3 builders who never spoke to each other
Swap promotions with lists your readers already fit
Trading recommendations with newsletters serving the same audience introduces you to readers who have already proved they will subscribe to something, which beats chasing them one at a time. A one-click subscribe link in place of a form lifts opt-ins sharply, and a cliffhanger split across the two sends gives the reader a reason to follow.
The method
- 01
Grow an email list by cross-promoting with other newsletters instead of chasing subscribers one at a time.
- 02
Swap recommendations with other newsletters so each list introduces you to readers who already pay for writing.
- 03
Structure the cross-promotion as a cliffhanger: put the first half of a piece in the partner's email and make the subscribe button the way to get the rest from you.
- 04
In a cross-promotion or a sponsorship you have bought, replace the usual signup link with a one-click subscribe link so the reader never sees a form.
- 05
Find the newsletters that already curate work for your audience and pitch yourself for inclusion, but only when the piece is genuinely strong enough to earn it.
What it returned
- 7,000
His newsletter went from 7,000 subscribers to 15,000 over 2022, growth he attributes mostly to newsletter cross-promotion run through SparkLoop.
- 1,000
Cross-promotion named as a growth lever at The Profile, which reached around 1,000 paid subscribers.
- 20
SparkLoop measured one-click links lifting opt-in rates on cross-promotions and sponsorships by 20 to 50%, with no other change to the placement.
- 2025
Conversion Factory acquired the H1 Gallery newsletter during 2025, the same year the team reached 16 people and revenue rose about 35 percent.
Sources
- 2022 Year In Review | Corey HainesCorey Haines · corey.co · What went well · 2023-01-01
- 2025 Year In Review | Corey HainesCorey Haines · corey.co · Conversion Factory kept growing · 2026-01-01
- Introducing Magic Links: Add one-click signup everywhere you shareLouis Nicholls · sparkloop.app · Create your Magic Link in only 2 minutes · undated
- 🪄 AI Screen Capture 📨 1,000 Paid Subscribers 🧲 Lead Magnet Guide - Trends.vcPolina Pompliano · trends.vc · 🔧 Try This · 2023-10-02
- How to Plan Your Year In 4 Easy StepsPreetam Nath · preetamnath.com · Actions · 2020-12-20
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in email
- Move the audience you rent onto a list you own7 unconnected
- Hold the schedule you promised to hold5 unconnected
- Decide whether cold email is worth what it signals5 unconnected · contested
- Settle who the publication is for before growing it5 unconnected
- Open the list before the product is real4 unconnected
- Send each subscriber the thing they told you they want4 unconnected