Newsletter Summer Update - 2023 Edition
Newsletter Summer Update - 2023 Edition
4000+ subscribers, launching a podcast and SEO case study database product
Hello Everyone 👋,
Welcome to a special summer edition that gives you an update on what has happened over the last 6 months.
I want to get better “behind the scenes” emails.
Let’s dig into what happened 👇.
📈 4,000+ Subscribers
The SEO Sprint has reached 4,000 subscribers and shows no sign of slowing down.
This is a milestone to celebrate because, at the start of the year, I only reached 2.9K subscribers.
Thank you to everyone who subscribed 🙏.
Not only has the number of free subscribers growing but the feedback is positive. Of the responses so far 88% would highly recommend the newsletter to a friend or co-worker.
I think there are three main factors to the continued growth of the newsletter:
📣 Word of mouth - A lot of subscribers have been kind enough to share newsletters and give me a shoutout which results in more subscribers.
✉️ Monday 3-2-1 Format - I’ve been listening to feedback and decided to launch a shorter and easier-to-digest newsletter to start your week.
🎙️ The Podcast - Launching a new podcast and interviewing super-smart SEOs who work with developers to get things done.
I’ve been improving the newsletter to make sure insights are easy to digest and actionable. The goal is to spark ideas so SEOs can work more effectively with tech teams.
The new improvements seem to be working based on feedback:
“Love the concept of 3-2-1 - nice format and I really value your perspective and views on SEO, as well as the content you share.”
“I find your newsletters sooo valuable.”
“Great topics every week and broken down so they are easy to understand. Love the graphics!”
“Overall, this newsletter provides actionable tips, fresh perspectives, and invites self-reflection, making it a valuable resource for SEO professionals, particularly those working closely with development teams.”
🎙️ The Podcast
I started a podcast at the end of May 2023.
In 60 days I have released 6 episodes with over 1200+ downloaded on substack, as well as 300+ plays on Spotify, Apple and Google podcasts.
That is 125 plays/downloads per episode average in a month.
Considering the average podcast gets 25-30 downloads a month, I think this experiment was successful.
I want to thank all my guests and everyone who listened 🙏.
I was just interested in talking to people who worked with dev teams and listening to them tell their stories, so it’s great to see there is an appetite for it.
I definitely think I’ll work on season 2 of the podcast as there are even more people I have on my list.
🚀 Products
One key issue with running a free newsletter is trying to monetise it but still keep adding value to your inbox (while also putting food on the table).
I’ve decided to focus on the following monetisation paths:
Courses
Training
Products
🎓 Course: Think Like an SEO PM
I’ve got 50+ students signed up for the course I launched early this year.
The feedback for the course has been positive so far.
One big lesson I’ve learned is I need to really focus and improve any future courses to take into account the time for students to complete the course.
This is interesting because it mirrors the feedback I’ve been getting around the newsletter. It reminds me of a product saying “Everyone’s time is already allocated”.
Based on a lot of learning I’ve got a few self-paced course ideas to help add value to SEO professionals working in product teams taking into account time.
Watch out for these over the second half of the year.
🏋️ Training
Another interesting lesson I’ve learned is people want face-to-face training to ask questions and interact with an instructor.
For example, I’ve been doing live training sessions for teams to introduce SEO Product Management Principles which have included companies like the BBC!
If your team is interested in a 90-minute training session then just send me an email with the title SEO PM Principles Training to adam at theseosprint.com.
💿 SEO Case Study Database
The SEO Case Study Database has over 60+ customers in 21 days.
What started out as just something I did out of habit, was validated on social media and released as a product in a few days.
The product itself is just an Airtable database but the value it brings is that you can generate validated SEO ideas in minutes (notice that time factor at play again).
I have ideas for this product but I want to see how popular it becomes before investing any more time into it.
I’ve had positive feedback so far from in-house, agency and freelance SEOs:
"I've checked the list, and it looks awesome. It's a well-curated list with all sorts of case studies. You can already find them online, but if you value your time and want to spend it planning and executing your SEO strategies, I recommend buying the database!" - Gus Pelogia
"I bought this database 20 minutes ago and I've already sent two experiments along to clients to help answer their questions. Love! Thanks for putting this together!" - Crystal Ortiz
"This golden book of case studies! Been meaning to get it for a few weeks - finally got it today - man this is like SEO gold! If you ain't got it yet - get it!” - Chris Evans
And that is it for the update.
I’m off to enjoy August ☀️.
Adam.