The Creator Spotlight Q1 recap

Each Friday, one amazing creator shares how they are crushing it with their beehiiv newsletter in our Creator Spotlights.

This week, we’re highlighting all of the amazing publishers we’ve featured in Q1 and breaking down everything you might’ve missed (for all 25,000 of you who’ve joined since!).

Below, you’ll find examples of Creators with lists of all sizes, in different niches, and (in some cases) earning full-time incomes.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Topic + Positioning

• Topic selection with International Intrigue

• Branding + standing out with The Neuron

• A newsletter built around an existing business with YASSS Letter

Content Strategy

• Leveraging your expertise with Michael Houck 

• Documenting everything with The Gentle Nudge

• Making big pivots with Not a Bot

Marketing & Growth

• SEO + working with influencers with Marketer Milk

• Collaborations with Meagan Loyst

• Twitter Growth with Psychology of Marketing

• Attribution + doubling down on what works with Young Money

Monetization

• Sponsorships with No Code Devs

• Niche content & getting paid with Eli Weiss

• Building adjacent products with Through the Noise

Each creator on this list is doing amazing things with their newsletter, and it was hard to narrow down each Spotlight to a single topic.

But, what do all of these publications have in common? Great content is key.

Topic & Positioning:

“The riches are in the niches.” Let’s get into it.

Topic Selection with International Intrigue:

What stood out from Aine Stapleton’s interview was the story of how International Intrigue started. Diplomats coming together to create a new publication covering global events, but with a style and tone that fit a modern audience.

Think, The Economist, but with an engaging voice that fits a modern reader.

Don’t be afraid to look at what’s working, and do it your way. Just make sure it actually works for you (the Intrigue team are all experts in their field, after all).

Some examples:

• Financial news written for women in business.

• The latest in tech, but for the elderly.

• Chess news, but with memes and a young tone

Clearly, it’s worked for International Intrigue (who’s nearly doubled their audience since their Spotlight). Read the full story or subscribe to their newsletter here.

Branding & Standing out with The Neuron:

The AI newsletter space is crowded with many great publications. That left Pete Huang with the challenge of standing out, and with more than just his great content.

This is where this cat-themed newsletter stands out. “There’s something emotional about having a pet. It’s just a very human experience. So I decided to put a cat at the center... I don’t expect readers to go that deep, but it’s a very lighthearted way to play this particular topic.”

In a competitive space, standing out is key, and first impressions are essential. The right brand can resonate with your audience just enough to hit subscribe when they otherwise wouldn’t.

While we highlight the great brand and Pete’s approach, there is so much more to this Creator Spotlight that you should check out or subscribe to The Neuron here.

A Newsletter On Top of Your Business.

While a newsletter is often the business, sometimes, a newsletter is built around an existing business. That’s what BenGingi and his partner Zikki are doing with YASSSletter while running a catering company together.

The dynamic duo is very clear. Commitment is key to success, and the newsletter format demands it. "[Whether] you have one subscriber or ten million subscribers, you are committed to it.”

The newsletter is their way of fostering an inclusive-exclusive community with friends, neighbours, fans, and everyone in between. While they’re big on social media, their newsletter has a deeper relationship that helps them structure their business.

Positioning a newsletter as part of a greater ecosystem of everything you do can be a great way to expand your media presence. Their blueprint is one thing, but there’s so much more, so make sure to check out their Spotlight and subscribe to their newsletter.

Content Strategy

By far, the most important part of any newsletter is the content. Don’t neglect these tips.

Leveraging Your Expertise with Michael Houck

Houck’s letters share his startup expertise; while he’s humble about it, it’s a killer content strategy.

Knowing something well, whether business, a hobby, or art, (anything really), immediately puts you in a position to create content that resonates.

There will be people on the same path, with the same obsession, and with the same lessons to learn. All of which you’ve done before and experienced for yourself.

Houck brings intense focus to his content with a system that enables hit after hit. This system involves knowing the reader (your niche), sharing your experience/expertise, and tracking everything across one large database (he uses Airtable).

Houck defines 'great content' as material that reflects an author's unique perspective and personal experience. "Building a personal brand in public, on Twitter or LinkedIn or even TikTok, you can build some of that trust. People will subscribe to the newsletter because they want more from you. But you need to be driving them toward something unique and great."

It’s a great Spotlight to explore further and be sure to subscribe here. 

Documenting Everything with The Gentle Nudge:

Marcin Pogroszewski has already proven himself capable of making big things happen in business. He’s now documenting everything about his next venture in his newsletter, The Gentle Nudge.

While an expert, he’s taking a very different approach (both of which work, there’s no right or wrong). He’s learning the lessons as he goes and sharing every detail. Consider it a “gentle nudge” to finally go for it yourself.

But, this strategy can work even if you’re not an expert. This content strategy is viable if you’re committed to learning and sharing as you go.

• The artist who goes from sketching in their room, to their own studio.

• A gamer documenting their grind before signing to a pro-team.

• Musicians who go from their garage to the big stage.

• And yes, business people who take an idea to $1M and beyond.

The more you publish, the more people will see your commitment and follow your journey. Progress updates, for example, are a great way to connect.

While other platforms exist, newsletters are not subject to algorithms and give creators more control.

Check out his Spotlight or subscribe here for more of what Marcin is doing.

Making Big Pivots with Not a Bot:

It’s not always the case that the topic you start with is the one you keep. Positioning your newsletter amid change is not easy. That was the challenge Haroon Choudery recently overcame with Not a Bot.

"Our original newsletter had a different purpose. Once every two weeks, we would cover the latest AI research. So it was very academic. But very recently, we saw a huge influx of people and interest in the AI space, and many people [started] creating AI newsletters."

That's when Choudery decided to rebrand the newsletter. He changed the name from All About AI to Not a Bot. Also, he says, "We moved to beehiiv and haven't turned back."

So, what are the keys to a content pivot?

• Be upfront with your audience that change is coming.

• Make it gradual. Slowly phase in the new topic, and phase out the old one.

• Clean your list of duplicates and inactive emails if your pivot involves changing platforms (which will save your deliverability).

But this one summary doesn’t do the whole initiative justice, so be sure to read the Spotlight or sign to Not a Bot here.

Marketing & Growth

Everyone’s favourite topic, but don’t forget it’s all backed by great content.

SEO & Working with influencers with Marketer Milk

Omid G sat with us and broke down exactly what he’s doing to build his business (so many great hits). Main focus being SEO and influencers.

For example, he says, "I had an article that was getting a decent amount of traffic. It was one of those best-type list posts, and I had no affiliate links in it. I completely forgot about it.

Then, seven or eight months later…[it was doing well]. So I went back to the first company in the list, applied to their affiliate program, and replaced the link."

Adding that link to an established article was powerful. "In the past month, I made a quick $700 — from a simple 2min action.”

From there, he partnered with a Youtube creator for a paid feature in a “day in the life of a marketer” video. And it worked, partly because it was a great creator and because Youtube videos have a longer “shelf-life.”

You can search for something today and see videos from years ago on the first page. Other platforms often don’t have that. So if you’re curious about how to spend your marketing dollars, consider working with YouTubers.

But this isn’t all Omid was doing. Check out his Spotlight or subscribe to Marketer Milk here for more.

Collaborations with Meagan Loyst, the Gen Z VC Queen.

Meagan is absolutely crushing it, and she had so many great tips for new creators. But one, in particular, stood out:

She recommended highlighting other voices in your content. "Two years ago, when I started creating content broadly, I had 50 followers on Twitter. The first article that I wrote, which went viral, I interviewed 70 of my peers on a topic that I thought no one was writing about from our perspective.”

This approach does take some work, like all things worth doing. But it’s an immediate way of bringing value to a community and being part of a larger conversation.

“That article ended up being Gen Z VCs — now the name of my community, my entire brand, everything. I kind of hit it on the first try, and I got very lucky in that regard. But I think what helped it go viral so quickly was that it wasn't just me sharing my thoughts. There's 70 of us that are doing this — this is a trend you should pay attention to."

If you’re not collaborating with creators in your space, this is your sign to start. It can be tremendous for growth. Check out Meagan’s Spotlight or subscribe to her newsletter here for more great tips.

Twitter Growth with Psychology of Marketing

Abhi Shah is a fresh-faced college junior at Northwestern, but don’t let that fool you. He’s created the prolific Psychology of Marketing. Recently, he successfully sold his newsletter and made his first exit! So, if you have similar goals, take notes from his Spotlight.

One thing about Abhi’s interview that stood out was the level of detail in what he shared. Take this giveaway strategy on Twitter:

Every month or two, he posts a tweet offering an incentive, such as 40+ Twitter threads on marketing psychology. Followers who want the incentive can like and retweet the post, and they receive a DM with a link that takes them to the beehiiv newsletter page. If they drop their email, they then receive the incentive. Abhi has automated the whole system using Tweet Hunter, a Twitter automation service, so it doesn't require much effort.

Abhi says there are both pros and cons to this tactic. "It gives you a lot of visibility when many people end up retweeting it and liking it, so it can get you a huge spike of subscribers." He's gotten up to 1500 subscribers in a day from this technique.

Obviously, he’s been doing many things right, so be sure to check out his Spotlight for so much more, or subscribe to Psychology of Marketing here.

Attribution and doubling down on what works with Young Money

Jack Raines is a long-time beehiiv user and the owner of Young Money, which started as just a newsletter and has since expanded into so much more. As we explored, he went about expanding his business.

What stood out was the focus on attribution and doubling down on what works.

It’s easy to see Twitter and believe that growth is just about “post, post, post.” While there’s some truth to that (it does work), there’s more to the story. Where you can get the most “bang for your buck” and how to prioritize are key.

So, how do we get started? Here are a few suggestions:

• Set up Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from and which source has the highest conversion rates.

• Use 3D Analytics in beehiiv to analyze which sources bring the most engaged subscribers.

• Wherever you see success, double down on what’s working.

The Creator Spotlight from Jack covers so much more, so be sure to check it out or subscribe to Young Money here.

Monetization

While this section is about revenue, the fact that these folks can charge proves they have amazing content in the first place.

Sponsorships with No Code Devs

Generally, selling advertising is not an easy business. Sponsored posts / paid ads can be great, but they often take creators away from what they love doing, which is creating great content.

So, how have Art West and the team at No Code Devs struck a balance between their curated No-Code newsletter content and still managing to get sponsors? Here it is in his words:

“We've moved away from a single advertiser for a single issue because it's the same amount of work as an advertiser that will run for two months…[so they’ll be in] in four or more issues of our newsletter, [in one ad-deal]. That's freed up much of our time and attracts more serious advertisers."

So, if you’re struggling with selling one ad in one issue, don’t hesitate to do bulk deals.

You can see the full Spotlight here or subscribe to No Code Devs.

Niche Content & getting paid with Eli Weiss

All Things CX & Retention is a newsletter about optimizing a brand’s customer experience to foster better retention. Eli Weiss, the creator, is one of the best examples of building an incredible newsletter that’s been monetized in a niche industry.

When he first started, he didn’t just ask his followers if they’d read a potential newsletter on CX and retention. He asked them if anyone would be willing to pay for a sponsored ad in his newsletter from the get-go.

“I wrote under that [tweet], ‘Would anyone be interested in sponsoring it?’”

The result? He had not one, not two, but three people reach out to say they were interested in sponsoring his newsletter. One of the three brands was Wonderment: a post-purchase tool that Eli uses at Jones Road Beauty that automatically reaches out to customers if their order is delayed.

Are you worried that a “small” list may not get you paid? You’d be wrong. If you can connect a clear value proposition to the audience, lists with less than 10,000 subscribers can (and have proven to) generate full-time incomes.

Eli had so many great insights on this in his Spotlight, so be sure to check it out and subscribe to his newsletter here.

Building Related Products with Through the Noise

Alex Banks sat with us and shared insights, quotes, models, and frameworks for everything about writing great content, monetizing, growth, and more. But one thing, in particular, stood out. Monetization does not always have to be advertising.

Alex described “the long game,” where content and community thrive with great content, with more channels and opportunities down the road. His next venture, Tribe Scaler, is an AI assistant to help people write better hooks and headlines in seconds — creating tweets, threads, and other content that can help capture your audience instantly and get their attention.

Consider using your newsletter to promote your own related products instead of someone else’s (or find a nice balance between the two).

Through the Noise is a great example of so many best practices beyond just building related products, so make sure to check out the Spotlight or subscribe to the newsletter here.

That’s a Wrap.

That was long, so we’ll keep the conclusion short.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to share this online and tag us. We’d love your thoughts on the Creator Spotlight.

Have a great weekend!