The newsletter ecosystem has exploded. Platforms like Beehiiv and Substack have made it easier than ever to start writing, but harder than ever to stand out in a crowded inbox. For an indie newsletter creator, the traditional 'write and pray' strategy is no longer viable. To achieve exponential subscriber growth in 2025, the most effective strategy is building in public. When you build your newsletter in public, you shift the focus from merely broadcasting content to fostering a two-way relationship with your audience. You pull back the curtain on the creator economy, transparently sharing the messy reality behind the polished emails. This means openly discussing your subscriber acquisition costs, your struggle with open rates, and the exact strategies you used to monetize your first 1,000 readers. The indie newsletter creator community thrives on this shared data. By documenting your journey on BuildInProcess, you don't just write for an audience; you build a community of fellow writers, marketers, and early adopters who are deeply invested in your success. They become your most active referrers and your most reliable source of feedback, helping you transition from a solo writer to a thriving media business.
Sharing your growth tactics publicly—like exactly how a specific Twitter thread drove 200 signups—naturally attracts other creators and marketers to your list. They subscribe not just for your primary content, but to learn from your meta-journey of audience building.
The transition from free to paid is daunting. By discussing your pricing strategy publicly, you can survey your audience on what premium features they actually want. Furthermore, transparently sharing your sponsorship rates or Beehiiv Boost earnings helps the whole community price their ads fairly.
The newsletter community is highly collaborative. Building in public puts you on the radar of creators in adjacent niches. When you share your milestones and engage with others, you naturally create opportunities for cross-promotions and newsletter recommendations, which are the highest ROI growth levers available.
Writing weekly is a grind. Sharing your struggles with burnout or writers block humanizes you. It transitions your relationship with readers from a transactional content delivery service to a supportive community that cheers you on even when an issue is late.
We built the exact tools you need to share your journey without wasting hours on marketing.
Specific, concrete updates that actually drive engagement in this niche.
Don't just say 'we grew.' Post a screenshot of your analytics dashboard. Analyze why one subject line yielded a 55% open rate while another tanked at 20%. This analytical content is highly prized.
Did you spend $500 on Meta Ads or sponsor another newsletter? Share the exact Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) and the quality of the subscribers you gained. Real marketing data is the most valuable currency in this niche.
Document the anxiety and the strategy behind launching a paid tier. Share the conversion rate from your free list to paid, and what exclusive content is driving the most upgrades.
The platform wars are ongoing. Write a detailed analysis of why you migrated from Substack to Beehiiv (or vice versa), focusing on the specific revenue sharing, SEO, or API features that drove your decision.
Share the pain of a high-unsubscribe week. Discuss what content triggered it and how you are adjusting your strategy. Vulnerability regarding churn builds immense trust with fellow creators.
When you land your first sponsor, share the pitch deck you used, how you priced your CPM (Cost Per Mille), and the click-through results you delivered to the advertiser.
The platform to document the 'meta' story of your newsletter. Write long-form updates about your growth strategies and automatically cross-post them to Twitter and LinkedIn to drive top-of-funnel traffic.
The dominant publishing platforms. Sharing specific tutorials, custom CSS designs, or API integrations for these tools guarantees engagement from other writers.
The engines behind viral growth. Documenting how you set up your referral rewards and the resulting ROI is top-tier technical content.
The primary discovery channels for newsletters. Building in public requires an active presence here to drive users to your landing page.
Packy built a massive media empire by writing deeply researched essays and transparently sharing his growth milestones on Twitter. His openness about his syndication model and investment strategy turned his readers into a powerful community.
Lenny is the gold standard for B2B newsletters. He built his massive paid subscriber base by consistently delivering high-value tactical advice and being incredibly transparent about his transition from a free list to a seven-figure paid publication.
Chenell built her newsletter specifically by reverse-engineering the success of other creators and sharing that research publicly. Her meta-analysis of newsletter growth became a massive growth engine in itself.
Create your BuildInProcess profile. Your first post should clearly articulate exactly who your newsletter is for and, more importantly, who it is NOT for. Specificity wins.
Don't wait until you have 1,000 readers. Post a screenshot of your empty dashboard and publicly commit to publishing your first 10 issues regardless of the metrics.
Write an update detailing why you chose Beehiiv over Substack (or vice versa), how you designed your logo, and what you are using for custom domains.
Commit to a monthly 'State of the Newsletter' update. Share total subscribers, open rates, revenue, and the single biggest lesson you learned that month.
Use the BuildInProcess community to find creators with similar audience sizes. Publicly suggest a cross-promotion or a 'Boost' swap to leverage each other's growth.
By sharing the 'how-to' behind your growth, you attract a secondary audience of creators, marketers, and founders. This meta-audience is highly engaged, likely to share your content, and often becomes your most loyal readership.
No. The 'zero to one' journey is the most relatable and inspiring phase. People love an underdog story. Sharing your small wins early on builds a foundation of early supporters who feel invested in your inevitable success.
Both work well, but they offer different ecosystems. Substack has a stronger internal network (Notes/Recommendations), while Beehiiv offers superior analytics, API access, and built-in ad networks, making it excellent for sharing granular growth data.
The main avenues are paid subscriptions (Substack's primary model), native advertising/sponsorships (easier on Beehiiv), affiliate marketing, and selling digital products or consulting to your established audience.
Twitter is transient; BuildInProcess is permanent. Use BuildInProcess as your long-form developer/creator log to document your in-depth strategies, and let our tools automatically push the highlights to your Twitter and LinkedIn feeds.