The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here! The Growth Vault is filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.

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“One of the worst things you can do is send new subscribers to a dead-end thank you page. That kills engagement immediately." — Chenell

We're breaking down the most overlooked (yet critical) part of growing a newsletter: onboarding new subscribers. 

We'll take you through Chenell's 3-step onboarding process every newsletter creator should have in place—and show how to optimize each for higher engagement, deliverability, and long-term retention. 

We also tease an advanced 5-step version and share examples from top creators like Katelyn Bourgoin, Tom Alder, and Eddie Shleyner. Whether you’re just starting out or already running a large newsletter, you’ll learn how to avoid common pitfalls and set up onboarding that actually works.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The 3 Cs of a high-converting landing page
• Why default Thank-you pages kill engagement (and what to do instead)
• How "sniper links" can push new subscribers directly into their inbox to find your email
• The #1 mistake welcome emails make
• The most important job your welcome email has
• A simple incentive trick to encourage replies
• The difference between a “true” and “false” double opt-in
• How (and why) to include surveys in your onboarding
• What top creators do with their “almost there” pages to hook new subscribers

LINKS MENTIONED

• The Growth Vault →
• Katelyn Bourgoin's Why We Buy landing page →
• Eddie Shleyner's 'Social Proof Avalanche' →
• Tom Alder's Strategy Breakdowns → 
• Growth.Design →
• Senja →
• RightMessage →
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community →
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Substack | Bluesky 

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here! The Growth Vault is filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.

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“Sometimes less is more. Cut the clutter and highlight the one thing that matters." — Chenell

It's newsletter roast time 🔥🔥 We're putting the spotlight on Hobby Card Life: a newsletter covering sports cards and collectibles. 

We roast and review everything from the sign-up flow to newsletter design to growth levers. You’ll hear what’s working, what’s holding this newsletter back, and the exact opportunities we see for growth and monetization.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The first impression a niche newsletter makes on readers (and where Hobby Card Life missed).
• The simple opt-in tweak that could dramatically increase subscriber conversions.
• Why design consistency matters more than you think—and how this newsletter could fix it quickly.
• What to do when your niche is too broad for new subscribers to understand instantly.
• The surprising monetization angle that could be a major revenue driver.
• How partnerships inside a passionate niche can compound growth.
• The retention risk we spotted in this newsletter’s publishing cadence.
• Where we’d focus first if we were growing Hobby Card Life from here.

LINKS MENTIONED

• Hobby Card Life newsletter
• HobbyCardLife.com
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• The GIR Social Growth Challenge 
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Get 30+ video lessons and ideas for optimizing your newsletter: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

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“All roads point to the email list." — Sam Vander Wielen, Sam's Sidebar

In this episode, we interview Sam Vander Wielen—a lawyer-turned-creator who has sold over $9M in legal templates with a 50k-subscriber newsletter. 

Sam shares how her motto of "All roads point to the email list" has helped her earn over $9M in total revenue since starting her business in 2017. And she's done it with a small team and a replicable funnel strategy most creators could copy. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why she decided to walk away from strategies that “should” work — and what happened after
• The $100k turning point that reshaped how she runs her business
• How she blends storytelling with practical education to keep readers engaged
• How her newsletter fuels her entire content ecosystem
• What creators misunderstand about legal protections (and how to fix it)
• Why she believes the boring stuff is actually the growth engine
• The platform she almost abandoned — and why she came back stronger
• Her advice for creators chasing growth but ignoring long-term sustainability

LINKS MENTIONED

• Sam's website
• Sam's book: When I Start My Business I'll Be Happy
• Sam's Socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new product —The Growth Vault— is here. Filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.

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“If content is king, AI is storming the castle." — Darren Vesterfelt, Mighty Networks

Chenell was just in Cleveland for the annual CEX conference. And she wasn't *just* in attendance—she was also a speaker!

So we're recapping the biggest lessons and takeaways from Chenell's experience at CEX (Content Entrepreneur Expo) — where she basically opened the conference with her keynote, traded notes with some content economy heavy hitters (like Jay Acunzo, Ann Handley, Mark Schaefer, Robert Rose), and soaked up the big trends.

We dig into why slowing down beats AI-first content, the power of community and IRL relationships, how to think about discovery vs. relationship platforms, and why some SEO pros are betting on social over search.  

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The case for “as slow as possible” content: let ideas marinate; don’t outsource your thinking to AI. 
• How to use AI as an editor rather than a first-draft brain replacement—and why this matters more than ever. 
• Driving audiences from discovery platforms → relationship platforms. 
• Community is a durable moat when content sameness rises (AI is “storming the castle”). 
• Social > Search (sometimes): comments from real humans can beat 10k empty pageviews. 
• Testing ideas fast with social media—and how commenting sparks even more ideas.
• IRL still trumps all: stages, dinners, and small masterminds create outsized serendipity. 
• Are physical newsletters back? 
• Should you try AI sobriety?

LINKS MENTIONED

• CEX
• Ann Handley
• Jay Acunzo
• Mark Schafer
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• The GIR Social Growth Challenge 
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Join our September Social Growth Challenge: https://growthinreverse.com/social

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“You have to be first—or you have to be best. That's how you win at paid content." — Nathan May, The Feed Media

In this episode, we interview Nathan May, founder of The Feed Media. 

Nathan shares how he turned a small, private newsletter into a $1M ARR business in under a year, and how his agency helps some of the biggest creators and media companies scale their audiences with paid growth. 

We dig into the playbooks behind The Feed Media, the experiments that worked (and the ones that didn’t), and why even a small but mighty list can generate outsized revenue. Whether you’re looking to monetize a niche newsletter or scale a larger media brand, Nathan’s story offers a unique perspective on growth and revenue. 

>>Get 30+ video lessons and ideas for optimizing your newsletter: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The surprising first step Nathan took before writing a single newsletter issue
• Why building around a niche community gave him an unfair advantage
• The revenue model he used before sponsors ever came knocking
• How The Feed Media structured its first monetization funnel
• The newsletter flywheel Nathan swears by for compounding growth
• The counterintuitive move that actually boosted subscriber trust
• Why his first 1,000 subs mattered the most
• The overlooked channel that drove some of his fastest growth
• How Nathan would start & scale a B2B newsletter today
• The single most important metric he tracks inside The Feed Media

LINKS MENTIONED

• TheFeedMedia.com
• Nathan May on LinkedIn
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

>> Join the 30-Days of Growth Social Challenge: https://growthinreverse.com/social

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“The first 6 months taught me that consistency beats everything — even if you’re not perfect."

In this episode of the Growth In Reverse podcast, Dylan and Chenell rewind the clock to when Chenell was just starting her newsletter. She breaks down the two strategies that fueled her early growth to 11,000 subscribers in six months: creating insanely valuable content and consistently engaging on Twitter.

PLUS: We're launching a new challenge to boost your content's visibility on social media—just like Chenell did to reach her first 11k subscribers: https://growthinreverse.com/social

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The simple posting strategy Chenell used to get her first subscribers
• How one Twitter comment brought subscribers instantly
• The role of curiosity and passion in standing out with your content
• Why treating your social profile like a landing page matters
• How early replies and comments built relationships with influential people
• The burnout risk of trying to post every day (and what Chenell would do differently)
• How a newsletter & podcast shoutouts boosted early credibility

LINKS MENTIONED

• The GIR Social Growth Challenge 
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

“If you spend 80% of your time making incredibly good content, you probably only have to spend 20% marketing it."

In this special episode, we’re bringing you Chenell’s conversation with Darrell Vesterfelt, VP of Growth at Mighty Networks, for a recent Creator Summit. 

In the chat, Chenell talks about why she started a newsletter — and why she chose a newsletter — way back in December 2022. 

Chenell and Darrell also dive into the art and science of growing a newsletter from scratch — from picking a topic you’ll never get bored of, to building relationships that fuel growth, to deciding when and how to monetize. If you’re looking for a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most well-known newsletter growth strategists thinks about audience building, this episode is loaded with ideas you can apply immediately.

>>Get 30+ video lessons and ideas for optimizing your newsletter: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why passion for your newsletter topic is a wildly underrated growth lever
• How Chenell leveraged “content-led growth” to get early traction
• The commenting strategy that landed her first subscribers
• Why treating your social profile like a landing page matters
• The balance between high-quality content and active marketing
• How to use “cryptic teasers” to generate curiosity before publishing
• The biggest mistake she made with social posting frequency
• Why she didn’t run Facebook ads for Growth In Reverse (and when she would)
• The simple poll that landed her first paid sponsor
• How she would structure a paid newsletter if starting today

LINKS MENTIONED

• Mighty Networks
• Darrell Vesterfelt on LinkedIn
• Chenell's first Deep Dive on Mario Gabriele @ The Generalist
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

The Growth Vault is LIVE: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

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“During my last year as a CFO, I made more money from my newsletter and podcast than my full-time job."  — CJ Gustafson, Mostly Metrics

We sit down with CJ Gustafson, former tech CFO and now full-time creator of two newsletters—Mostly Metrics and Looking For Leverage—and a podcast called Run The Numbers. CJ is masterful at taking financial and business concepts and making them wildly entertaining.
 
CJ shares how he went from consulting and private equity to running a high-revenue content business, why he thinks about content like product development, and the systems he’s built to keep ideas flowing. If you’ve ever wondered how to blend expertise, humor, and growth strategy into a newsletter people can’t stop sharing, this episode is packed with insights.

PS - We recently hosted CJ in the GIR Pro community where he shared more BTS of his newsletter 👀🔥

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• How CJ built Mostly Metrics into a leading finance newsletter with personality
• The unusual career path that prepared him for creating content CFOs actually read
• How CJ uses humor (and dog pics) to make complex topics approachable
• How he's building out the “media mullet” business model
• How CJ replaced his CFO salary with newsletter and podcast revenue—and why it happened faster than expected
• CJ's revenue streams that drive a multi‑six‑figure media revenue engine
• How he uses AI and transcripts to mine hundreds of hours of interviews for writing ideas
• CJ's favorite—and most important—newsletter metric
• The single biggest growth hack for his podcast audience
• His daily creative routine for producing high-value content without burning out

LINKS MENTIONED

• Mostly Metrics newsletter
• Run The Numbers podcast
• Looking For Leverage newsletter
• CJ on LinkedIn
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

The Growth Vault is LIVE: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

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“You don’t need to create for everyone. You need to create for the people who value you most — and they’ll carry your newsletter further than you think."  — Matt Johansen, Vulnu.com

We sat down with Matt Johansen, creator of the Vulnerable U newsletter (nearly 30,000 subscribers), to unpack how he’s grown a must-read in the cybersecurity space. Matt has successfully transitioned from working in the cybersecurity space to running a newsletter + content agency business. So we wanted to learn exactly how he's done it. 

Matt shares how he combines industry expertise with personal storytelling, why B2B creators can command a premium, and what’s working for him across newsletters, sponsorships, and short-form video. 

If you want to learn how to grow and monetize a niche newsletter, this one’s for you.

PS - Matt is not only a brilliant video & newsletter creator, he's also a member of the GIR Pro community 🔥

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• How Matt grew to over 30,000 subscribers in under 2 years
• How he's crushing short-form video content for his newsletter
• How he monetized through sponsorships and built an agency alongside the newsletter
• The strategy behind his short-form and long-form video content
• His approach to setting boundaries with sponsors while maintaining audience trust
• How he leveraged industry presence & experience for early newsletter traction
• Why and how he’s adding a paid newsletter subscription tier 
• Tips for avoiding burnout as a solo creator juggling multiple content platforms
• Why platform-specific editing matters for short-form video success

LINKS MENTIONED

• Vulnu.com (Matt's website)
• Matt's socials: Instagram || YouTube || Twitter || LinkedIn
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

The Growth Vault is LIVE: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

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“This is the underrated growth strategy every newsletter should be using.”

What if every subscriber could turn into 10 more?

In this episode of the Growth In Reverse podcast, Dylan and Chenell unpack one of the most underrated newsletter growth levers: referrals.

They explore how to turn one subscriber into ten, without even needing a full-blown referral platform. From embedding share prompts into your welcome sequence to clever ways to incentivize email forwarding, this episode is packed with low-lift, high-impact strategies that help creators build a referral flywheel — even without a tech stack.

No matter our ESP, get some new ideas and actionable tactics to boost growth using your most valuable asset: your existing subscribers.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The absolute best time to ask subscribers for referrals (and why most miss it)
• A surprising strategy a deliverability expert recommends to get more shares
• How one subtle tweak in your welcome email can 10x word-of-mouth growth
• The low-effort email trick that gets people to forward your newsletter
• “Send this to your plant bestie” — why hyper-specific asks perform better
• Why sharing via social might outperform traditional email referrals
• The hidden moment after a lead magnet download you should be capitalizing on
• A single click that triggers a referral follow-up (without any tech stack)
• The tiny line at the bottom of your email that can quietly drive growth
• A one-referral incentive so clever, readers feel compelled to share

LINKS MENTIONED 

• Get The Growth Vault — a vault of newsletter growth strategies with templates and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
• Tyler Cook (Email Deliverability)
• Dan Oshinsky's Growth Lever
• The ShareLinkGenerator (Dan Oshinsky's "mailto" tool of choice) 
• Aakash Gupta's GIR Interview
• Ali Abouelatta's GIR Deep Dive
• Shaan Puri's Viral Post Framework
• Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
• Check out the 30 Days of Growth FREE >>
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here. 
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.