How to Write Useful Newsletters (Even If You’re a Bad Writer)

Simple tips I've learned over the past 11 years

Newsletters are the backbone of my business.

Whenever I send emails, I make money. Whenever I don’t... Well, you guessed it... I don’t.

The hard part of writing an email is not the writing itself, because AI could do it for you.

The hard part is making them useful.

The whole job comes down to this

Most newsletters try to do everything.

You cram three ideas, two links, a life update, and an inspirational quote into one email. The reader’s brain short-circuits.

A useful email does ONE job.

When I write an email, I share one insight. One story. One point of view.

Simpler to write. Easier to read.

You’re not writing to an email list

An email list can quickly feel impersonal.

You have hundreds of people in a CSV file. You send a broadcast to a thousand people. No one replies. And then you have to do it again tomorrow.

But even if it feels impersonal... You wanna treat it like you’re emailing a friend.

Do you get a blog post from your best friend? No. You get a message. Written to YOU.

So write like it. One reader.

Correctness is for schmucks

English is NOT my first language.

My vocabulary is limited. I stutter. I sometimes ask AI to help me clarify what I want to say so it reads naturally.

After making hundreds of typos, I can tell you that readers don’t care about you being grammatically and politically correct.

What they care about is whether you GET them.

Empathy is just understanding what someone’s going through and showing them you’ve been there too.

Many of my clients tell me my emails feel like I’m speaking to them. That’s because I just try to talk about their feelings more than trying to be correct.

Boring is the real crime

A typo or two won’t kill your newsletter.

But what will kill it is being BORING.

The grey, neutral, “here are five tips”, and “maybe it’s this or that” nuanced garbage.

A good newsletter is PERSONAL and INTERESTING.

Take a stand. Pick a fight with bad advice. Be real. Tell people what you actually believe, even if it costs you a few subscribers.

My emails annoy people every single day. Some unsubscribe. Some buy. That’s fine. It means I’m actually writing something that makes them react.

Showing up beats showing off

I’m a perfectionist.

My instinct is to spend 2 hours polishing everything. Get a 100% score on Grammarly. Ask AI to grade my writing.

Booh.

But I only get 2-3 hours a day before my back goes bonkers. So I don’t have the luxury. I do what I have to do and ship it. Even imperfect.

I email my list every single day because showing up is how you build trust.

So I hit send. Even if the perfectionist is whispering: maybe you should do another editing pass.

A draft in your head doesn’t count. What counts is getting it out there.

The one thing nobody can copy (after AI)

Anyone can google your topic. Anyone can rephrase a tip.

What nobody can do is steal your life.

The 20 years I spent living abroad. The back surgery that has me writing from a recliner. The divorce. The burnout.

None of that came from a writing course. It’s proof I’ve actually lived the thing I teach.

A polished writer with no scars writes hollow emails. A clumsy one with a real story writes the kind people remember.

Pour your actual life into your emails:

• the mess

• the failures

• the weird detours

That’s the part AI can’t generate and your competitor can’t swipe. And that’s what makes YOUR newsletter yours.