.
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