10 Unconventional (+ 1 Cliche But True) Lessons I Learned Publishing 100 Newsletter Issues

Growth hacks are great. But the most impactful lessons about building a successful creative platform are more easily overlooked. Here are 10 of them.

Just over two years ago, on April 12, 2020, I sent out the first issue of my newsletter, Creative Wayfinding.

I’d attempted to write several newsletters in the past, but they had always fizzled after a few months at most.

Something about this one felt different, however, and now, 100 issues later, it seems that hunch was true.

Over those 100 issues, the newsletter has nearly tripled in size, growing from 700 to 2,000 subscribers, almost all of that growth coming in the past 12 months, and I’ve learned a lot about creating and growing creative projects like newsletters, podcasts, and more.

And while a lot of what I’ve learned corresponds with the standard audience growth advice you can find all over Twitter, I wanted to share 10 of the more unconventional learnings I wish I’d known…