Chenell Basilio - How to grow a newsletter empire(50K+ subscribers) on the Internet!
The Undefeated Underdogs
Transition from Travel Department to Marketing and Paid Ads
Explore the journey of a geography major who stumbled into managing paid ads at AAA, transitioning from initially working in the travel department to becoming an SEO expert, all while helping friends and family with Google ads before departing from AAA in 2017.
👉🏼 About the Guest:
Chenell Basilio is not just a name, but a powerhouse of knowledge and strategic thinking that fuels the growth of leading creators. With her incredible ability to reverse engineer the growth strategies of top creators, she uncovers the blueprint of creators who amassed over 50k+ subscribers via her Growth In Reverse newsletter. By investing over 20 hours each week in research, she presents a wealth of insights on strategy, marketing, and growth.
Chenell has done deep dives on Kat Norton(Miss Excel), Dan Koe, Justin Welsh, Codie Sanchez, Lenny Rachitsky, Harry Dry, and many more. Growth In Reverse now has more than 27k+ creators and readers! Beyond this, she actively shares her journey on X/LinkedIn platforms authentically.
👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 22,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community + Brand at Threado, building a side project called GuestLab, and runs a newsletter called YC Founder Stories alongside hosting this podcast.
👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:
Shoutout to Acquire.com for being the first sponsor of The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
👉🏼 Description:
Tune in as Sharath interviews Chenell, the creator of the Growth in Reverse newsletter. In this conversation, Chenell Basilio discusses her approach to choosing newsletters for deep dives and the criteria she uses. She also shares her insights on growth strategies and the importance of unique and valuable content. The conversation delves into the topic of friction in newsletters and the impact it can have on engagement.
👉🏼 Timestamps:
- 00:00: Episode Highlight
- 00:46: Shoutout to Acquire.com
- 03:12: Introduction to Chenell, the creator of the Growth in Reverse newsletter (28K+ subs!)
- 05:38: The journey from being a 9-5 business analyst to a content creator
- 08:54: The story of creating Growth in Reverse
- 11:18: Choosing newsletter as a medium
- 12:30: Overcoming doubt as a writer
- 14:24: Challenging parts of doing research
- 16:34: Patterns among good newsletter creators
- 19:00: Definition of good content
- 21:14: What changes would Chenell make if she had to start again?
- 22:38: Growth strategies for 50,000+ subscribers
- 23:58: Tips for newsletter creators
- 24:53: Note-taking process and composing notes
- 27:13: Utilizing unused material
- 30:28: All-time favorite scoops and profiles on Growth in Reverse
- 33:51: Insights from the process of reverse-engineering
- 36:12: The most surprising lesson from reverse-engineering
- 40:07: Initial expectations when starting Growth in Reverse
- 41:15: Moments of doubt and pointlessness
- 42:10: Selection criteria for deep-dive profiles in 'Growth in Reverse'
- 43:26: Why Chenell only profiles creators with 50K+ subscribers
- 44:29: 0 to 1 growth strategies for newsletter creators
- 46:36: Building products with intentional points of friction
- 52:02: Measuring newsletter success with metrics
- 53:53: Chenell's plans for 2024
- 56:04: Closing thoughts
👉🏼 Resources:
- Have your product acquired: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/
- Sahil Bloom: https://twitter.com/SahilBloom
- Billy Oppenheimer: https://billyoppenheimer.com/
- Ryan Holiday: https://ryanholiday.net/
- Jack Butcher: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/1
- Justin Welsh: https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/16
- Ali Abdaal: https://aliabdaal.com/
- Kat Norton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kat-norton-7187aa58
👉🏼 Where to find Chenell:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chenellco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHxdl9oXfWpxTeuB7G-kTeA
- Growth in Reverse newsletter: growthinreverse.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenellco
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chenellco/
👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
- Website: https://5harath.com/
- Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
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