"I didn’t have a goal—I just committed to showing up every day for 100 days." — Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Ness Labs

After publishing 100 articles in 100 days, Anne-Laure drove 6,000 subscribers to her Maker Mind newsletter.

It was the tiny experiment that kickstarted her newsletter journey.

But it was just the beginning.

Today, her Maker Mind newsletter reaches over 100k subscribers' inboxes, and her Ness Labs community brings in over 6 figures in revenue every year. But what's even more impressive is that she's accomplished this while completing her PhD in neuroscience and publishing a book, Tiny Experiments.

Chenell & Dylan sit down with Anne-Laure to discuss everything from how she got her first 6,000 subscribers to growing and monetizing a newsletter to six figures.

Get 75+ Growth Levers used by top newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/gll/
Join a community of like-minded newsletter creators: https://growthinreverse.com/pro/

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The 100-day writing challenge: How Anne-Laure gained 6,000 subscribers in just three months
• The psychological hack that makes newsletters a powerful tool for learning (instead of just teaching)
• The pros & cons of building in public (and why it’s more work than you think!)
• The neuroscience-backed reason why quantity leads to quality in creative work
• What exactly is a "tiny experiment"—and how you can apply it to content creation
• The most sustainable way to grow your newsletter (hint: it’s not social media)
• ...and much more!

DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED

• Get Anne-Laure's Book Tiny Experiments
• Anne-Laure on LinkedIn
• Anne-Laure on Twitter
• Anne-Laure's website & newsletter
• Anne-Laure's GIR Deep Dive: Article | Video
• Check out ALL the Growth In Reverse Deep Dives →

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Bluesky
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

Anne-Laure got her first 6,000 subscribers by posting 100 articles in 100 days. But that was back in 2019.

Today, her Maker Mind newsletter hits over 100k subscriber inboxes, and her Ness Labs community brings in over 6 figures in revenue every year. So, in this deep dive walkthrough, I share how Anne-Laure went from 6k subscribers to 100k+.

Then later this week, Dylan and I chat with Anne-Laure about her recent journey of getting her PhD in neuroscience and publishing a book, all while still operating a successful newsletter and online community.

Get 75+ Growth Levers used by top newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/gll/
Join a community of others building their newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/pro/

***

LINKS MENTIONED

• Anne-Laure on LinkedIn
• Anne- Laure on Twitter
• Anne-Laure's website & newsletter
• Anne-Laure's GIR Deep Dive
• Check out ALL the Growth In Reverse Deep Dives →

***

Connect with Chenell:
→ Chenell on LinkedIn
→ Chenell on Bluesky
→ Chenell on Twitter
📬 https://growthinreverse.com

"Less is more. The key to growing Why We Buy wasn’t doing more—it was doubling down on what worked and cutting the rest.”
— Katelyn Bourgoin

Chenell & Dylan are joined by Katelyn Bourgoin of the Why We Buy newsletter.

Chenell researched & wrote a GIR Deep Dive on Katelyn back in 2023. At that point, Katelyn's Why We Buy newsletter had just surpassed the 50k-subscriber mark and she was in the midst of earning $300k with her newsletter.

Fast-forward 18 months: Why We Buy is approaching 70k subscribers and nearly hit $1M in revenue during 2024.

That's nearly 1.5x subscriber growth and over 3x revenue in only 18 months. In our chat, we talk about what's driving revenue these days for Katelyn, and how she's approaching newsletter growth.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Katelyn’s newsletter journey: from launch to nearly $1M revenue
• The strategy behind using flash sales to smooth out revenue spikes
• How Katelyn segments her audience for more targeted sales
• The mix of paid and organic growth strategies fueling Why We Buy
• Why repurposing content is key (and how Katelyn does it effortlessly)
• AI-powered tools Katelyn is building to help businesses craft better messaging
• Introducing Friyay—a new interactive, gamified newsletter experiment (and how Katelyn is gauging success)
• The balance between sponsorships and product revenue
• ...and much more!

LINKS MENTIONED

• Katelyn's Why We Buy newsletter
• Katelyn on LinkedIn
• Katelyn on Twitter
• Katelyn's GIR Deep Dive: Article || Video
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Bluesky
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

Katelyn Bourgoin has amassed over 63k subscribers and earned $1M in revenue—in 2024 alone!

She runs the popular newsletter Why We Buy. It's my favorite newsletter when it comes to buyer psychology.

And in this deep dive walkthrough, I'm giving you a rundown of how she's built and monetized her newsletter. And then later this week, Dylan and I have Katelyn on the show talking all about how she's pivoting her consulting business to a full-on newsletter business.

Get 75+ Growth Levers used by top newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/gll/
Join a community of others building their newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/pro/

***

LINKS MENTIONED

• Katelyn on LinkedIn
• Katelyn's Newsletter
• Katelyn's GIR Deep Dive
• Check out ALL the Growth In Reverse Deep Dives → https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

***

Connect with Chenell:
→ Chenell on LinkedIn
→ Chenell on Bluesky
→ Chenell on Twitter
📬 https://growthinreverse.com

What are the most popular revenue streams for newsletters?
And how many revenue streams do most newsletters have?

Chenell & Dylan review the revenue stream stats from the 66 Deep Dives that Chenell's published for Growth In Reverse. They reveal what the 3 most common revenue streams are—but then they unearth the lesser-known revenue streams that newsletter creators are sleeping on.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The top three revenue streams from 66 newsletter case studies
• Why courses are the natural next step for many creators
• The genius of paid guest posts: The triple-stack approach
• How software tools can be powerful lead magnets and revenue streams
• Flipping newsletters for profit
• The secret paid newsletter model that generated $50K from 471 subscribers
• ...and more!

DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED

• CJ Gustafson Deep Dive
• Dan Runcie Deep Dive (Trapital's industry reports)
• Nathan Barry's Secret Money Newsletter
• Justin Moore Deep Dive (Asynchronous sponsorship coaching)
• Dan Koe Deep Dive
• Kortex: the second brain for creators (by Dan Koe)
• The Cultural Tutor Deep Dive
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Bluesky
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

What happens when an established newsletter hits a growth plateau?
And can anything be done to revive it?

Chenell & Dylan sit down with Ben Collins of BenLCollins.com and his Google Sheets Tips newsletter.

When Chenell researched & wrote her GIR Deep Dive on Ben last year, all appeared to be going well for Ben and his Google Sheets Tips newsletter. But when we invited Ben to join us on the podcast, he was apprehensive: "Are you sure you want me to come on? Growth has been very flat." So we took this as an opportunity to flex our growth strategy muscles and provide Ben with some newsletter growth coaching.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• How Ben's grown his newsletter to 55k and his recent growth plateau
• The impact of burnout and shifting business models
• Growth Strategy #1: Could a ChatGPT-powered tool be a game-changer for growth?
• Growth Strategy #2: The untapped potential of YouTube and short-form content
• Growth Strategy #3: Why LinkedIn could be a goldmine for audience engagement
• Growth Strategy #4: The power of a content flywheel
• Growth Strategy #5: Collaboration and partnerships: The power of teaming up
• Growth Strategy #6: The hidden power of Reddit
• Growth Strategy #7: Customizing and creating a powerful referral program
• How to convert more subscribers to community members
• Balancing creating vs. selling as a content creator
• Ways to promote Ben's paid membership
• Ben's final decision on our growth strategies

LINKS MENTIONED

• Ben's website: benlcollins.com
• Ben Collins' GIR Deep Dive: Article || Video
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Bluesky
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

Ben Collins has built a successful business and a newsletter with over 50k subscribers that earns him a comfortable living. Later this week, Dylan and I talk to Ben about how he can continue to grow the newsletter and get over the growth plateau he's currently facing.

Get 75+ Growth Levers used by top newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/gll/
Join a community of others building their newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/pro/

***

LINKS MENTIONED
• Ben's newsletter and website: https://www.benlcollins.com/
• Ben's deep dive: https://growthinreverse.com/ben-collins/
• Check out ALL the Growth In Reverse Deep Dives → https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

***

Subscribe to the Podcast 👇
• See all podcast episodes: https://growthinreverse.com/podcast/
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growth-in-reverse/id1781118823
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5jVjX6RUEFy3vlfr8RGxlF

***

Connect with Chenell:
→ https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenellco/
→ https://bsky.app/profile/growthinreverse.com
→ https://x.com/chenellco
📬 https://growthinreverse.com

Could these small changes have a 10x impact on your newsletter's success?

Chenell & Dylan reveal 15+ little newsletter changes you can make today that could have massive results.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The minimalist landing page tip that can help boost conversions
• 9 small ways to improve your welcome email—and increase engagement
• The missed opportunity with “almost there” & "thank-you" pages
• Referral programs: a simple way to make them work
• Cross-promotions without the hassle: a set-it-and-forget-it approach
• Smart ways to monetize, even with a small audience
• Retention strategies: keep your subscribers engaged and coming back
• ...and more!

DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED

• Jake Carrol's newsletter
• Dru Riley
• Growth.design
• Mark Manson's 'Subscribed' page
• CJ Gustavson (Mostly Metrics)
• Ali Abouelatta
• David Elikwu's The Knowledge
• Subject line ChatGPT Bot
• Headline & Subject line analyzer
• Growth In Reverse PRO Community
• Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

• Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Bluesky
• Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

• growthinreverse.com
• growthcurrency.net

Subscribe & Leave a Review:

Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.