A Peek Behind the Curtain
The jumo brief reached the 1,000-subscribers milestone recently, and I’d like to give readers a transparent overview of why and how I write the newsletter each week.
I didn’t set out to write a newsletter for Army leaders. I initially sought one to read, but couldn’t find one. I figured that I wasn’t the only one interested in this type of content, and when COVID-19 restrictions prevented my family from leaving our home, I started writing the newsletter that I would want to read.
The first few issues had less than 35 subscribers — the list included my friends and family, who I added to the contact list. When I realized how slow the jumo brief would grow on word of mouth alone, I turned to my wife and said, “I need to pay to promote this.”
She was less than thrilled. She responded, “Don’t you want to see if you can stick with this for a few months before sinking money into it?” At the time, the only expenses were an annual payment of $9.99 to buy the rights to the domain (jumobrief.com) and $9.99/month to host the domain and send emails weekly using Mail Chimp.
Call it overconfidence or naivety, but I thought I had a good product and could follow through with writing it each week. All that was left was to get it in front of an audience.
To grow the subscriber list, I would need to determine the target audience and then let them know the jumo brief existed. There are countless marketing options, and I focused on social media platforms to reach an audience similar to myself.
Online forums suggested that good marketing could bring subscribers in at $2/subscriber. My first few investments were not fruitful. I foolishly spent $243 on LinkedIn ads that resulted in zero new subscribers. I tried Instagram ads ($177.54) for better results, but I still wasn’t getting close to $2/subscriber.
The real growth came from partnering with an Instagram account to promote the jumo brief. This strategy worked because the account had a strong rapport with its 10k+ followers.
The account owner scrutinized the newsletter to make sure it was something he was comfortable promoting — this allowed him to promote the jumo brief without losing credibility with his followers.
More than 60% of all subscribers came from that promotion, and I was able to reduce the cost per subscriber to $2.
After reaching 1,000 subscribers, I suspended all promotions while I reconsider what to do next. I am working on a referral program that incentivizes and rewards readers (that’s you!) for sharing the newsletter with their friends and colleagues.
My goal is to reduce the cost/subscriber to $1 through the referral program and other promotions.
The number of subscribers isn’t the only number that matters — the average open rate is a significant metric to gauge audience engagement. The average open rate is higher than 40%, which I will try and sustain by providing quality content and removing subscribers from the audience who are no longer interested.
The most important aspect of the newsletter, though, is producing it each week.
Initially, I aimed to publish it at 9 a.m. EST every Saturday. This was attainable when I lived in South Korea and could work on the newsletter all day Saturday, but I have not been able to meet that deadline since moving back to the United States. These days I’m lucky to publish it before noon!
To write the newsletter, I primarily use OneNote. I created a template containing placeholders for the main commentary, article summaries, podcast recommendation, etc. and I fill those sections in throughout the week when inspiration hits.
I love OneNote because it syncs across devices, and I can add to it whenever I come across interesting content that I want to include in the week’s newsletter.
When I summarize the articles, I use my own words. I try not to plagiarize, although I’m sure there are instances where I’ve copied some phrases. Sometimes there are only so many ways to say, “[this person] [did] [this thing].” I also include the article link to ensure the summary is properly attributed and to allow readers to dive deeper.
For the podcast recommendation, I usually copy most of the description from the podcast creator and then tweak if needed. I don’t consider this plagiarism because I’m giving these podcasts free exposure, and who better to write the description for the episode than its creator?
After I write the content, I run it through Grammarly to check for grammar and style errors. I also run the summaries through Grammarly’s plagiarism detector.
The last step is to copy the content into a template I created on Mail Chimp, reformat where necessary, send a test email as a final check, and publish.
So what’s next?
I have thought about monetizing the newsletter. The only thing I’ve done towards that end is feature my Morning Brew referral code — and I got a mug out of it!
Just like when I paid for marketing to expand the reach of the jumo brief, others could be interested in using this platform to promote their product or service.
I’ve spent $2445.54 on the jumo brief and will spend more on marketing and operating costs in the future. I don’t have any qualms about recouping that investment and would be even happier to make a profit.
But I’m not ready to expend time or energy on seeking advertisers — I’d like to focus on growing the audience and providing valuable content. If someone came with an offer, though, I’d certainly entertain it.
I am confident that when I do monetize, it will be an endorsement-based model. I don’t want to hock anything I don’t believe in.
Beyond monetizing the newsletter, I will also have to decide the strategic direction of the jumo brief.
The jumo brief started as a quarantine project. When the world opens back up, will I have time to continue writing?
As I look forward to that eventuality, I think it makes sense to have other contributors. I don’t have a plan in place, but I am open to suggestions.
I will also put less pressure on myself to write lengthy opening commentaries. As work and life begin to return to normal, I will have to reduce the time I spend each week writing. Instead of 700-word commentaries, I will aim for 250–350 words.
I may also pass the torch to someone who has the desire and ability to run it. I’d like to at least hold the reins for a full year before considering that option. Depending on the growth trajectory, it may even be possible to seek an acquisition from an established media company.
Whatever the future holds, I am so grateful for the support of the subscribers. The positive messages I have received from readers have encouraged me beyond measure.
If you enjoyed this content, please subscribe to the jumo brief today to receive a free weekly newsletter in your inbox every Saturday morning! You will receive weekly content like this and much more!
The jumo brief helps leaders keep up to date on social commentary, news, and current events that are relevant to the Army.
The views expressed are those of Brennan Randel and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or any government agency
