Get off the never-ending content creation hamster wheel.

Be a hamster — but scrap the wheel (Photo by Ricky Kharawala on Unsplash)

One of the most common pieces of advice for success in this whole online game is “Be consistent!”

That goes for newsletter advice, too.

But what if you suck at consistency?

Or what if you don’t want to dedicate hours of your life each week to consistently writing new newsletter content?

A weekly newsletter is a commitment. A daily one is 7x more. That’s one helluva hamster wheel.

But you can’t afford not to write one: a newsletter is a critical component of a successful content strategy.

No newsletter ≠ an option.

What are you to do then?
Suffer through?
Pay someone to write one for you?

Maybe.

But there’s a better way: an Evergreen Newsletter (EN).

What’s an Evergreen Newsletter?

An EN is a newsletter (also referred to as a Shadow Newsletter by Brennan Dunn of Create&Sell.co) that gets written and scheduled with a bunch of editions written in advance.

How does it work? (Example)

An Evergreen Newsletter about DIY Woodworking might go like this:

  • Subscribers receive your first edition with the fundamentals of getting started with woodworking.
  • The second edition might discuss the essential tools to build popular pieces.
  • The third edition features 3 popular builds with minimal tools & time.
  • The fourth edition features…. you get it.

The point is everything is written in advance — and every new subscriber starts at the same first email.

The best part?

You don’t have to be consistent. You just have to batch a bunch of content in the beginning: instead of writing new content every week, you can do it intermittently — at your preferred pace.

How To Start An Evergreen Newsletter

The hardest part about an EN strategy is the beginning. You have to plan out & create the content if you don’t already have it.

How I recommend starting:

  1. Plan out the content. Think about your ideal subscriber’s journey. What problems will you solve for them — and in what order?
  2. Plan out the offers. Consider how your product or service offers can be weaved in throughout the journey. Not every edition needs a pitch, but weave them in when applicable.
  3. Write the content (if needed). You might already have the content — great! Just tweak it for newsletter format. If not, this is where the bulk of your energy will be spent. BONUS: leave cliffhangers (open loops) at the end of each edition that makes the next one a must-read.
  4. Create the email sequence. Set your cadence (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, etc) and drop your content into a drip sequence. Some newsletter platforms let you do this. Other platforms *cough*Substack*cough* do not. I use ConvertKit (affiliate) because they make email sequences SO easy and customizable.
  5. Launch it!

With several editions queued, you can take time to write your next edition. You’ve solved the hamster wheel of consistent/constant content creation.

Who should consider an Evergreen Newsletter?

Anyone writing content that’s relatively “evergreen” in nature.

Types of content that work best include: lessons, courses, how-to’s, entertainment, educational, and informative could all work well. Others use an Evergreen Newsletter as a constant drip & nurture campaign with the goal of converting subscribers to customers.

  • Jeremy Enns created his Scrappy Podcasting newsletter by joining Ship 30 For 30 with the intention of creating the first 30 editions of his newsletter. Brilliant. Scrappy Podcasting is a funnel to warm subscribers up to his bigger ticket product: Podcast Marketing Academy.
  • Justin Moore (of Creator Wizard) has a 12-email onboarding sequence which acts as a short evergreen newsletter. Each subscriber starts there and eventually makes their way to his weekly newsletter. This is also an effective strategy to weed out “passive” subscribers who aren’t invested in your content.
  • Daren Smith had a year-long email sequence he turned into a book. Another advantage to creating a library of content.

Who *shouldn’t* write an Evergreen Newsletter?

This strategy won’t work for every type of newsletter.

A daily news-style newsletter doesn’t work.
You can’t queue 25 editions of a newsletter focused on current events. Obviously. If the information you’re sharing is timely, avoid the EN.

Avoid an Evergreen Newsletter if…

If your goal is to monetize with ads & sponsors, it could be challenging to get sponsors on board. Typically, advertisers are used to the massive one-off email broadcasts — and driving clicks for specific campaigns.

You could still sell sponsorships spots in your EN, though. It’s not impossible, but a bigger challenge.

The best way to monetize an EN would be by selling your own products & services.

Is an Evergreen Newsletter right for you?

An EN is the perfect solution for those who don’t have time to write new content on a regular basis, or for businesses whose content isn’t timely.

If that’s you — and you’re sick of the constant content hamster wheel — try an Evergreen Newsletter.

To get started, plan out your content, offers, and email sequence — then launch! If you’re looking for more information on growing, improving, and monetizing newsletters, my Growth Currency newsletter will help you out — subscribe today.


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