Interview Date: July 21, 2024
Table of Content
- Meet Veronica Llorca-Smith
- Newsletter Identity Card
- How she started her newsletter
- Growth strategy
- Growing with Substack Notes
- Paid subscription strategy
- Personal & professional impact of running a newsletter
- If she had a chance to start over
- Biggest advice to newsletter creators
MEET THE CREATOR
Veronica Llorca-Smith is a public speaker and the author of two books and three e-books with a following of over 15,000 on Medium and LinkedIn and a newsletter with over 4,000 subscribers.
It all started when she decided to reinvent herself and started a new career as a writer at the age of 41.
- 2020: Burned out climbing the corporate ladder
- 2021: Unemployed and locked abroad (Covid courtesy)
- 2022: Started writing and became a public speaker
- 2023: Published her first book (and 2nd and 3rd) & launched the newsletter
- 2024: Got a book deal with #1 Publisher, Penguin Random House
Since February 2023, she has been building her newsletter, The Lemon Tree Mindset, where she shares weekly articles on writing, well-being, and her mindset.
Today, she reaches over 4,000 subscribers, including 109 paid subscribers.
But, the road to her newsletter was not an easy one. It never is, right?
In our interview, you’ll find valuable insights on:
- How to nail paid subscription: How she started and gained 109 paid subscribers
- Re-inventing Substack Notes: How she turned it into a key growth lever and generated hundreds of subscribers
- Newsletter positioning: How she used her newsletter in her content funnel as a community-builder
I’d also love to mention that Veronica is an Ironman triathlete. At first glance, writing a newsletter consistently and being an athlete might seem very different, but they both require similar competencies. In both, you have to be self-disciplined, consistent, laser-focused on your goals and persistent despite all the emotional rollercoasters. I believe that having an athlete’s mindset and being open to sharing her struggles along the way highly contributes to Veronica’s success.
Finally, in addition to her smart newsletter strategy, we have a lot to get inspired by Veronica’s constructive mindset. Her courage might be rooted in her life experiences, which pushed her to adapt to new countries and languages continuously.
9 countries, 6 languages.
I’ve been a foreigner my whole life:
France, Brazil, Italy, China, Australia…
And I love it!
New schools, new friends, new habits, new food…
In the end, she learned to turn challenges into opportunities with the lemon tree mindset, and now, this is what she’s spreading through her newsletter.
“When life gives you lemons, use the seeds to plant lemon trees.”
Enough from me. Let’s hear the behind-the-scenes story of Veronica’s newsletter from herself!
NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
TOOL STACK
- ESP → Substack
- Writing → Grammarly
- Curation & Note taking → Apple notes
- Design of visuals → Canva
- Webinar → Zoom
- Affiliate → Gumroad
- Payments → Stripe
START
How and why did you start The Lemon Tree Mindset in the first place?
In 2022, I was locked abroad during the pandemic with my two young daughters and I wasn’t able to go back home due to the quarantine restrictions. We ended up moving to Australia while my husband stayed behind with our dog at home in Hong Kong.
After 6 frustrating months of looking for a job, I decided to reinvent myself and start a new path at 41.
If I didn’t have a network, I would develop one.
If recruiters didn’t see my value, I would share it with the world.
If I didn’t have a job, I would create one myself.
I decided to change my life and started writing and speaking in public to share my story. That’s when I developed the concept of the lemon tree mindset:
“When life gives you lemons, use the seeds and plant your own lemon tree.”
In February 2023, I published my first book, The Lemon Tree Mindset with the 19 lessons I learned during my reinvention journey. It was a finalist of the 2024 International Book Awards, by American Lit Festival and led to the launch of my Substack newsletter, which focuses on helping others find their new path.
It all started with a tiny seed of hope and passion and it’s now blossoming into a beautiful lemon tree.
GROWTH
You’re a public speaker, writer of books and ebooks and build an audience with over 15,000+ on Medium & LinkedIn. What is the role of your newsletter in your content funnel and the online business you’re building?
“My newsletter plays the role of community-builder.”
I see it as a channel that allows me to create a more intimate relationship with my readers. Many start as followers on social media channels, but once they join The Lemon Tree Mindset, we start to engage at a deeper level and it becomes a 2-way relationship as I’m very proactive in replying and engaging with my tribe.
A newsletter has allowed me to build trust with my subscribers, and many end up buying my ebooks and digital products, becoming coaching clients and leaving reviews and testimonials online. My community of paid subscribers (I just surpassed 100) has become a very close group where we share updates, support each other and grow together.
Growth strategies can vary at different stages of a newsletter journey. Which strategies did you use to grow over 4,000 subscribers?
- 0 – 1,000 → The Beginner: In this phase, I was just trying to figure things out: the platform, the monetization, the community, the cadence. I focused on observing, learning and experimenting, going with the flow.
- 1,000 – 2,000→ The Strategist: Once I hit 1,000 subscribers, I decided to create a 360-strategy and started treating my Substack like a start-up. I refined my vision and content pillars, curated the look and feel, and became (hyper) active on Notes. I also ideated a freemium strategy to monetize my newsletter in a targeted way.
- 2,000 – present → The Risk-taker: Thanks to my strategy, my Substack took momentum and I decided it was time to take it one step further and try new services for my paid subscribers, such as email courses and webinars. These initiatives together with engaging Notes took my growth from incremental to explosive and I started to gain 900-1000 subscribers a month. I also reviewed my offer for Founding Members and started offering a 60-minute coaching session.
You’re an active user of Substack Notes and publish daily. How did it contribute to your newsletter growth & engagement? How does it differ from other platforms you’re active on like LinkedIn or Medium?
Using Notes daily was a game-changer. I started to be more active in January 2024 and the impact on my Substack growth was immediate.
At first, my Notes barely had any engagement, but after 3 months of daily activity, the Likes started to come. Since then, I had several Notes go viral (500+ likes) and generate hundreds of subscribers.
Unlike on Medium or LinkedIn, where the performance of a post is totally random, on Substack, the more you grow your audience and become active, the more engagement you get.
It’s incredible to look at the stats and see that 90%+ of my subscribers come organically from within. No other social platform enables you to do that.
Let’s assume that I’ll start publishing on Notes tomorrow. What should be my strategy and what should I pay attention to the most?
First, reframe your mindset: be ok talking to the wall. Many writers give up because they don’t see any engagement after posting a few Notes. I didn’t either, but I kept showing up and eventually, after hundreds of them, the room filled up. Show up for yourself first: you are your most important stakeholder.
Second, don’t be afraid to show your personality, and by that, I mean your unique take or perspective on things. Before I publish something, I ask myself whether that Note could have been written by a bot. Sounding human and approachable has been a big part of my strategy.
Last, keep it real. There’s no shortage of “magic formulas to make 6 figures” on social media, but I believe in opening the vulnerability door and showing people the wins as well as the struggles.
“That’s what my readers have told me they like about my writing: it’s raw. Sharing my backstage has been reassuring for other people as they see the effort that goes behind the scenes, not just the trophy at the end of the race.”
MONETIZATION
You recently reached over 100 paid subscribers, and this number increased by 45 just in June.
Let’s start with when & how you decided to launch a paid subscription.
“I decided to activate paid subscriptions when I received my first “pledge” a few months after the launch.”
I had never thought of monetizing my newsletter (I didn’t even know it was an option at first) until one person gave my writing a vote of trust, and that was enough to give me the confidence and motivation to go paid and turn on the scary button.
How did you gain your first 10 paid subscribers?
My first 10 paid subscribers were ad hoc, as I didn’t have a segmented offer at first. The growth was very organic, and it took me a few months to reach my first 10. Some were friends and relatives who wanted to help me, and I’m very grateful and proud of their support. We all start somewhere.
“At first, monetizing was not my priority: I wanted to get better at writing and publish high-quality content for free that would attract readers and convert them into subscribers.”
What is your current strategy for increasing paid subscribers? What was the impact of organizing webinars?
In April 2024, I decided to start taking risks and launched a weekly email course, The Personal Brand Studio, for my paid subscribers. I was hesitant about it, but the results were immediate, and I was overwhelmed by the response: that course alone generated over 20 paid subscriptions in a month.
In May 2024, I launched the Lemon Tree Webinars and again, taking risks, paid off: I had over 20 upgrades from free subscribers who wanted to join and grow their lemon tree.
Two weeks ago, I hit the magic 100.
“The key to expediting monetization was to be bold and take risks. Ironically, all the things that scared me were the same things that triggered my success. If you want explosive growth, you have to think differently and try new things.”
IMPACT & LEARNINGS
How did building The Lemon Tree Mindset contribute to your life professionally and personally?
Personally, it’s been extremely rewarding and fulfilling. I love having my community and being able to take it with me wherever I go.
I launched it in Hong Kong in February 2023, but I have written from Singapore, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Spain, France, Croatia, Austria and Germany during my business trips and holidays.
Being able to nurture your own community is something really special, and I love building connections with subscribers from all over the world who are interested in a growth mindset.
Professionally, what started as a hobby has evolved into a digital ecosystem. Thanks to The Lemon Tree Mindset, I’m building a new side business that is growing every month. In June 2024, it generated an annualized revenue of 2,200 US$, and the potential is much bigger as the growth is exponential.
It’s also becoming an incubator for new collaborations and ideas: it’s helping me sell more books on Amazon and I’m repurposing the content of my newsletter to launch new digital products. The Personal Brand Studio, for instance, is now a digital guide on Gumroad.
Last, I’m collaborating with other creators to make a bigger impact:
In June, I did a YouTube interview with Substack marketing guru Kristina God, and we have a live chat on 17 July for our common paid subscribers.
This week, I was one of the panelists at the Substack Campfire, by Tom Kuegler and Michael Simmons together with other Substackers.
I’m currently working on Guest Posts with other writers such as Alexander Semenyuk, David Mcllroy and Matt Tomporowski and this very article is another example of cross-polination between writers.
If you had a chance to start over, what would you do differently while building The Lemon Tree Mindset?
I have really enjoyed my journey because I learned by doing and grew thanks to my own experiences and mistakes.
“I wasn’t in a rush to grow, but in retrospect, I wish I had been more strategic from the beginning and more deliberate about monetization.”
That’s why my next webinar will be on Substack Acceleration: I want my paid subscribers to have a shortcut and learn what I discovered along the way without having to wait for 12 months to see significant results.
What would it be if you had the right to give one piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators?
Your race, your pace.
As an Ironman Triathlete, I always refer to this line:
“This is your journey, and you can’t compare your results and progress to someone else’s. There will always be someone who is growing faster, but you don’t know the full picture.”
Many writers tell me it’s taking them much longer to get momentum, but we can’t compare 2 stories. We all have our circumstances, our personal commitments, and our lived experience.
You have to keep going and show up for yourself first.
Final words?
You won’t fail if you keep doing what you love, but you will fail if you stop loving what you do.
