Are newsletters still worth it?

I got this question from a reader.

So I wrote a long-ass post to address everything about it. If you’re serious about building a successful email newsletter and business, it's worth reading.

Here's my response:

You feel like it’s too late.

There are more newsletters now than there were 5 years ago.

More writers competing for attention. More publishers fighting for the same advertisers.

More nosie.

Inbox providers like Gmail and Apple Mail made it impossible to accurately track open rates. Bots make it hard to tell which clicks are real or fake.

There's a growing concern that AI could disrupt the inbox…

Could AI curate all inboxes soon?

Will people choose to read AI summaries instead of full emails?

You’re scared.

The future of email feels uncertain.

And you feel left behind because you didn't prioritize your email newsletter years ago.

Here’s the truth:

The right question is not:

“Is it too late?"

“Are there to many newsletters now?

Or,

“Will AI kill newsletters and email marketing?”

The right question is…

"What's the alternative?"

There are hundreds of so-called “experts” that claim…

“Email is DEAD”

“This is dead, or that is dead”

It’s easy to farm engagement and look smart by tearing things down.

It’s hard to offer solutions.

I guarantee if you ask people who pontificate about the death of email one simple question, you will hear crickets.

That question is:

“What’s a better alternative to email?”

See, everyone who attacks email has an incentive to do so.

Substack recently went viral by claiming email is less reliable.

The alternative they recommend?

Posting to the Substack app and Notes instead.

Substack Notes is just another social platform.

Another rented audience.

Like X or LinkedIn.

With algorithms that filter your content.

With followers do you not own and inconsistent reach.

That's not an alternative to email. It's self-serving.

Substack's goal is to convert your audience to their users.

They want you to rely on their app, their social network.

You will depend on them.

And you may pick up some scraps.

Collect some emails and some paid subscribers on their platform.

But you will not have an independent business.

You'll be a Substacker. Not a real brand.

Over one year ago Adam Ryan wrote a viral blog post proclaiming:

“The End of the Open Inbox”

And that…

“Soon, AI will decide which emails you actually see.”

This post sparked the concern about AI usage by inbox providers like Gmail hurting newsletter senders and email marketers.

So far, none of the predictions from it have come true.

In Adam Ryan’s viral blog post about the end of email, he offered this as an “alternative”:

“Build SMS lists, community spaces, and direct relationships where you control distribution.” — Adam Ryan

WorkWeek raised a $12.5M Series A to build these alternatives 3 years ago.

With that cash, WorkWeek pivoted their company from B2B newsletters to “professional networks” (basically, private communities).

That investment has yet to pan out.

If you join any of Workweek's communities, you'll find they're mostly empty.

There are a few post per week. Most from the creator (who leads the community) or the community manager.

And there are nearly zero replies to any of the posts.

Most of the replies and comments in these communities are from the community manager trying to drive engagement that just doesn't exist.

Why is that?

Because no one wants a free online community.

These communities aren't replacing social media for professionals. They're not a better direct relationship than email.

They're just more noise.

The alternative to email is NOT:

The alternative to the email is not another channel…

It’s getting BETTER AT EMAIL.

Then adding other channels on top to make email even more effective.

There will be more newsletters, more competition, and inbox changes to adapt to.

But there’s still opportunity.

The most valuable audience is still an email audience.

That’s not changing.

Look at your options…

If you want to build a direct relationship with your audience (and you should), here are the channels available:

SMS, podcast, or communities should all be tools in your toolkit.

But you must prioritize growing your email list and mastering newsletter writing and email marketing first.

And guess what…

The best way to grow your SMS list?

Get email newsletter sign ups and ask for phone numbers during or immediately after the sign up process.

The best way to grow your private community?

Get email newsletter sign ups and ask people to join or buy your private community immediately after email sign up.

What’s the best way to grow podcast RSS listeners?

Promote your podcast to your email list.

SMS, podcasts, and communities are an amazing complement to a great email strategy.

But email must come first.

It’s a funnel.

Email → SMS → Push → Podcast → Product

So if you've been convinced by sophists that email is dying, you’re dead wrong.

There's still time left to start. Don’t waste it.

Here are more questions I need to address:

Newsletters alone have never worked. I've never recommended only building a newsletter and ignoring other content channels.

Distribution is king.

Email is the best distribution channel now.

But it should not be your only one.

Of course, you need discovery channels to grow your email list!

Of course, adding other direct distribution channels (SMS, push, podcasts) can make you more money than email alone.

Your newsletter can be the foundation everything else sits on top of.

But newsletters alone are not discoverable. No one will find out about your newsletter content. No one will subscribe…

Unless you build an audience on discovery platforms.

But this does not mean you need to start a newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and more…

All at the same time!

If you're a beginner…

Master those two channels until you have 10,000+ followers on one discovery platform and 1,000+ email subscribers.

Then expand slowly to new channels, one at a time.

Yes. But you shouldn't rely on it as your only revenue stream.

If you expect to build a 6-7-figure advertising business from scratch with only ads in your email newsletter, you’re screwed.

Advertising works best when you have multiple distribution channels to market the brands you work with.

Here’s why:

There's only one way to make money from your audience: Sell products/services.

If you want to build an independent business, the majority of your revenue should be from selling YOUR stuff.

What you can control.

Newsletter ads (~100 ad spaces inside an email) are one of worst ways to “sell” things.

They can sell. But not as well as dedicated marketing emails, custom content, webinars, and other marketing methods.

Or better yet…

A full funnel marketing campaign that combines all of this and more.

If the only way your business makes money (newsletter ads) is not an effective way of fulfilling the primary goal your sponsorship client have (selling their product)…

Is that a good business model? Hell no.

This doesn't mean newsletter ads never work. They do.

This also doesn't mean you should stop offering them completely.

It simply means they shouldn't be your only (or primary) revenue channel.

Email is the best way to sell things, so use it to sell your offer. Not just someone else's.

No! You need distribution to sell an offer.

The greatest advantage you can have when launching a product or service from scratch is an email list.

So start building it now. Talk to your audience. Learn about their problems.

Then offer them a solution.

Because humans don't value pure information.

They value information that comes from a trusted person or brand.

People will always consume content from creators that have:

If you're building a newsletter that purely summarizes information. Sure, that could be commoditized by AI.

But if you have a voice, a perspective, and a human connection with your audience — people will read your stuff.

You’ll become the signal in a world full of noise and AI slop.

No one has any of that when they start.

Everyone started from zero.

The human desire for novel and different ideas is endless.

The world wants new writers, creators, and brands.

That will never go away.

Your window of opportunity is not closing.

And consider this:

Even if you DO have decades of subject matter experience, no one cares until you prove it by publishing useful content!

You'll gain audience and expertise by doing the work.

If you research and publish content on a set of problems for 3 months, it's impossible not to become an expert.

At first, you'll share what you're learning. You'll break down or analyze other peoples results. Or report on the news or trends.

You don't need to be an expert to do ANY of that.

Eventually, you'll have enough knowledge to put together the dots and share unique advice with your audience.

And if you're worried…

Here's a lesson I learned the hard way:

The only way to become a better writer is by publishing. Not reading books on how to write. Not editing. Not even writing.

Publish publicly and promote!

It’s the only way to find out what people love, hate, and ignore.

And don’t just publish a newsletter or blog.

Early on, it’s easy to hide behind a newsletter or blog no one reads yet.

Publish once. Repurpose everywhere.

Post on X, LinkedIn, Substack Notes, online communities, and more.

Get eyeballs on your words every possible way.

Make time.

Your email newsletter is the most important distribution channel.

If you can't allocate 3-4 hours a week to it, you're not taking business seriously.

Then don’t.

You don't need daily social posts to grow.

Publish one great newsletter per week. Then, use the ADAPT framework to repurpose that content into 3-5 posts per week on one social platform

You can publish…

And do it for 90 days, you will build an audience.

Everything worth doing takes years to reach its full potential.

That's why you need to start now.

You can build a newsletter, an audience, and generate revenue in <90 days.

Will it be a massive audience or life-changing money?

Probably not.

But you've accomplished the hardest part, starting.

Start a newsletter. Build your email list.

Use discovery platforms like Social, YouTube, Search, and more to drive new audience to your newsletter and lead magnets.

Sell things to your list with marketing emails. Lots of them.

Ask for phone numbers as people sign up for your list. Text them to drive webinar registrations, sales calls, and more.

After you have a big email list and following on one discovery platform, add other direct channels like SMS, podcast, or community.

But don't do everything at once.

And please…

Stop over-complicating everything.

Email works if you make it work.

The problem isn't the channel. It’s you.

Fix your content and your business model.

Create free stuff that solves problems and sell something people need.

Let your competitors chase a better distribution channel than email and watch them fail.