What I learned from running a curated newsletter?

Based on what I learned from my other newsletter.

Recently, I wrote this note:

You probably know that for 80 weeks (so far), I've been producing a curated newsletter focused on mastering the Godot Engine. Then I switched to Raylib, but I still produce that newsletter because I might return to Godot once I'm ready for it.

The recent event (see note above) taught me a lot about doing free newsletters. And I wanted to share that today with you.

The problem with free tools

As a developer by trade, I love designing applications. And curated newsletters gave me the perfect cases! From gathering data, and filtering obvious shite content to the much harder and much more satisfying process of filling the next issue with the content I've chosen, leaving only the process of manual curation.

I built mine around free-ish tools: Curated.co, Airtable, and IFTTT (so far the only tool I pay for). I made this newsletter free because I share content that is posted free of charge.

But seriously, I suck at monetizing the stuff I make, that's why I'm doing this for fortune and glory 😉 (read: sponsorships).

And, as you've probably guessed - so far I haven't earned much, but... I am not discouraged!

I'm working on an e-book describing my process to help create easy-to-maintain and big curated newsletters (join the waitlist here).

Also, the fact that I abused Airtable's API (so far 12k times, with the limit for a free account around 1k… oops) forces me to look for other free-ish alternatives.

This might result in a sassy new Saas 😉

In the end, no tool is really free, and at some point, you will need more than a free tier. Free and no-code tools are good if you can earn money instantly because your usage will increase.

The process is love, the process is life

80 weeks of curating content. Every Friday. I have no idea how I'm staying consistent all this time 😉

When I was doing the first issue I was sending every link to Todoist, treating it like an in-between database! But there was more and more content, filtering was so-so (obviously, it's a to-do list, not a database), and I still put everything manually into every issue.

I had to change something! So I started filtering out retweets (because I got doubles) and decided to change the storage. Out of the two options I had, Notion had weak IFTTT integration (and still has), so I picked Airtable. In the meantime I learned about Notion API, but although adding content to Notion stopped being a problem, reacting to changes remained a problem.

I never considered Google Sheets as an alternative, which I think might have been a mistake.

But Airtable was more than just a database with an API. Its forms made the curation much more comfortable, not sure it would be possible in Google Sheets…

New gathering filters were added. But my biggest achievement was automatizing publishing links to Curated.co, where I only had to check one checkbox in Airtable.

At that moment, the only thing I was actually doing was reviewing the gathered content, with dull things automated.

Takeaway? The process is the most important thing. It gives you routine. Your job is to consistently go through it and think - what bottlenecks does it have currently? can I solve them? what it would look like if I was able to solve them my way?

Feedback.

No feedback is actually good feedback. It means you're doing well.

Unsubscribes are bad news, but mostly when it contains feedback. If it doesn't then you can't be sure of reasons for unsubscribing. Don't feed the paranoia, focus on those who stayed!

And when you get feedback - it's great! They care, and they share what they think.

After 60 or so issues someone shared my newsletter on Reddit. I realized that my subscriber count suddenly doubled!

Another time, someone decided to pay me $10 for my work.

And sometimes someone says thanks in a tweet.

When I informed my subscribers that I have an API problem with Godot Weekly and that I can't afford $24 for an Airtable subscription, suddenly I got a few donations, enough to do it for 2 months and find some alternatives.

Yes, these are manly tears!

Takeaway: even if nobody pays you regularly - have a Ko-fi account, and make sure it can be found.

Consistency.

Bruce Lee once said that he doesn't fear a man who practiced a thousand different kicks, but he fears a man who practiced one kick a thousand times.

Well, I'm not someone who kicks or someone to be feared, but I do know one thing.

If you do something once, no one will trust you, and you won't build anything solid.

But if someone sees you doing the same thing regularly for some time, they will see commitment and process, and that might build trust!

What next?

Well, first I need to find a cheaper solution than Airtable. Right now I'm thinking of building one myself.

Second, I'll be exploiting my new skills in Notion API and turning my second newsletter into a Godot compendium for people who want to learn it.

Third, maybe finish that process e-book?

With making money online, I do have one problem…