June's Notable Quote for Newsletter Writers
A guessing game 🖤
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
This month’s notable quote is a also a guessing game.
Here’s a passage from Greg McKeown’s classic book, Essentialism:
Research has shown that of all forms of human motivation the most effective one is __.
Greg McKeown
What do you think goes in the blank? It’s a hard one.
To make it a bit easier, here are four options:
Goal setting
Recognition or appreciation
Positive reinforcement
Progress
The answer is 4: Progress.
McKeown goes on to note that “a small, concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our further success.”
It feels good to send out one newsletter, and if you keep going - write and send, write and send, write and send - you’ll look back after a year or two and realize how far you’ve come.
In order to keep making progress with your newsletter, it helps to remember that they are mostly disposable content for your readers. Don’t let perfectionism stand in the way of getting something sent out. The power is in the repeated act of sending, so you don’t have to stress out too much over any single piece.
If you’re having trouble sending because your newsletter isn’t quite right, it’s okay to lower the bar, either by just working to get one small section done today or by giving yourself permission to make your entire newsletter simpler, easier, and more fun for you to write.
If you’re interested in rethinking what goes into your newsletter so that it’s more feasible to send it regularly, you might be interested in the draft chapter of my forthcoming newsletter book that I posted on LinkedIn this week. I’ve been pulling my hair out with this chapter & would love your feedback if you have a moment to read it.
Talk soon. Happy writing.
Camille
p.s. Our next co-writing/peer feedback session will be Wednesday, July 3 from 12-1:30 pm ET. These are work sessions where you can write/edit/format your newsletter. The last ½ hour is spent doing peer review. Bring a draft or idea to work on!