Welcome to Bold Types, where I chat with successful newsletter creators about courage, craft, and creative living.
Today’s guest is Lex, a newsletter writer and subscription marketing expert. With over 10 years of experience leading growth projects for tech startups like Gusto, Prosper, and Burner, she helped pioneer growth design. Lex also founded the Growth Designers community, where she educates tech teams on using data to guide product decisions.
In 2019, Lex started her own growth design consultancy and, by 2021, shifted her focus to marketing for creatives. She’s now on a mission to help journalists and indie newsrooms grow their audience and income through subscription marketing.
Her new venture, Journalists Pay Themselves, does what it says on the tin! With the rapid decline of journalism jobs, she’s exploring ways to support those transitioning to independent work.
It’s written for journalists but applies to most media subscription businesses.
We chatted about growing your list and building community, Substack v Beehiiv, how much she’s earning from her newsletters, and the benefits of niching down.
Hey! It’s Nika from The Shift | NUJ London Freelance & Magazine branches.
This Autumn, I’ll be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon and raising funds for the Rory Peck Trust, supporting freelance journalists globally.
I would LOVE your support and cheerleading to help me get there. I have RA flare-ups and my health is a bit up and down, so this may be a half run/half walk – aka ‘Jeffing’! depending on how I feel on the day.
It’s a bit of a gamble but I’m going for it! Hotel is booked.
You can support me by sharing this page with media/writer colleagues or by making a donation – no amount too small – or too large!
Go ahead and make my day – and make a massive difference to journalists worldwide. It has never been more important.
I hope to do a bit of a livestream on the day via my Substack newsletter, The Shift – see how we go.
I’m thrilled to connect with you today regarding the highly anticipated Southern Enterprise Awards 2024, proudly hosted by SME News.
As we now enter the 7th Edition of these prestigious awards, I’m delighted to share the exciting news that your 2024 nomination has been successful, and Nicola Talbot T/A Firebird has been awarded:
BestContentConsultancy2024 – SouthEast
I really hope this news is well received!
This is my second ‘award’ from SME News. I won a UK Enterprise Award in 2022 for ‘Most Innovative SaaS Company UX Writer and Content Designer’ (they’re super niche, I guess so they can award more of ‘em).
They got in touch over the summer to ask if I was happy to be nominated, I said fine. Then they sent me a questionnaire for ‘supporting information’, which I didn’t fill in. Given I didn’t pay for a promo package last time I’m surprised to win another one!
I won’t lie. I was chuffed to win – it’s nice to be recognised, and it cheered me up this week.
After a scoop by RollOnFriday, they revoked the award. But how the heck did he win a prize if he’d not practised for eight years? I did a bit more digging and found this explainer on ROF. Apparently, the research team had questioned its legitimacy, but “another individual had missed the note and had neglected to take action accordingly”. They’ve had words to make sure it doesn’t happen again and “retraining is being provided.”
We’ve all been there.
They’re also listed on Wikipedia as ‘an organiser of vanity awards and publisher of online magazines.” I don’t agree with that, though, as it’s not pay-to-win. As they say in this ROF piece: “There is absolutely no link between a customer’s opportunity to win an award and their ability to pay for it. We do offer marketing materials for our winners as we realise there is significant value in promoting the news, but there is no obligation.”
Hmm, I thought I’d better gather more intel.
Hi X
Thank you, appreciated.
Just following up with a couple of questions as I’m curious about how this works.
Who nominated me?
Who is on the judging panel?
Is there a supporting statement / comment from the judges?
I wasn’t expecting a reply, but I got this email back the next day, explaining how it works.
“Our team run an extremely thorough process to arrive at this point, starting with the all-important voting and marketing stage.”
You can self-nominate, or a third party / the publisher can nominate on your behalf (they did).
They contact you to check you’re happy to take part (they did).
They send a supporting questionnaire so you can add more info about your biz (they did – food for thought).
Their in-house research team (all named here on the website) put together a case file on you (i.e. any info in the public domain).
They use an internal panel (the same folks probably) for the judging process – “who have been doing this for over 12 years for the company, and they know our standard and exactly what to look for!”
OK, so that’s me told. I was sniffy and suspicious but I’ve changed my mind. It’s not prestigious – no glitzy ceremony – and they’re giving out lots of awards. But it’s not a scam as it’s not pay-to-win. It’s a bit of publicity so why not? Gotta celebrate your wins!
I’ll take the free package (press release, entry into the winners’ directory + a 100-word profile), but I won’t be paying for any trophies or magazine articles, though clearly a lot of people do (or maybe have money to spend at the end of the tax year). Their business model is working.
I thought I’d have some fun with it and see how many awards I can win. I’m going for the hat trick…
It shows how crazy the awards circuit is though – it’s a real cottage industry! What does ‘award-winning’ mean these days?
Have you won an award with SME News or similar?Tell me more.
I did an awards newsletter for a client this week. Some glam photos from the night, which made it look fab. That’s the real value of awards – having nice visuals to use in your marketing.
Here’s a tip from the judges on how to craft a winning entry. “Entries that tell a full in-depth story with detail and evidence tend to be better received.” We need that human connection. ‘Feeling part of the journey’ also came up in the comments.
▶️TeuxDeux app. A to-do list that’s as simple to use as a piece of paper. Enjoying this – it’s the most elegant productivity tool I’ve used.
QuoteoftheWeek
You’re not going to create good content if you’re not excited and having fun doing it. It seems basic, but there are a lot of people who hate the content they’re creating. And it’s not gonna work.
Forget the best practices; forget what everyone else is telling you to do. Go create something you’re excited to create. – Josh Spector.
Can't sit still for long. Fabulous art by @sophillustrates
I just read about Dax Shepard’s estimated $80M deal with Amazon Wondery for the ‘Armchair Expert’ interview podcast. It’s been exclusive to Spotify since 2021, so good to see it available on other platforms again.
The deal, valued at an estimated $80 million, also includes plans to develop two new podcasts, a first look deal for future podcast ideas, plans to host livestreams, and rights to develop and sell Armchair Expert merch. The company will also launch video episodes of the podcast. [Hollywood Reporter].
No mention of his co-host Monica Padman in any of the headlines (she’s not on the cover art either), so I wonder what’s going on there. I’d be peed off if I were her unless it’s deliberate and she’s planning on branching out. Read the full post.
This was originally published on The Shift newsletter. For the full experience and to join the community, subscribe here.
AI or DIE was the theme at #FixFest (copywriting festival) in London this week. Just looking at what people have been saying online, how they’re feeling about all things AI, and what side of the fence they’re on.
AI is having a massive impact on the industry. Some clients want you to embrace it, others don’t want you using it at all – it’s hard to know where to position yourself. Leif Kendall at ProCopywriters is working on a ‘Code of Ethics’ for the community.
The hypothesis was this…. Could generative AI be used to bypass the years it takes for a poet to find their voice and actually go one step further in creating a democratised mass poetic voice from a room of copywriters?
Nika Talbot 