I've been in a wrestling match with this newsletter for two years now.
First, I penned “Leading Thoughts,” a long-form monthly newsletter where I repurposed insights from my old podcast (RIP).
Me pouring one out for “The Notorious Thought Leader."
"Leading Thoughts" was a success — I quickly grew my list to 1,750+ subscribers, including marketing leaders from Fortune 500 brands like PayPal, Cisco, and IBM. Open rates and click through rates were higher than industry averages, unsubscribes were a rare occurrence, and my newsletter regularly generated revenue.
But then I stopped doing my podcast to create space for baby number three … and suddenly the newsletter format and premise didn’t work anymore.
Fast forward to “Boldface,” my daily email experiment that some loved and others unsubscribed from. For the first time ever, instead of watching my list grow, I watched it shrink. (Yeah, I knew that was a possibility seeing as people had signed up for a monthly newsletter — not a daily “Hey! I'm in your inbox … again!” But still, it hurt.)
And although I could attribute a good chunk of change to my daily email escapades, I knew I could do better.
So I took a wee break and asked myself some questions. First and foremost:
What did people love about the previous iterations?
What did people hate about the previous iterations?
(Hate is a strong word, but I did get a few bits of constructive feedback, mainly about the ads.)
Today, I’m rebuilding Boldface in front of you:
- Weekly(ish)
- Under 400 words
- No ads (you’re welcome)
- Same tone of voice you've come to expect
- A blend of big picture thinking, useful advice, and examples
- A look at how I'm using ChatGPT and Claude in my workflows
- A mission: To help you find your brand’s bold alter ego
Personally, I despise “Success Theater” where people only share their wins. (It’s like c’mon, Gary — I know you ain’t winning all the time. Stop fronting.) Building in public like this is my attempt to live my values, keep it real, and model a culture of experimentation. Because that's how we find leverage.
One final thought before I go poof in the night:
The brands that matter aren't playing it safe, and neither should you. Bold is the only safe bet.
Here’s to keeping it real. 🥂
Xo,
Erin
P.S. And since I'm now using Kajabi, you can read previous posts on my site and leave me comments! (Please do. I love to hear from you.)
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