I Wrote One Weekly Newsletter for a Year and this is What I Learned

Jul 7

I wrote one weekly newsletter for an entire year. When I first started, I was just looking for structure. I wanted to organize my thoughts and create something enjoyable to read.

I actually remember telling my mom one day, “I want people to look forward to getting my newsletter every week. I don’t want it to be boring. I want it to be good.”

But for the first six months, it wasn’t.

At least, not to my standards.

So, I contemplated even more deeply the topics I would discuss, used a headline analyzer to tweak my subject lines, and labored over every word and paragraph until it was, “just right.” Yet still, after months of effort, something was off.

It wasn’t until month eight, that everything changed.

Surprisingly, the real shift happened when I joined Substack and saw the various ways people wrote their newsletters.

It opened me up to a whole new way of sharing knowledge and value with people.

I was writing about the wrong things.

I was writing about the technical aspects of building a brand because I thought that’s what people wanted to hear.
Really, I was more interested in writing about the deeper, emotional implications of putting yourself out there online.

I wasn’t writing in my style.

I was unconsciously emulating other experts in the branding / marketing space while writing my newsletter.
In a sense, siloing my different writing practices. I thought one was personal, and the other was professional.
When I started writing my newsletters in the way I wrote my personal, creative writing, everything fell into place.

When I shared, “How to Make Anyone Fall in Love With You,” I remember thinking to myself, this is it.

This is exactly what I want to be writing about.

This feels like me.

It took 40 weeks of getting it “wrong” for me to get it right.

Personal Branding Tip

I'll save you a year's worth of effort and cut right to the chase…

Write what you would want to read. Write what interests you.

Save yourself the trouble and abandon what doesn't excite you.

Focus on what does.

Chances are, the people who follow you are similar to you. So, if you write about what interests you, it will likely interest your readers, too.

And whatever you do, keep going.

You never know what wonderful moment of clarity is waiting for you just around the corner.

Personal Question

Are you writing content that genuinely interests you, or because you think you have to? What would happen if you wrote about what you wanted to? What would you lose? And what would you gain?

Special Announcement

For four years, I’ve been working on my book, Lonely Girl, a story about my unplanned, solo road trip across the continental U.S. The real story of my life.

On July 30, it will be out and available to read.

This is by far the biggest, wildest, scariest, most amazing, and wonderful project I have ever worked on and I can’t believe it’s finally coming to a head.

I’m sharing more about it on my Substack, Instagram, and TikTok and I invite you to join me there.

In the meantime, I’ll see you in August after Lonely Girl launches.

I can’t wait to share what I learn with you.

Love and light,
Anna Vatuone

P.S. I'm here if you need me.

Anna Vatuone
Find me on TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Substack,
or Book a 1:1 Call

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