Everything you need to know before launching a newsletter

Already launched? Check you have all these things to ensure your newsletter's success.

Sep 09, 2025

Let’s be honest: starting a newsletter looks deceptively simple. You pick a name, type a few hundred words, and hit publish, right? In reality, a good newsletter takes thought. What you want out of it—whether you’re just writing for fun or aiming for paid subscribers—will shape the choices you make.

If you’ve already launched and you’re only now thinking about these questions, don’t panic. You can still add, tweak, and reshape as you go. What matters most is deciding what kind of newsletter you’re building and how you’ll keep it going.

Branding

By branding I don’t mean a full brand book or a colour palette with hex codes only a designer can name. To start, you just need a name and something visual to sit at the top of your emails.

When you’re choosing that name, a little research goes a long way. Look at newsletters in your niche. What names do they use? What do you like—or find dull—about them? You’re not copying, you’re doing market research.

Even if you’re not trying to ‘compete,’ your potential readers are already reading other things. If your title feels lost, that’s an uphill climb.

Also, run a quick search to check no one else is already using your chosen name, especially not a bigger brand! Worst (and unlikely) case is lawsuits, but it could also just confuse readers and bury you in search results.

On visuals, keep it simple. My logo was something I threw together on Canva more than a year ago, and it still does the job. Weirdly, I actually get a lot of compliments about the style.

You don’t need a fancy budget or a design team. Scroll through Substack and you’ll see plenty of logos that are clean, clear and memorable without being complicated. You can always refine things later. For launch, clarity beats cleverness.

I’ll write more about branding in future, but for now: name and logo. That’s enough!

Time commitments

It’s easy to get carried away at the start, promising three posts a week before you’ve written a word. Then life happens and you stop after a month. That’s when readers drift off.

Be honest about how much time you can actually spend. If you’re working full-time, a daily or even twice-weekly schedule might be more punishing than productive. You don’t need to publish every week, especially if you’re not aiming to have a huge audience or make loads of money. What you need is a rhythm you can actually stick to.

When I started the Freelance Writing Network, I knew I could manage once a week. I was already spending hours looking for freelance calls for myself, so putting them into a newsletter wasn’t a big leap. The key was committing to that once-a-week schedule and not flaking.

If you tell readers you’ll be in their inbox on Thursdays, and then disappear for a month, don’t expect them to keep opening your emails.

Find your genre

Substack has a long list of categories: news, politics, sports, education, science, and plenty more. Choosing where you fit matters. It gives you direction and helps readers understand what you’re about.

You can also add a subcategory, which is handy if your newsletter spans two areas. A newsletter about live sport might sit under “sports” first, and then “news” as a secondary label.

You don’t need to overthink this. Just pick the options that match what you actually plan to write.

Why should someone read your work?

Here’s the tougher part. Once you’ve picked a genre, you need to figure out your angle inside it. Why would someone read your newsletter instead of, or as well as, another newsletter in the same niche?

Let’s say you’re writing about basketball. Plenty of people already cover it, including well-known names like Marc Stein with his 44,000 subscribers. So what’s your edge? Maybe you’re funnier. Maybe you break down stats in plain English. Maybe you do short, sharp updates instead of 2,000-word think pieces.

When I launched the Freelance Writing Network, I knew there were already newsletters about writing opportunities and others about the writing craft. I wanted both. A single place where freelancers could find plenty of paid opportunities, plus practical advice and a community.

I didn’t think of it as beating the competition, more as giving readers a reason to read mine as well as theirs. That difference matters.

And here’s the thing: readers rarely stop at one newsletter. If they’re interested in your topic, they’ll often be open to more. Your job is to show them why yours deserves a slot in their inbox.

Content style

Readers stick around when they know what to expect. That doesn’t mean every post has to sound the same, but it does mean they shouldn’t have to guess whether they’re about to get a thoughtful essay or a half-written joke.

Decide early on: do you want to sound casual or formal? Will you write essays, quick tips, curated links, or something else? Are you aiming to inform, to entertain, or to persuade? All of these can work, but you need consistency.

I’ve seen newsletters that switch from straight reporting one day to comedy riffs the next. It can be disorienting. I loved the funnier posts, but after a while I stopped opening emails because I never knew what I’d find.

Uncertainty can be a deal-breaker for readers.

How are you finding an audience?

Newsletters don’t grow on their own. You need a plan for finding readers.

On Substack, that usually means Notes. It’s a bit like Twitter, with writers sharing links and chatting. The catch is that it can be a little heavy on writers and light on readers, so it can take time to see results.

That’s why I branched out. I started a Twitter account under the Freelance Writing Network name, then added Reddit, Bluesky and, now my primary focus, LinkedIn.

Most of my subscribers actually came from outside Substack (and a much higher percentage of paid subscribers too), because that’s where writers more likely to read my work were hanging out.

Think about who you want reading your newsletter. Where do they already spend time? That’s where you should show up and share your work.

Schedule and content planning

A set schedule makes everything easier. Once you decide on a day and time to publish, readers know when to expect you, and you don’t waste energy debating when to send.

There’s no perfect time of day. What matters most is consistency. I avoid the 6–8pm BST slot because that’s when my inbox floods, but you may find mornings or afternoons suit your readers better. Experiment a little, then stick with what works.

Content planning helps you avoid staring at a blank page on deadline day. When I first mapped out Grow Your Newsletter, I made a list of twenty post ideas. That gave me breathing room, and it meant I wasn’t relying on inspiration striking at 10am on a Tuesday. I still keep a Google Doc of ideas and add to it whenever something comes up.

Monetisation goals

Here’s the part everyone asks about. Can you make money from a newsletter? Yes. Should you expect to do it right away? Probably not.

I had the paid option turned on from day one, but it took six months to get my first subscriber. It was months after that before the income was even close to minimum wage for the hours I put in. If you go in thinking you’ll launch, send a few posts, and quit your full-time job, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

Potential paid subscribers need to know that you’re consistent. That the content is high-quality. And that there is worth in paying for your work.

They’ll pay because what you write feels worth supporting. That means your first step doesn’t have to be monetisation, but just showing up.

That’s the real foundation. Everything else can come with time.

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