Why do we make monthly newsletter?
Newsletters will help you keep your networks updated with your progress. Sending out a monthly email will show people your potential, while also allowing you to develop a relationship with them. When people see what you're doing, you'll be more likely to get opportunities and support.
What are the benefits of sending a newsletter?
- Help you build a strong network that you can leverage.
- People will send you opportunities that relate to your area of interest.
- When you need help, you have a network of people to support you.
- Your newsletter will motivate you to make progress and hold you accountable.
- Easy way to consistently update people on your progress.
Examples of legit people writing newsletters
James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1
Julian Shapiro: https://www.julian.com/newsletter
Tim Ferris: https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/
Shane Parrish: https://fs.blog/newsletter/
Benedict Evans: https://www.ben-evans.com/
Examples of good TKS newsletters:
Hannah: https://mailchi.mp/a241b08403ac/check-out-what-ive-been-up-to-last-month?e=607707c76e
- Has buttons to see articles.
- Has a next steps section so people know what she's up to for this month.
- Good quality pictures.
- Not too much text.
Isabella: https://preview.mailerlite.com/z6j0j4/1225380741479666934/q1a9/
- Adds value to the reader.
- Funny
- Clean
- Shows progress but doesn't feel like she's showing off.
- This is #goals after 1 year in TKS.
Albert: https://mailchi.mp/c927aca7dbdf/july-newsletter?e=4941ae135a
- Clean, not showing off, but clearly made progress.
- Authentic.
- Shows his face and makes it personal.
Samarth: https://preview.mailerlite.com/p3s9i0/970538711647261889/a0w3/
- Has pictures of himself at JLabs and Waterloo → this is important! Make sure you take pics for your newsletter!
- Has sections for articles, places he went, courses/projects he's doing, and next steps.
Zaynah: https://mailchi.mp/075df618e901/zaynahs-monthly-newsletter-august-2018?e=1c36a9ed46
- Clean and well organized.
- Highlights projects.
What to include:
- Short intro about you at the top in case the reader needs a refresher.
- What you worked on this month.
- Highlight any progress you made from something you worked on last month (example: product sales, increased accuracy on an algorithm you're building, etc.).
- Events you attended.
- Achievements you received (but it's not about showing off).
- Interesting stories, experiences and learning points.
- If someone helped you this month, you can give them a shout out. Show gratitude. -
- You can also include optional sections like "what I'm reading" or "interesting news".
What not to include:
- Anything school related is usually not that interesting to people.
- Things that don't really matter. Don't overload your newsletter, keep it concise.
- It's not about how much you've done, so just have quality stuff.
Best practices:
Platforms/tools:
- Substack (new - it's been getting popular recently)
- Mailerlite
- Mailchimp
Content Best Practices
- Put your picture at the top of your newsletter so people remember who you are. - Have a catchy subject line.
- Have a good design.
- Keep it short and concise.
- Use high quality images.
- Add pictures of yourself.
- Add content like videos or articles.
- Have a lot of white space. No clutter. Design is key.
- Email it to people and post it on LinkedIn/Twitter.
- Shout out people who have helped you that month (optional)
- If you need help with something or an intro to someone, ask for it in your newsletter.
- Send it to your teachers, parents, EVERYONE! No downside.
Bad practices:
- Don't only write about achievements; you'll look like a show-off.
- Don't use formal language that is fake and unauthentic. But also don’t be too casual. The middle ground is authentic.
- It’s not about how much you write, but what you write.
- Don't add people to your email list without asking them first, especially if they are executives.
- Don't ask for multiple things in your newsletter. Focus on 1 thing people can help you with.
What others have to say about Newsletters:
Ayaan
"After the TakeOver Conference in Toronto, I followed up with the Chief Medical Director of TD, Vipan. I used this program called mail track to see if he had read my email, and after 50 minutes I got a notification saying he did. I was pretty excited, and I waited for his reply. But he didn't respond and so I waited for the whole week to go by and still no response. I decided to follow-up, and similar to last time he read the email and didn't reply, I thought okay maybe he's just really really busy so I guess I won't follow-up this week since I probably will sound rude. I waited for two weeks and the last week was time for me to send out my newsletter. I sent out my newsletter talking about how I spoke at a bio hack conference, written 2 articles, and next month I would be speaking at another conference in Dubai. Since he's in my mailing list, he receives the newsletter 30 minutes after i send it, 20 minutes after he reads it I get a notification in my Inbox "From Vipan - Hey Ayaan, Would love to meet, saw your newsletter love what your up to!". Boom, the power of the newsletter."
Samarth
"In the summer, I had a meeting with the head of Johnson and Johnson’s innovation team. She was smart and gave really good advice, not only that, but she knew tons of people that could help out with the project I was working on in the summer. I added her to my newsletter, and what that did was keep me at the top of her inbox each month so she wouldn’t forget who I was, but not only that, when I started to publish more info on my project in the newsletter, she connected me with the head of JLabs and attached my newsletter when introducing me. This already created an impression on him and reinforces why we should use newsletters to keep our network updated on what we are working on so that if they can help in anyway, they will."
Izzy
"I've been doing newsletters for 1.5 years now. They have been the single most helpful thing to improve my network connections. My newsletters have opened so many doors for me, it's unbelievable. I've gotten internship opportunities, project opportunities and interesting meetings because of my network. It also holds me accountable. I can't recommend them enough."
Sameer
"At Microsoft Tech TO in June I went up to one of the speakers who was CEO of a machine learning startup called Netramark working on drug repurposing and drug design. He was a really smart guy and was very interested in what I was working on. At that moment he passed me his business card and said "I want you to work for me in the future". He wanted to be on my newsletter after I told him about it, and the next few months I kept updating him and many others on the progress I was making. He kept replying and always telling me some cool ideas he had and being amazed by my work so I decided to follow up with him and meet at his office. Since he saw what I was working on and how it was relevant to his projects he decide to hire me and work for him part-time. All because of the newsletter, my network was updated on what I was doing and learning and helped build my personal brand."
Just trust me.
- Navid
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