The 1k challenge: How to get your first 1,000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days — even if you’re starting from scratch

DEEP DIVE

I got my first 1,000 subscribers in 21 days. I now have over 64,000.

I’ve helped hundreds of other people get their first 1,000 subscribers, too.

In my experience, getting your first 1,000 email subscribers is the hardest. But if you get there, your odds of building a large audience you can monetize go up 100X.

That’s why I've created this challenge for those who want to get 1k fast.

It’s not easy. But if you follow all the steps exactly and create high-quality content, it’s achievable for anyone.

Here’s the 1k challenge

That’s it. Do this for 4 weeks and you’ll see incredible results.

Why it works

This strategy is designed to help you build an audience from scratch on one social platform, then convert the views and followers you attract into newsletter subscribers.

It combines the best strategies to:

• Build a following from scratch

• Build relationships with other creators & your readers

• Get those people off-platform and on to your email list

It’s based years on trial and error from my personal experience building my newsletter into a $3M/year business and helping clients add 10M+ subscribers, collectively.

Copy this process exactly. It works.

Don’t do more or less. Don’t modify it. If you’re starting from scratch, you must copy what works. Do not try to create your own system.

How to get started

Only use one social platform

Out of all potential growth channels, social is the fastest (and lowest cost) way to get traction. Focusing exclusively on one social media platform will get you results as fast as possible.

• Paid ads should not be used until you’re successfully monetizing your audience

• Google search traffic is not attainable for people starting from scratch

What platform to pick

I highly recommend LinkedIn. It’s the last text-focused platform that’s relatively easy to build an audience from scratch on.

If your audience isn't on LinkedIn or you prefer creating video content, Instagram is another great option.

I would avoid:

• Facebook — Little organic reach. And, it’s Facebook.

• Twitter/X — X prioritizes video. It’s very hard to grow on X now.

• TikTok — Can be great if you love video. Yet, an audience on Instagram will be more valuable.

• YouTube — YouTube is an amazing place to build an audience. But it’s hard for beginners. Scripting, producing, and editing videos takes time.

What newsletter tool to use

I use beehiiv. It’s an all-in-one tool you can use to send newsletters, do email marketing and automation, host your website, blog, landing pages, and more.

It’s also much easier to use and set up than other platforms.

Try beehiiv for 30 days and get 20% off with this link »

Substack is the only alternative I would consider. It’s free and simple to use. Yet, it lacks the advanced features you need to build a business long term.

The only caveat is this: If you already have your newsletter set up on a platform like Kit, HighLevel, Mailchimp, etc — keep using it for now. You can still be successful on these platforms. After you get 1,000 subscribers you can consider migrating.

How to execute the 1k challenge

I’ll explain the weekly tasks first:

Publish 1 pre-CTA

A pre-CTA (pre-newsletter call to action) is a teaser. It’s a post where you share what your newsletter covers around 24 hours before it’s sent.

With Pre-CTAs, you create:

• Fear of missing out (FOMO) on your content

• Urgency to sign up and get access to the content

• Curiosity to see what the newsletter content is about

Plus, this makes it easy to tell followers about your newsletter.

You’re just telling followers what you’re writing about. Then asking them to sign up to read it. If followers are interested in that content, they’ll subscribe.

Here’s my complete guide on pre-CTAs with 25+ examples.

This pre-CTA will count as 1 post towards your goal of 5 posts per week.

Publish 1 “comment to get” giveaway (CTG)

Comment to get giveaways are the best way to grow your email list from LinkedIn and Instagram. This will also count as 1 post towards your goal of 5 per week.

Here’s how they work:

• Use a newsletter you’ve published to your website (as a blog post) to “giveaway”. This is essentially a lead magnet.

• Put that blog behind an email gate so people must enter their email address to read it (beehiiv makes it easy to do this in 1-click)

• Create a social post on why the blog post is awesome.

• Instead of calling it a blog post or newsletter you’ll call it a “playbook/guide/cheatsheet/SOP/template/blueprint/etc”

• Ask people to comment one word on your post so you can DM them a link to get access.

• DM them a link to the gated blog post and reply to their comment so they get a notification about checking their DMs.

The key here is that you’re repurposing your newsletters into lead magnets. When you’re starting from zero there’s no point in publishing newsletters UNLESS you repurpose them into lead magnets and social posts.

Examples:

• “Comment to get” post on LinkedIn 1

• “Comment to get” post on LinkedIn 2

• “Comment to get” post on LinkedIn 3

• “Comment to get” post on Instagram 1

• AI prompt to create “CTG” posts from your newsletters

After people comment to “get” the lead magnet, send them a DM like this:

And yes, you need to DM manually at first. It takes time but it’s well worth it because of the followers and email subscribers you’ll gain.

Copy and pasting the same message 100 times doesn’t take long.

After you’ve done a few giveaways successfully you can hire a VA to do this process for you on LinkedIn, or use ManyChat to automate this on Instagram.

Publish 1 newsletter per week (and gated blog of the newsletter)

This task is straightforward: Send one newsletter a week to your email list and publish the content part of that newsletter to your website as a blog post.

Pro-tip: Beehiiv makes it easy to publish a newsletter and email-gated blog post at the same time. You can edit your posts visibility so some sections show only in email or only on your website (or both).

Focus on creating newsletter content you can use to:

• Repurpose into lead magnets

• Repurpose into social posts or video scripts

• Use in other parts of your business: Marketing emails, SOPs, case studies, drafts for course curriculum, etc

Now we’ll get into the daily tasks…

Publish 1 post on 1 platform (5 posts per week)

We’ll already covered what 2 of these posts will be:

• 1 pre-CTA teaser — published 24-8 hours before your newsletter is sent

• 1 “comment to get” giveaway — published 48-72 hours after your newsletter is sent

These are both call to action posts designed to get your viewers and followers off social media and on to your email list.

Your remaining 3 posts each week will be editorial.

They should give away value for free with little to no CTA. They’re designed to build your audience, help people, gain trust and followers.

The 3 editorial posts could be repurposed from parts or all of your weekly newsletter.

Even if you’ve already teased the newsletter content (pre-CTA) and used it as a lead magnet (CTG) — it’s totally fine to still publish that content.

Most followers will not see all your posts. Each post will attract a new audience.

And if you believe your content will help people you should distribute it in every way you can, to help more people!

That said, still create original content for social on other topics. Do a mix of both repurposing and creating from scratch.

5-10 comments on other accounts (25-50 per week)

• Create a list of 10-15 accounts in (or related) to your niche or industry.

• Put a link to their profiles into a Google sheet.

• Check their profile for new posts once a day.

• Share an insightful, encouraging, or helpful comment on their post.

• 1-4 sentences are all that’s needed. 1-2 words is not enough.

• Don’t use AI to do this.

This does a few things:

• LinkedIn promotes accounts that actively engage on the platform.

• People will read your comment, visit your profile, and follow you or join your newsletter.

• The accounts you engage with may reciprocate by commenting on your posts, boosting your reach.

• Helps you build real relationships.

When you’re building an audience online, it’s easy to get detached from reality.

There are real people behind those email addresses and accounts. People who can become your friends, customers, mentors, and supporters.

Audience building is relationship building at scale.

Take the time to build 1on1 relationships by engaging with others on your social platform of choice.

When you build those relationships, they lead to:

• Your content getting shared

• Business opportunities

• Podcast interviews

• Cross-promotions

• Introductions

• Referrals

• & more

When you’re getting started, respond to everyone who replies to your newsletter, comments on your social posts, DMs you, etc.

Don’t go into the conversation with an objective. Be helpful for free.

Later on, these relationships will lead to revenue and opportunities.

Message ALL new connections/followers

The easiest way to get newsletter subscribers from social media is to simply send a “warm DM” to all your new connections/followers and ask them to join your newsletter.

They already followed you. Why not ask them politely to sign up?

Most of your follower won’t even know you have a newsletter unless you tell them!

After you get a new connection/follower send a DM like this asap:

Edit this message to fit your personality, newsletter, and style.

And yes, again, you’ll need to do this manually! That’s okay. This can be automated or outsourced later when you have thousands of followers.

It’s worth it because you’ll convert 20%-50% into email subscribers.

Send 20 connection requests to targeted accounts

Final task! This one is only relevant to LinkedIn. Skip this if you’re focused on Instagram or another platform.

Here’s why you need to do this:

• Every connection you get also counts as a follower on LinkedIn

• People you’re connected with are MUCH more likely to see your content

Here’s how to do it:

• Go to the “my network” tab on LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn will suggest 25+ people you should connect with based on your activity, industry, job, and more. Send a connection request!

• If you want more targeted connections you can search keywords and filter by people.

Send 20-25 connection requests per day (that’s the limit on LinkedIn). No message with the request needed. Boom. You’re done.

Personal schedule

This will take 10-20 hours per week at first.

That means you’ll need to block off your mornings before work to do the tasks, or your evenings. Having 4-5 hours to do this on Saturday or Sunday is helpful too.

Assuming you have a full time job and/or other responsibilities your 5-9 am or 5-9 pm should be time you use to build for yourself.

Most people spend their 9-5 making someone else money. Spend your 5-9 building something that will make you money.

Content calendar

Here’s a simple content calendar you can modify to fit any schedule:

• Day 1 - Monday — Editorial post 1

• Day 2 - Tuesday — Comment to get post

• Day 3 - Wednesday — Editorial post 2

• Day 4 - Thursday — Editorial post 3

• Day 5 - Friday — Pre-CTA post

• Day 6 - Saturday — Publish newsletter

• Day 7 - Sunday — No posts or newsletters

Putting it all together

I know, this sounds like a lot of work. It is. Especially when you’re doing it for the first time and with a full time job.

However, after you set things up, do all the tasks once, and get into a groove — it will get MUCH easier in week 3 and 4.

It’s simple. Not easy. If you want to grow fast, do difficult things.

I promise, if you follow this process exactly and create useful content, you will see results. 30 days later you’ll thank yourself for putting in the work.