Get 30 proven strategies to grow and optimize your email list FREE >>

In this episode, we’re unpacking five high-performing newsletter growth levers that creators are using right now to grow smarter—not harder.

Each tactic comes straight from Chenell's 30 Days of Growth series, where creators shared the exact strategies that helped them attract thousands of new subscribers, improve engagement, and build more loyal audiences. From a clever “four-hour follow-up email” to a Google Doc that helped generate over $1.2 million in revenue, we’re dissecting what made these plays work—and how you can apply them to your own newsletter strategy today.

If you're looking for real-world examples, simple execution, and no-fluff tactics that get results, this one’s for you.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• What 30 Days of Growth is and WHY Chenell launched it as a daily pop-up newsletter and podcast
• Jason Resnick’s “4-hour email” strategy that boosted his engaged subscriber rate by 40%
• Eddie Shleyner's social proof avalanche: how powerful testimonials alone drove conversions
• The comment-to-growth hack that helped Tom Orbach gain over 650 subscribers from one post
• The $1.2M Google Doc: How Olly Richards turned a free resource into a massive growth and revenue machine
• Amy Nelson’s “speaking circuit strategy” and how she gained 1,000+ subscribers from a single virtual event

GROWTH LEVERS & LINKS MENTIONED

• Get 30 proven strategies to grow and optimize your email list FREE >>
• Jason Resnick's 30 Days of Growth Lever
• Tom Orbach's 30 Days of Growth Lever
• Olly Richards' 30 Days of Growth Lever
• Amy Nelson's 30 Days of Growth Lever
• 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
• 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:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

Get 30 proven strategies to grow and optimize your email list FREE >>

We're diving into one of the most underrated growth strategies out there: collaborations and cross-promotions.

Whether you're building a newsletter, launching a podcast, or growing a YouTube channel, collabs are one of the most high-leverage plays you can run — and we break down exactly how to do them right.

We get into real-life examples, from simple newsletter swaps to co-created content that drives thousands of subscribers (even when you're the smaller creator). We also talk through common mistakes we’ve made, what to watch out for, and how to build a repeatable system that makes these partnerships easy and effective. If you're feeling burned out by social algorithms or just want more control over your growth, this one’s for you.

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why social platforms aren't cutting it anymore—and why we're bullish on collaborations
• The basic newsletter swap (and why it's still effective)
• Creative cross-promo formats beyond the typical swap—articles, email courses, and more
• The Alex Garcia x Pat Walls YouTube/article collab that brought in thousands of subscribers
• Why adjacent audiences are the sweet spot
• The myth of audience size: why alignment > numbers
• Chenell's horror story: zero subscribers from a 4K list cross-promo
• Co-created content: The powerhouse play that helped Maja Voje go from 3K to 15K subs
• CJ Gustafson’s “quadruple stack” strategy that gets him paid + subscribers
• How to keep collab partners happy (especially if things don’t go as planned)
• The no-BS guide to tracking your collab results
• Tools, systems, and blurb templates that’ll save you time and headaches

DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED

• CJ Gustafson's Mostly Metrics Deep Dive
• Maja Voje website
• Pat Walls Deep Dive
• Alex Garcia Deep Dive
• 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
• 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:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

Three roasts are better than one!

Our first Newsletter Roast was last month, and we only roasted ONE newsletter.
Today we're bringing back the heat—but roasting THREE newsletters instead of just one.

These newsletters are all in different phases of their journey but all share one common problem (you'll have to listen to find out). In this episode, we review each newsletter's sign-up page, their welcome email & onboarding, and one edition of their newsletters. While you *can* listen to this one, you'll get much more out of watching it on YouTube (see YT link in the show notes below).

Why newsletter roasts?

We're doing these roasts as a way to give back to our listeners—especially those who leave this podcast a rating & review—and to help every listener improve their newsletter by learning from the mistakes others have made.

Want to get your newsletter roasted? Submit it for a full-on roasting here 🔥

→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why we chose three newsletters from the same platform.
• FIRST: From Europe With Love – beautiful products, but who is it for?
• The missed opportunity to showcase credibility.
• Gated content woes and how that hurts signups and trust.
• Breaking down the welcome email—and why it almost works.
• SECOND: AutoGPT – again... what’s the focus?
• Trying to find the audience avatar (spoiler: “AI enthusiasts” is too broad).
• Smart monetization tactics... but maybe too much happening at once?
• THIRD: The Curious Procrastinator – clever name, but what’s it about?
• The dangers of trying to do too much.
• Tips for creating a more engaging welcome email and onboarding flow.
• Final 3 takeaways that all newsletter operators can learn from.

LINKS MENTIONED

• WATCH on YouTube
• From Europe With Love newsletter
• AutoGPT newsletter
• The Curious Procrastinator newsletter
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
• 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
• 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:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

This special edition of the Growth In Reverse podcast is the full live talk I gave at the Newsletter Marketing Summit in Austin TX this past February.

Over the past two years, I’ve studied the growth of the most successful newsletters in the world—those who’ve hit 50,000+ subscribers—and I noticed something interesting.

There's one thing every single one of them has in common. It's not some sexy growth hack or a secret referral program. It’s something way more powerful and often overlooked.

In this episode, I walk you through that key insight, plus I break down the proven tactics that top creators are using today to grow their lists without relying on social media.

This talk might just change how you think about newsletter growth entirely.

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

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why it’s easier than ever to hit 50k subscribers (and what’s changed in the last 3 years)
• The “IV Content” framework: what insanely valuable content really looks like
• The 5 (maybe 6!) categories of content that trigger growth
• How top creators like Yossi Levi and Justin Moore craft content people have to share
• The secret weapon of every successful newsletter? People.
• Creative collabs and the genius of Maya Voje’s newsletter placement strategy
• CJ Gustafson’s “triple stack” approach to paid guest content (so smart)
• Crowdsource your way to credibility: what Chris Hutchins did to build a top 10 business podcast
• The final takeaway: Be subscribe-worthy (and stop chasing the wrong questions)

DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED

• Mario Gabriele's Deep Dive
• Yossi Levi's Deep Dive
• Deep Dives on Lenny Rachitsky: Part 1 || Part 2
• Aakash Gupta's Deep Dive
• Dickie Bush's Deep Dive
• CJ Gustafson Deep Dive
• 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
• 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:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

"Quantity leads to quality, but when you find a winner, you have to double down." — Dave Kline, MGMT Playbook

Dave Kline went from leading teams at Bridgewater to building a million-dollar creator business—with zero prior experience on social media. But the real secret behind the success? His wife, Marsden (Mar). While Dave built a public-facing brand on Twitter and LinkedIn, Mar worked behind the scenes to shape the vision, voice, and strategy of their business.

Then, she stepped into the spotlight.

In just five months, Mar grew her LinkedIn following from 0 to now over 74,000—outpacing Dave’s own growth trajectory. Together, they’ve built a powerhouse content engine, a six-figure cohort-based course, and a 40,000+ subscriber newsletter—all without a big team or flashy tech stack.

In this episode, we dive into how Dave and Mar got started, the pivots they made (including why Mar had to force Dave into launching a newsletter), and the systems they’ve built to keep their creator business lean and profitable.

Join us as we go behind the scenes with the duo behind the MGMT Playbook.

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 moment that forced them to pivot from SEO to social—and what happened next
• How a single thread about delegation sparked their entire course business
• A huge lesson learned by not turning "OFF" their double opt-in setting
• Mar’s “quiet MVP” role, and why she finally hard-launched her brand
• The reason they waited a full year to launch their newsletter (and why that was a mistake)
• How they’re using sports metaphors and storytelling to keep content engaging
• The surprising stat that made Mar pick up the pen and start posting
• What they would’ve done differently if starting from scratch
• ...and much more!

DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED

• Dave Kline GIR Deep Dive
• Dave on LinkedIn | Twitter
• Mar on LinkedIn
• MGMT Playbook (Dave & Mar's newsletter)
• Their Maven Courses: MGMT Fundamentals || MGMT Accelerator
• 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.

Lenny Rachitsky just crossed 1 million subscribers with his Substack newsletter, aptly named Lenny's Newsletter.

Chenell has written a few deep dives on Lenny (How he reached 377k subscribers, and how he got 18k paid subscribers).

So we thought it would be interesting to see what he's done to accelerate his growth to over 1M subscribers over the past few years—and share our biggest takeaways and reasons for his growth.

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

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why we’re obsessed with Lenny’s story—and the moment his growth exploded
• What separates his content from the rest (hint: exclusivity + deep research)
• Using a mini-series as a content inflection point
• Lenny’s “Ikigai” and expanding beyond just product content
• The puzzle-piece approach to building a content library
• His exact strategy to get from 100 to 1M subscribers
• Substack recommendations: how 5,000+ newsletters helped him explode
• Podcasting as a high-ROI content machine
• Why guest posts became his growth and quality engine
• Key takeaways you can apply: quality, consistency & “stick-with-it-ness”

LINKS MENTIONED

• Lenny's Newsletter
• Lenny's 500k milestone post
• Lenny's 1M milestone post
• Chenell's Deep Dives on Lenny: Part 1 || Part 2
• Aakash Gupta's Deep Dive
• CJ Gustafson Deep Dive
• Daren Smith's newsletter roast
• 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
• 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:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.

“The easiest way to lose potential subscribers is to make them work too hard to understand what they’re signing up for.”
(Watch this episode on YouTube -->)

We sent out the call to get your newsletter roasted. Over 20 listeners submitted their newsletters.

And today we're roasting the first one: Craftsman Films

Shout-out to Daren Smith of Craftsman Creative and Craftsman Films for being our first guinea pig with this experimental episode.

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

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why we're doing a newsletter roast & how you to submit yours
• Roasting Daren’s newsletter landing page—what *not* to do with yours
• The thank-you page mistake that might be costing subscribers
• Breaking down the welcome email—what works, what’s missing
• A surprising tagline Daren should be using everywhere
• The power of storytelling and why Daren should lean into his expertise
• Social media strategy: what he's getting right and what could be better
• Final takeaways: How Daren (and you!) can optimize your newsletter experience
• ...and more!

LINKS MENTIONED

• Daren's Craftsman Films newsletter
• Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
• 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:

If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!

Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.