Interview Date: January 22, 2023
Table of Contents
- Newsletter Identity Card
- Growth Strategies
- Monetization
- Weekly Newsletter Creation Process
- Use Medium as a Channel
- Challenges of Writing a Newsletter
- One Advice to Newsletter Creators
- Time Management and Productivity Tips
CREATOR INTERVIEW
Jamie Northrup has been making money online since he was 13 years old (1995) and currently has 11 different online income streams!
One of them is his newsletter, Minimalist Hustler Daily, where he channels all the experiences he has gained over the years into one channel.
Minimalist Hustler Daily is a curated newsletter where Jamie shares three quick resources to help you grow your online income every single day, aside from all other projects/businesses he runs. Not surprisingly, he has a unique approach to productivity.
As a result of his expertise in the online world, he knows how to grow and make money with his newsletter. You will learn a diverse set of strategies, tools and platforms. Keep your note-taking tools open!
Now, passing the mic to Jamie.
NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
TOOL STACK
- ESP → ConvertKit
- Monetization / Growth → SparkLoop
- Payments → Gumroad
- Landing Page → Carrd
- Organizing / Planning → Google Sheets
- Archive → Notion
MEET THE CREATOR
Welcome, Jamie. Can you tell us about yourself and the businesses/projects you run?
My name is Jamie, a.k.a. the Minimalist Hustler from Montreal in, Canada. I’ve been making money online since 1995 (when I was 13 years old, yeah I’m 40 now).
I used to run a web consulting agency until mid-2020, when I shut it down to focus on the brand I created called Minimalist Hustler.
I currently have 11 income streams aside from my 9-5: Mining, Flipping, Blogging, Investing, Newsletter, Freelancing, Self Publishing, Digital Products, Print on Demand, Real Estate, and Affiliate Marketing.
“My newsletter is called the Minimalist Hustler Daily.
It’s the only newsletter that gives you 3 quick resources every single day to help you grow your online income. Each issue can be consumed in a minute or two, all value, no fluff!”
It doesn’t matter how you make money online, or if you don’t even make any yet, the Minimalist Hustler Daily, will get you more through the different resources it shares, like tips, tricks, platforms, challenges, and more.
How and why did you decide to start the Minimalist Hustler Daily newsletter?
I needed a way to bring everything I was doing online into one channel, and to be able to bring all of it directly to the people that wanted it.
“Up until that point, I was mostly on X, but they have too much control over who sees or doesn’t see your content.
A newsletter was a great way to directly connect with my audience, and also help me organize everything I was doing within the Minimalist Hustler brand online.”
Growing a newsletter is more difficult than creating one for many creators.
Which growth strategies have you utilized to reach 1300+ subscribers?
My original growth strategy involved lead magnets, specifically, I created seven side hustle quickstart guides that people could download for free if they gave me their email addresses, it’s how I grew real quickly at the beginning and I still have growth from them.
I got three big bumps in subscribers when Josh Spector mentioned my newsletter in his (because of something valuable I shared in mine that he shared in his, not a cross promo or paid for), and also when I appeared on his podcast.
Another notable strategy I use is cross-promos with other newsletter creators. I find newsletters to cross-promote with through tools like CrossPromote and LetterGrowth, as well as through various online groups and communities aimed at newsletter operators, entrepreneurs, and content creators.
I also get free referrals from the SparkLoop Upscribe widget and promote the newsletter on X and Medium.
Could you take us through your newsletter monetization journey from the beginning?
Originally I promoted my products and affiliate offers in the “From one of my sponsors” section of the newsletter, I made my first dollar from my first issue (a referral/affiliate link to Medium).
Once I reached 1k subscribers, I opened up that spot to the public at $25 (currently $40) via Swapstack and Gumroad.
“My main source of income for the newsletter currently is through the SparkLoop Partner Network, completed with purchased ads, Swapstack, PostApex, and several other affiliate offers.”
Why did you choose ConvertKit? Pros and cons?
I started testing Revue before launching as I loved its simplicity, but the deliverability was an issue. I then looked at a few different options, and ConvertKit stuck out because of the trust factor, the UI was simple and easy, and the pricing worked for me.
What is your typical daily/weekly process from creating to distributing a new issue?
Writing my newsletter with my Tim Horton’s Iced Capp is one of the best parts of my morning routine. I typically write the following day’s newsletter each day except when something happens, then I’ll write it the same morning as it goes out. I could schedule multiple but I rather do it each day, it helps me see where I’m at, what’s going on, and keeps me motivated.
You run a curated newsletter and send a new issue every single day. How do you curate and organize your findings?
I use Google Chrome bookmarks to organize everything I find online (for myself and for the newsletter), and then use Google Sheets to organize, plan and track. I may switch to Notion eventually but not sure yet.
How do you utilize social media?
Currently, I’m only really active on X, with a side of IG, but I want to expand further to be active on LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok as well, but I need to develop the right systems to do all that.
How do you generate feedback and engage with your readers?
I ask them questions regularly and encourage them to reply to emails, I answer every single email I get and have some great conversations with awesome people.
I’m also in a newsletter-specific community on Discord called Newsletter Blueprint, which has been a great place to chat about it.
You also write on Medium.
I see that most of the creators are confused about writing on Medium, in addition to their newsletters.
Can you tell us how you utilize it as a channel?
Medium is a platform I love and want to expand my use of even more, it’s great because you earn money to promote yourself, your brand, your work, and your products. It’s free to publish, and they have a huge audience, so I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t want to take advantage of that in one way or another.
I try different strategies to get Medium readers to sign up for my newsletter, normally I plug it at the end of each post, either in text or with an image.
How did writing Minimalist Hustler Daily contribute to your life?
It has helped me in so many ways, the biggest is the connections I’ve made because of it.
Also, it’s become the key to making the most of my days. I always know that I’m starting with it, and it gets me inspired and motivated to do great stuff the rest of the day.
What is the most challenging part of writing a newsletter and how do you handle it?
Originally the challenging part was making the time every day to do it, but that quickly became an advantage rather than a challenge.
Now, the biggest challenge is having something in the “From me.” section, some piece of valuable content that I created to share with my audience. I have a lot of different content online, but I always want to create more, but I don’t always have the time to get it all done. Keeping ideas on the shelf is probably what’s most challenging.
What is next on your newsletter journey?
My goal with my newsletter is consistency.
Consistently publish every day.
Consistently promote every day.
Aside from that, I’m building a few new products for my audience, and a Notion archive of the newsletter to share as well.
If you had the right to give one single piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators, what would it be?
Start right now today. It doesn’t matter which platform you use, you don’t need to spend anything, just start a newsletter today.
“Even if you don’t have subscribers at first, you’ll find value for yourself in it.”
You manage many side projects at the same time and send a daily newsletter.
How do you manage your time? Any productivity tips?
The first thing I’ll say here is that there are tons of different ways to be productive and take control of your time. Not all of them will work for anyone, and it’s okay to change when you need.
I use three different methods combined:
1. Grid Work: This comes in handy when I have a lot of different tasks to do. For example, if I have to read 10 emails, write 10 Tweets, write 10 pages for a book, create 10 designs, I’ll make a grid and alternate from one to the other until I’ve done each 10 times.
2. Recurring Tasks: I use Google Tasks to handle all my recurring daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks.
3. School Schedule: I just started this a week ago, where I’ve made myself a 10-day school schedule (each day is split into AM/PM and has a project attached to it) so that I can make sure each project gets the attention it needs and none get neglected.
To summarize it all together: I start my mornings with my routine (recurring tasks), then work on that day’s AM project until lunch, after lunch, I work on that day’s PM project until the kids get home from school and then the afternoon/evening routine kicks in. The grid work comes into play whenever I fall behind on something that needs to be done.
Which other newsletters would you like to recommend?
I’m subscribed to at least 30 or 40, but here are my top 5 that are always a must-read for me:
- For The Interested by Josh Spector
- Growth Currency by Dylan Redekop
- Newsletter Alchemy by Evan Kelly
- Founder by Paul Metcalfe
- Email Intelligence by Who Sponsor’s Stuff
Any final words?
I want to thank you for taking the time, and interest to interview me, I appreciate it very much.
I’m always available to help anyone that’s looking to monetize their passion online, I can talk about it for hours and hours and love it. Feel free to reach out on X or directly via e-mail.
