How to Get New Subscribers From Other People's Audiences
The quickest way to get new newsletter subscribers is to show up in front of an audience someone else already built. There are four ways to do it: freebie swaps, being in someone else's summit or bundle, hosting your own and a direct collab with one other creator. The gift you offer decides who joins, and the emails you send in the first few weeks decide who stays.
If you've been sending your newsletter to about the same number of people for months, you're not the only one. Posting more on social media can help, but a lot of the people who see your posts never end up on your list.
The quickest way I know to get new subscribers is to show up in front of someone else's audience, with something useful they can sign up for.
That's a big part of how the HobbyScool list was built. We run 12 summits a year with about 30 speakers in each one, and each summit gets somewhere between 7,000 and 20,000 registrations. Paid ads are the other part of how that list grew, so I'm not going to tell you collabs did it all on their own.
What "other people's audiences" means
Every creator you look up to has a list of people who trust them. When they recommend you or put you on their stage, some of those people come over to your list too.
And they come over warm, because someone they already trust sent them your way.
I think about list growth in an order. First you borrow other people's audiences, then you build your own list from the people who come over and paid ads come after that. You can start collaborating with a small list, and it doesn't cost you anything but your time.
Four ways to get in front of someone else's audience
There are four ways I tell creators to collaborate. You don't need all four. Pick the one that fits where you are right now.
Freebie swaps
You and other creators each share each other's free resources with your audiences. It's the easiest place to start, even with a small list. This month I'm putting my free Summit Registration Page Skill into the Freebie Swap Collective, which Julie C. Butler is running October 19 to 23.
Being in someone else's summit or bundle
You teach a session or add a product, and the host promotes the event to their whole list. Everyone who registers sees your name, and the people who want your gift join your list. At my events, speakers also earn 50% on the VIP pass through their own affiliate link.
Hosting your own summit or bundle
This one takes more work, but every speaker promotes the event to their own audience, so you get in front of all of them at the same time. It's how HobbyScool grows, along with the ads.
A direct collab with one person
You and one other creator do something together, like a joint workshop or a podcast swap where you each guest host on the other's show. It's smaller, and it's often where the long-term relationships start.
Those relationships last, too. Some of the people I first collaborated with in 2018 and 2019 I'm still collaborating with today, and several of them are good friends now.
The gift decides who joins
When you show up in someone else's audience, the free thing you offer is what turns a viewer into a subscriber. So it's worth picking on purpose.
I wrote a whole post on how to pick the free gift for your speaking spot, and here's the short version. The gift should use the lesson from your session, people should be able to finish it in a day and it should be delivered on a page that has room for a small paid offer.
That last part means some of the people who join can also buy from you right away, while they're still excited about what they learned.
The list bump is also only one of the things a speaking spot gives you. I broke down the rest in what a speaking spot is actually worth, and the list bump turns out to be the smallest part.
What you send next decides who stays
Getting new subscribers is only half of it. If someone joins for your gift, hears from you once and then starts getting your regular newsletter about something else, they're more likely to unsubscribe.
Tag them by the event or swap they came from. Deliver the gift and follow up on it during their first week. Stay on the topic they signed up for over the next few weeks. Then make your offer.
I wrote more about this in what to do with your leads after the event. The tag is what lets you send the right follow-up to the right people.
Where to find people to collaborate with
If you don't know where to start, here are a few places to look.
- The Newsletter Profit Club Collaboration App. I built newsletterprofit.club as a free directory where newsletter owners list their newsletter, browse partners by niche and subscriber count and set up swaps. It's free and anyone can use it.
- Summits and bundles in your niche. Look for events where the attendees are the people you want on your list, and apply to speak or contribute. Creator's MBA events are listed on my speaking opportunities page.
- Freebie swap groups. Julie's Freebie Swap Collective runs October 19 to 23 inside her free Skool community.
- The people already on your list. Some of your subscribers run their own businesses and have their own audiences. They already know you, which makes the first conversation easier.
The Grow It workshops at the summit
The AI Newsletter Summit runs October 27 to 29 and it's free. The Grow It workshops are about getting more of the right readers onto your list, and each one shows the real setup with the prompts and the workflow on screen.
- Destini Copp, Get New Subscribers From Other People's Audiences
- C.J. Thomas, Turn Followers into Subscribers
- Laura Betterly, How I Hit 73% Open Rates With Cold Email (And Added 10K Subscribers in 2 Weeks)
- Lucas Dwyer, Recycling Your Best Writing So It Actually Gets Seen: One Newsletter, Ten Pieces of Content
- Anna Crosby, The Idea Bank Method: Find Fresh Newsletter Angles with AI
I'm also opening the summit live on Tuesday, October 27 at noon ET with Write It, Grow It, Get Paid: Where Does Your Newsletter Need AI First? You'll score your own newsletter during it, so you know which workshops to watch first.
Get more of the right readers on your list
27 free workshops on using AI to write your newsletter, grow your list and get paid, with the prompts and the workflow on screen. October 27 to 29.
Save your free seat →Frequently asked.
How do I grow my newsletter without paying for ads?
Show up in front of other creators' audiences. Freebie swaps, speaking in summits or bundles, hosting your own event and one-on-one collabs like podcast swaps all put you in front of people who already trust someone you're working with.
What is a freebie swap?
A freebie swap is when creators share each other's free resources with their audiences. Each person gets new subscribers from the others, and it's one of the easiest ways to start collaborating with a small list.
Can I collaborate if my email list is small?
Yes. Freebie swaps and summits are open to creators with small lists, and what hosts usually care about most is whether your topic fits their audience. Some events do have a minimum, so check before you apply.
What should I give away when I speak at a summit?
Give away something that uses the lesson from your session, that people can finish in a day and that's delivered on a page with room for a small paid offer.
What should I send new subscribers who joined from a collab?
Tag them by the event or swap they came from, deliver the gift and follow up on it in their first week, stay on the topic they signed up for over the next few weeks and then make your offer.
Dr. Destini Copp helps digital product creators build sustainable, systems-based businesses through the Creator Growth Flywheel framework. She's the founder of Creator's MBA and HobbyScool, and has been teaching online business strategy for over a decade. Learn more →
