Noor Chopra, a witty writer behind the popular Touristy newsletter, shares her journey of cultivating over 111,000 organic subscribers. She discusses how the pandemic inspired her pivot from a travel blog to a humorous take on business and tech. Noor reveals her unscalable yet effective growth tactics, exciting monetization strategies, and engagement secrets that keep readers coming back for more. With aspirations for future podcasting ventures, she emphasizes the importance of community and consistency in building a successful newsletter.
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Quick takeaways
Noor Chopra's grassroots approach to subscriber growth through genuine interactions and leveraging her college network led to Touristy's organic success.
The careful curation of partnerships and diverse revenue streams demonstrates the importance of community alignment over simply increasing subscriber count.
Deep dives
Founding and Unique Appeal of Touristy
Noor Chopra founded Touristy during the pandemic as a pivot from her unsuccessful travel blog. What distinguishes Touristy is its witty, informal tone and skimmable format that caters to younger audiences, particularly Gen Z and millennials. The newsletter covers a broad range of topics in the business world without confining itself to a specific niche, providing a refreshing take on news. Noor aimed to keep the content light-hearted and informal amid a generally negative news climate, creating an engaging experience for readers.
Growth Strategies and Community Engagement
Noor employed various unconventional strategies to grow Touristy, emphasizing the importance of doing things that don’t scale for early growth. She leveraged her college network and reached out directly to friends and acquaintances across social media platforms to introduce her newsletter. By priorizing genuine interactions over transactional requests, Noor was able to foster goodwill and generate subscriptions through personal connections. This grassroots approach, combined with her consistency in publishing, enabled her to amass a dedicated following without spending on paid marketing.
Monetization Approaches and Revenue Streams
Touristy began generating revenue through inbound requests for advertisement, with the first occurring nearly a year after its launch. As the newsletter grew, Noor combined this with affiliate marketing to diversify her income streams. She focuses primarily on partnerships that align with her audience's interests, ensuring she provides genuine value rather than just ad space. This careful curation of partnerships has led to sustained revenue, highlighting the significance of engagement and community alignment over sheer subscriber numbers.
Future Aspirations and Content Strategies
Looking ahead, Noor plans to further accelerate Touristy's growth and is contemplating the launch of a podcast to complement her newsletter. She is eager to explore new formats that provide deeper engagement with her audience and connect with other creators. Additionally, she hinted at the potential of increasing publication frequency from weekly to bi-weekly based on reader interest. By consistently analyzing engagement data, Noor remains adaptive and focused on co-creating valuable experiences with her community while exploring potential new content avenues.
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Welcome back to another episode of the Send & Grow podcast. This week, SparkLoop's Dylan Redekop chats with Noor Chopra. Noor writes the Touristy newsletter: "quick bites on Business, Tech and the Future of Consumer Culture, served with a side of millennial sarcasm."
Touristy, loved for its witty tone and skimmable format, has captivated a diverse audience, soaring to an impressive 111,000 subscribers in just four years. The impressive part? She's grown it 100% organically.
In this episode, Dylan & Noor discuss…
The Birth of Touristy: How a pivot during the pandemic led to the creation of a unique newsletter platform.
Growth Tactics: The unscalable yet effective strategies Noor employed to kickstart subscriber growth.
Content Creation: The art of curating engaging and relevant content that resonates with readers.
Monetization Journey: From the first ad dollar to a diversified revenue stream without spending on ads.
Engagement Secrets: Maintaining an astonishing open rate and the role of visual content.
Future Aspirations: Noor's vision for Touristy and potential ventures into podcasting.