Latest / The Newsletter Podcast with Fexingo: Substack, Beehiiv, and Email Newsletter Business / How Newsletter Writers Use LinkedIn to Land Paid Subscribers
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — a tactic, a tool, a shift in how you think about your newsletter — there's a good chance you picked it up from a LinkedIn post. Luna: That's a specific claim. Are you saying LinkedIn is the best channel for newsletter growth right now? Lucas: Not the best for everyone. But I've been looking at a particular case — a B2B newsletter writer named Sarah Chen. She writes about supply chain tech. Two years ago she had 2,000 free subscribers and zero paid. Today she has 15,000 paid at ten bucks a month. And she attributes almost all of that growth to LinkedIn. Luna: Fifteen thousand paid is impressive. How did she actually use LinkedIn — posting articles, commenting, DMs? Lucas: All three, but in a very specific sequence. She calls it her 'three-layer content strategy.' The first layer is authority posts — two to three times a week, she shares a data point or a framework from her newsletter. Not the full article, just the most contrarian insight. One of her best-performing posts was a single chart showing that 40 percent of supply chain disruptions are caused by internal communication breakdowns, not external shocks. That post got 18,000 impressions. Luna: And then people click through to her profile and see the link to her newsletter? Lucas: Exactly. But here's the key — she doesn't put the newsletter link in the post itself. LinkedIn's algorithm deprioritizes external links. Instead, she puts it in her featured section and in the 'website' field on her profile. Then her second layer is a lead magnet — a free PDF she calls 'The Supply Chain Crisis Playbook.' She offers it in comments or in DMs when people engage with her posts. Luna: So she's not even directly asking for the newsletter signup. She's giving away the PDF, and then inside the PDF is a call to action to subscribe? Lucas: Right. The PDF is a 10-page document with actionable steps. On the last page, there's a soft ask: 'If you found this useful, my weekly newsletter dives deeper into one supply chain trend every Tuesday.' She tracked conversion — roughly 8 percent of PDF downloaders become free subscribers. And then her third layer — this is the most interesting — is direct outreach. Luna: Cold DMs? That feels risky on LinkedIn. Lucas: Not cold. Warm. She uses a tool to monitor who's been viewing her profile. If someone with a relevant title — say, VP of Logistics at a mid-size manufacturer — views her profile, she sends them a message within 24 hours. The message is very specific: 'Hey, I noticed you checked out my profile. I recently published a piece on how automotive supply chains are adapting to EV production. Thought you might find it relevant. Happy to share the link.' Luna: Okay, that's smart because it's not a pitch — it's a follow-up on an implicit interest. What's the conversion rate on that? Lucas: She says about 30 percent of those conversations lead to a newsletter signup, and about 5 percent of those eventually convert to paid. But here's the metric she watches most closely: LinkedIn profile views per week. She noticed that whenever her profile views cross 500 in a week, her free-to-paid conversion rate jumps by 40 percent the following week. Luna: Why do you think that is? Profile views are a vanity metric in most contexts. Lucas: Normally yes, but for a newsletter writer, profile views are a proxy for curiosity. Someone sees your post, clicks your name, scans your bio, sees the newsletter link. They're not ready to subscribe yet, but they've raised their hand. Then when they see your next post, they're more likely to click. It's a delayed conversion. Luna: A quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these episodes. Lucas: It's true. No ads, no sponsors. Just a small group of people who find these conversations useful and want to keep them going. We don't do a big push, but if it's something you've been meaning to do, that's the place. Luna: Yeah. And we're back to Sarah's strategy. I want to push back on something — does this only work for B2B topics? I'm thinking of lifestyle newsletters, food, personal essays. Lucas: Fair question. I found another example — a guy named Marcus who writes a newsletter called 'The Fermentary' about fermentation and cooking. He started on Substack in 2024 with zero audience. He used LinkedIn, but differently. He posts videos of his fermentation experiments — time-lapse of sourdough starter, a jar of kimchi bubbling. Very visual. He built 8,000 free subscribers in six months, and 500 of them converted to paid at $8 a month. Luna: Okay, so visual content on LinkedIn can work for non-B2B. But 500 paid is a lot less than Sarah's 15,000. Lucas: Absolutely. But his average order value for paid is lower, and he's only been at it 18 months. The point is the mechanism is the same: authority or curiosity-building posts, a lead magnet, and warm outreach. The lead magnet for Marcus was a free PDF of his top 5 fermentation recipes. It's not a white paper, but it serves the same function. Luna: So what's the one concrete thing a listener should do tomorrow if they want to try this? Lucas: Three things. First, optimize your LinkedIn profile — make your headline say exactly what your newsletter is about, not your job title. Second, create one lead magnet that's genuinely valuable, not a sales page disguised as content. Third, start monitoring your profile views and sending those warm DMs within 24 hours. That sequence alone can get you your first 100 paid subscribers within 90 days. Luna: I like that it's measurable. You can track profile views, DM response rate, PDF download rate, and conversion. It's a funnel. Luna: Alright, I'm going to try the warm DM thing this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Lucas: Please do. And if you listeners try it, let us know too — we might do a follow-up episode on your results.