A year ago I had 900,000 TikTok followers and no email list. Zero. Every piece of audience I’d built was living in a platform I don’t control.
Then TikTok had that uncertain period in the US, and I watched creators I knew lose access to their audiences overnight. That was the wake-up call I needed.
I started the AI Tools Weekly newsletter. Here’s how I built it and what I’ve learned.
Why Email Over Everything
I want to be real with you about something: the marketing around newsletters makes them sound like a magic money machine. They’re not. They’re a lot of work, and the growth is slow at first.
But here’s what they are: an audience you own.
A TikTok following is a borrowed audience. The algorithm decides who sees your content. The platform decides the rules. Email is different — you have a list of people who explicitly asked to hear from you, and you can reach them whenever you want.
For monetization, especially brand partnerships, email is also worth significantly more per subscriber than a social follow. A brand that pays $X for a TikTok might pay 3-5X for a newsletter mention to a similar-sized audience, because the intent is higher and the engagement is measurable.
The System I Built
Finding the angle. My newsletter had to be specific. “AI news” is too broad — there are a dozen well-funded publications doing that. “AI tools you can actually use right now, reviewed honestly” — that’s a lane. Specificity is what gets people to subscribe and stay subscribed.
The weekly format. Every issue has the same structure:
- One tool I tested in depth (the main review)
- Two or three quick hits (tools worth knowing about but not a full review)
- One thing I’m thinking about (the editorial take)
- One prompt or workflow tip readers can use immediately
The structure took me about a month to settle on. Before that I was writing whatever felt relevant, and the issues were all over the place. Consistent format = faster production + better reader experience.
The writing process. I use Claude to help me organize my research notes into a rough draft, then I rewrite everything in my own voice. The final email sounds like me because I make sure it does. AI handles structure; I handle voice.
Sending rhythm. Every Monday at 8:30 AM Eastern. Consistency matters more than frequency. I’d rather publish 50 good issues over 12 months than 100 half-finished ones.
How I Grew the List
The TikTok funnel. My bio links to a landing page with one clear offer: sign up and get my top AI tools list. Every video ends with something like “link in bio if you want the full breakdown.” That’s been the primary growth driver.
Cross-promotion. A few collaborations with other newsletters in adjacent spaces (productivity, creator tools) drove meaningful subscriber numbers. The key is finding newsletters with audiences who genuinely overlap with yours — not just “big newsletters I want to be associated with.”
Word of mouth. This surprised me: a significant portion of subscribers came because someone forwarded an issue. Good writing travels. The best growth strategy is still “make something worth sharing.”
The Mistakes I Made
Starting too late. I should have started when I had 100,000 followers, not 900,000. The channel matters less than the timing — earlier is always better.
Making it too long. My first few issues were 2,500 words. Nobody read them end-to-end. Now I aim for 800-1,000 words. Dense, not long.
Not promoting it consistently. For the first few months I’d mention the newsletter “when I remembered.” It needs to be every video, every post, every platform. Not spammy — but consistent.
What It’s Led To
Brand partnerships that include newsletter placement now account for a significant portion of my revenue. More importantly, the newsletter is an asset. It has compounding value — every new subscriber makes the platform more valuable to the next brand conversation.
If you’re a creator reading this and you don’t have an email list: start one. This week. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The most important thing is that you start.
— Deco