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How to Start a Newsletter People Actually Read in 7 Easy Steps
July 27, 2026
By
Irina Maltseva
If you're thinking of starting a newsletter now, you're not late to the show.
Newsletters are everywhere these days, and for good reason. Whether you're building a business or growing a personal brand, newsletters give you a way to build real relationships, connect with potential clients, and impact your industry.
This guide will show you, step-by-step, how to start a newsletter: from picking a niche that works and identifying your target audience to sending your first issue.
So strap in and enjoy the ride.
Before writing your first issue or picking a platform, your newsletter’s purpose must be defined. That is, you must know why it exists and who it’s for.
Getting this right from the outset shapes every other decision down the line and gives you a higher chance of making an impact in your space.
However, to define your newsletter’s purpose, you must have found a niche and a target audience.
There's a saying that “he who speaks to everybody speaks to nobody,” and that's truer now than ever.
Choosing a niche helps you resonate with a specific demography of people who care about what you’re saying.
So, how exactly do you choose a niche for your newsletter?
There are successful niche newsletters that pick specialized topics like industry insights, tech trends, marketing strategies, or some other niche.
Some examples are:
Knowing your audience lets you write content that feels relevant and relatable.
If you're speaking to early-stage startup founders, your tone, topics, and even length will differ from a newsletter aimed at corporate marketers.
To define your audience:
If you want to narrow it further, a good place to start is to list out all groups encompassed in DEI and pick the one you most associate with.
Once you have your niche and target audience, working on your newsletter’s purpose becomes easy. For example, nonprofit newsletters often focus on keeping donors engaged and informed about ongoing projects. This is a clear example of how defining your audience shapes your content direction
The tool you choose will shape how easily you can launch, manage, and grow your newsletter.
You don’t need all the bells and whistles to get started, but you should look for a platform that covers the basics well.
Here are the key features that matter:
Most email marketing platforms offer these in some form, but each has its strengths. Here are a few options worth considering:
A newsletter only works if people open it, read it, and want to hear from you again. That means your content must be useful and easy to consume.
Tools like Hostinger Reach can also speed up this process by generating ready-to-send email drafts and layouts based on simple prompts, which is useful when you’re short on time or ideas.
Here are tips for creating newsletter content subscribers will want to read:
Your subject line is the first thing people see. If it doesn’t spark interest or feel relevant, readers will scroll past it.
Here are some best practices:
Examples of engaging subject lines:
People scan before they read. A wall of text is an invitation to close the tab or delete the email.
Here's how to make your newsletter easier to read:
Choosing a format that fits your topic and voice is also essential. A few common ones include:
You can mix formats, but staying consistent helps readers know what to expect.
Personalization goes beyond adding a first name to the subject line. It’s about making your content feel like it was written for the reader rather than a list.
Here are some tips for personalization and automation:
For example, a marketer might send different content to subscribers who clicked a link about SEO versus those interested in paid ads.
On the other hand, a career coach might have different onboarding sequences for those who signed up for 1:1 coaching and those who registered for an online course.
Before you hit send, take a few minutes to make sure everything looks right. This final check saves you from broken links, typos, or layouts that fall apart in someone’s inbox.
Here’s a quick pre-launch checklist:
To grow your newsletter, you have 2 options:
To build your email list from the ground up, you’ll have to give people a good reason to subscribe.
Platforms such as Hostinger Reach make this easier by combining signup forms, list management, and email campaigns in one place, so you can go from signup to first email quickly.
Effective opt-in strategies include:
It’s important to keep your list clean and permission-based.
Buying email lists or scraping addresses are risky and can damage your sender reputation and break privacy laws. So, focus on building a list of people who actually want to hear from you.
If you're already active on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or forums your newsletter should be part of your regular content flow.
Here are tactics that work well:
Further read: 10 Best Social Media Management Tools
Tracking and optimizing your newsletter's performance is essential if you want better engagement, higher retention, and more conversions.
The three most important metrics to start with are:
Track these metrics regularly, but avoid overreacting to a single email. Look for trends over time to make informed decisions.
Further read: SaaS Reporting: Key Metrics To Track & 5 Tools To Use
A/B testing involves sending two variants of your email to a small portion of your list. The one with better performance then gets sent to the rest.
Most platforms let you do this quite easily.
You can test things like:
Run one test at a time so you can isolate what made the difference. And give each test enough volume to get meaningful results.
Monetization isn’t the goal for everyone, but if you’re creating valuable content regularly, there are several ways to earn from it without compromising its integrity.
Brands are often willing to pay for access to engaged, niche audiences.
You can offer:
If your content delivers insights readers can’t easily find elsewhere, consider a paid model. This works best when:
Recommend tools, courses, or products you already use and trust.
The key is relevance. Choose affiliate products that:
You can also create and sell your own resources. This might include:
Here are examples of popular newsletter and their monetization techniques:
Starting a newsletter doesn’t have to be complicated.
You don’t need a perfect setup or a massive list to begin. What matters most is showing up consistently, staying true to your purpose, and delivering something useful to your audience.
Every great newsletter starts small. So figure out your niche, choose an emailing platform, and send your first email.
Good luck!
Yes. Newsletters give you a direct line to your audience that you own, unlike social media followers. Whether you’re building a business or a personal brand, they help you build real relationships, connect with potential clients, and grow your influence in your space.
There’s no single right answer, but consistency matters more than frequency. Pick a cadence you can sustain, whether that’s weekly, biweekly, or monthly, so readers know what to expect. Watch your unsubscribe rate: a spike can mean you’re sending too often.
You can start for free. Many platforms like Sender and MailerLite offer generous free plans, and Substack lets you publish at no cost while taking a cut only when you earn from paid subscriptions. What matters most is showing up consistently, not spending money on a perfect setup.
Irina is a Founder at ONSAAS, Growth Lead at Aura, and a SaaS marketing consultant. She helps companies to grow their revenue with SEO and inbound marketing. In her spare time, Irina entertains her cat Persie and collects airline miles.
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