Hacker Newsletter

The first issue went out almost four years ago (#187 goes out tomorrow) and currently have 25,000 subscribers. Will be glad to answer any questions about HNL or newsletters in general.

I've subscribed to HN Newsletter for several months. It's one of the new newsletters I read every week. @kale I'm impressed with how you've grown the list. How are most people finding it and can you share some tips or ideas of how we can grow the Product Hunt email list?

@rrhoover thanks! Growth can be slow as people value their inbox a lot. In the last couple years though, there has obviously been a growing trend of newsletters on various topics, so that has made it a lot easier as people are now seeking them out as a great way to stay up to date. I think the best tip I could give is trying to work with other newsletters. When you think about it, their subscribers have already shown that they enjoy consuming these services via email, so you don’t have to convince them of “why email?”, but rather focus on why your service is going to be useful to them.

@kale: Thank you for this. I've been subscribed to HNL for about a year and I find it really helpful.

@kale - good thoughts. We should chat. :) You advertise in your email. Which types of promotions (products, services, jobs, events) most effective in terms of monetization or response rate?

@joewalnes awesome, glad you find it useful! @rrhoover That is a tougher question. :) Engagement is super high in newsletters from what I've seen and I think all types can be very effective, but I've also seen some of them miss the mark. It is always hard to say why something didn't work, but often I believe advertisers think what works in adwords will work in email, but I think you have to be more personal and make a connection. Sometimes though, I think it comes down to the product or service just not being a good fit.

@kale With the advertisers, do you generally go fixed fee, CPC, CPM, or CPA? Do you know if there are standard practices around that with newsletters, or does it tend to go on a case by case basis in your experience?