Every Thursday, I break down one marketing framework, persuasion technique, or psychology effect so you can apply it in your content.
“Underpromise and Overdeliver,” we keep hearing this.
It’s one of those simple advice that sounds obvious but not many follow.
I suck at this.
I don’t overpromise and underdeliver. I promise right and deliver late, which has a similar consequence to the former: People lose trust in your ability to get things done.
This is a mini case study of how I positioned my newsletter to keep the “promise → delivery” chain in balance by not changing a thing about my work.
The Context
I have a personal newsletter to share life updates, perspectives, etc. Think of it as a public diary.
I publish four types of content:
Recommendations: The best content I have consumed last month in learning and entertainment.
Perspectives: Observations, thoughts.
Life Experiments: 100 days of workout, Quitting sugar for 60 days.
Travel Stories: Documentation of who I meet, places I visit.
It has a small audience of 500 subscribers, but I have established a relationship with my readers.
The newsletter has been inconsistent with its content, frequency, and offer to readers.
In 2023, I travelled a lot so most content was travel documentation.
In 2024, my thought exercises have led to long essays.
There was even a time I published for 30 days straight.
I put myself in the readers’ shoes and tried to answer: “What is my offer to my readers?”
This changed everything.
The Offer Question
I have to credit Ayush. Whenever I share a new idea with him, his first question is, “What’s your offer to your audience?” Changed the way I think.
So… I have a personal newsletter with multiple content types, inconsistent frequencies, and no clear offers.
I started with “What do my readers like?”
Essays and monthly recommendations topped the list. From four types of content, we’re now down to two.
My first thought was to publish one essay and one monthly recommendation edition a month.
Then I looked at my archive. There have been months when I didn’t publish an essay, but I never missed a monthly recommendation since September 2024.
One of the few things I have been doing consistently.
The Ikigai was right here I failed to notice all along.
I can promise monthly recommendations. My readers love it. Plus it’s not a question of “is it possible?” I have already been doing it for over a year.
So I have repositioned it as a monthly newsletter, where I share the best content I consume in movies, music, shows, podcasts, YouTube, books, blogs, and newsletters.
Everything remains the same. The way I work, the time I spend on it, etc. I have only changed the copy and welcome email. Basically messaging.
So what does it solve for me anyway?
Where does all this repositioning effort lead to?
Clear offer. My readers can confidently expect one edition a month, packed with recs
Removes my guilt of not publishing enough. Takes the pressure off
Easy to market
Establishes trust and rhythm because I deliver on my promise consistently
I can still write my essays, experiments, and travel stories, but they’re all just a bonus
TL;DR:
By only changing the way I position my newsletter, I crafted a clear offer, set expectations, and now I run a monthly newsletter with supreme consistency and clear promise.
Think
What are the areas you promise but don’t deliver?
By not making significant changes to your workflow, can you craft an offer that not only delivers on your promise, but also sets an expectation in rhythm with your audience?
Love,
Vikra.