Welcome to #28 of A-B-C and 👋 to 1178 new readers!

3 weeks ago, I tweeted that the best way to stand out on social media is to get off it and build a newsletter.

Loads of people asked the same question:

When should I start?

Well, I'm grateful to say as of last night there're 15,000 people on my list now.

Writing to you is a joy.

And email is the best way to build a reputation and relationship with your audience. It also makes you a sh*t tonne of money.

So, as you can imagine, I’m bullish on you starting soon.

Which is why today I’ll tell you precisely what I'd do if I was back at zero. You'll learn the 'lean newsletter' idea I teach in my coaching program. And I'll explain how to write a newsletter that doesn't blow.

This one’s a 5-minute read.

Let’s dive in.

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Let’s start with how not to do it.

2 years ago, when I was a young whippersnapper with no audience and no clue, I’d write a weekly email.

It was packed with advice, resources, and ideas from my favourite thinkers.

I'd grind for hours at the keyboard.

...which would be ok if anyone was reading aside from my girlfriend. Please, for the love of freedom, don't make my mistake:

Never write to the void.

If you want to succeed as a creator this century, you need momentum.

Every word must count.

Especially if you’re still stuck in a 9-5. You don’t have the liberty of time. You need to build leverage fast so you can give the finger to your boss. And to do that, the easiest way is to nail social media.

What I suggest to everyone is to set aside a window to go hard on social.

The aim is to get the flywheel spinning fast and slide up the compounding curve. Because when the audience machine starts rolling, everything else becomes easy.

First, commit to 6 months of full focus on Twitter.

Hustle in the comments like your life depends on it.

And learn how to write engaging threads as fast as possible (then write them till ya fingers bleed).

Or join 520+ creators using the Lab and make it effortless =)

You should be in a pretty good place by then. A few thousand followers at a minimum. Maybe 5 figures. Regardless, it's time to send emails.

But with a few rules.

Newsletters Are Your Secret Weapon

Quick flex.

Last month Dickie Bush asked his audience what their favourite newsletter was. Thank you if you voted for me. Let’s pretend otherwise if you didn’t. I was shocked to come in at 6th wedged between James Clear and Shane Parrish.

That’s the best threesome I’ve been involved in (ok, it’s the only threesome I’ve been involved in).

But aside from my ego, there’s a real benefit here.

Twitter is a bitesize, cheap dopamine fuelled orgy of likes and retweets. You’ll never stand out because you’re shouting just like everyone else to be heard.

Email is your world.

And it’s here you can be different.

But there’re two big mistakes creators make.

First, they wait too long.

A great newsletter takes time. Not just list size, but skill. Finding your flow requires repetition.

The second biggest mistake is thining you need to write a 1,500-word email like this to succeed.

For the most part, they hurt rather than help.

Let me explain.

You’re likely busy.

And a long email takes around 3 hours to produce - 150 hours of writing time per year. Roughly 75 threads. That's a whole lot of followers left on the table.

And if you think you can write a long email faster, think again.

Because your reader is busy too.

If you create a long newsletter, you better make sure it’s banging. Because if it’s not, say goodbye to your open rates. If you’re hard to read, you’re not getting read.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is when you apply the Pareto Principle, there’s a perfect alternative.

The Lean Newsletter

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the focus.

It isn’t the length of email that matters most. It's turning up weekly to help your audience win. Do it with a short, valuable email, and you’ll get the desired effect without the undesirable effort.

You’re like a friend who calls often.

But instead of a long, draining conversation (I ain't gonna pick up), you call for a quick check in.

Maybe a small story.

Bit of humour.

And a useful tip to ace the week ahead.

People will look forward to your emails - and that's a powerful position to be in as a creator.

So, what do we send?

Nailing Your Newsletter

​Josh Spector is a prime example of how to do a newsletter well. He makes 6 figures from his list, but his emails are 1-2 sentences long.

His advice?

You need to be useful, not just interesting.

The difference is value. You either:

• Educate
• Entertain
• Inspire

(or get Kieran Drew brownie points for all 3 - I'll show you an example below).

Now, I can’t tell you specifically what your audience wants. But I can tell you what would get the best results.

First, setting limits.

The newsletter will be no more than 400 words. It gets 45 minutes of your week, max. 30 minutes to write, 15 to edit.

If this sounds tight, good.

Constraints are the key to creativity.

Next, make sure every email contains a small detail about yourself. Stories are a compounding asset too. A few sentences repeated over a year will go a long way. Then, you finish with actionable advice or provide useful resources in your niche.

As an example, here’s how I’d do it for this email.

That’s 117 words.

Then I’d use a few sentences to tell you to write on Twitter first (answering the burning question most of you have). Finally, I’d send this Nailing Your Newsletter part, which is roughly 150 words – finishing the email with the classic:

This newsletter is an example.

Give it to me straight Reader, can you see how powerful sending this every week would be?

You learn about me. I solve your problem. And you read my content every day on Twitter, so the bond continues to grow.

And because most of your energy is still on social, you’ll grow fast.

Which means your newsletter will too. As more people read, the more it makes sense to give it your all.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean longer.

I’ll repeat what I tell my girlfriend most weekends:

Size isn’t everything.

It could be a higher frequency like Josh, or more concise communication like James Clear.

Whatever you decide, your audience is excited to see you. And with constraints, you’ll be excited to write to them too.

So, keep your newsletter lean and let it evolve as you do.

And who knows, maybe you’ll be involved in a threesome with your favourite writers at the end of 2023.

Speak next week,

Kieran

P.S. ​ Need help attracting an audience through social media content? You'd love High Impact Writing. Come see why over 1,800 people have taken my course here.

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And if you've got a moment, I’d love to hear what you thought of this edition of A-B-C. Send me a quick message - I reply to every email!