Latest / Content Marketing with Fexingo: Blogs, Videos, and Long-Form Content That Converts / How a Weekly Newsletter Grew a Seven-Figure Business
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, there's a narrative that the newsletter is dead — that Substack is overcrowded, that nobody opens email anymore. And I think that narrative is pushed by people who've never run a good one. Luna: I've definitely been guilty of ignoring newsletters. But when I do open one regularly, it feels like a habit. So let me guess — you've got a case study that proves the opposite? Lucas: Exactly. There's a B2B software company called Flowium — they make project management tools for creative agencies. Not a household name. But in 2023, they decided to invest in a weekly newsletter. By mid-2025, that single channel was generating over $2 million in annual recurring revenue. Luna: Wait — a newsletter directly tied to revenue? How do they measure that? Lucas: They use UTM parameters on every link, and they track demo requests back to specific issues. But the key is that the newsletter doesn't try to sell. It's a 10-minute read every Tuesday — one strong opinion about agency management, three curated links, and one internal case study. No product pitches, no 'schedule a demo' banners. The only call to action is a single text link at the bottom: 'Have a challenge? Reply to this email.' Luna: So they're building trust first. That makes sense. What kind of metrics are we talking about? Lucas: Forty-five percent open rate, consistently. Eight percent click-through. And a net promoter score among subscribers that actually beats their product NPS. The list grew to about 50,000 subscribers over two years, mostly organic through word of mouth and a single guest post on a popular industry blog. Luna: Okay, but 50,000 subscribers — that's a lot. Is this replicable for a smaller team, or do you need a dedicated writer? Lucas: Great question. Flowium's newsletter is written by the CEO. He spends about three hours per issue. So it's not a huge time commitment — but it's consistent. He's never missed a Tuesday in two and a half years. That consistency is the real moat. Luna: Three hours — that's actually less than I expected. I imagine the hard part is not the writing but the ideas. How do they keep coming up with a strong opinion every week? Lucas: They keep a running document of observations from customer calls, support tickets, and industry news. The CEO says he never runs out of material because his job is literally solving agency problems every day. The trick is to pick one single, specific take — not a general 'be better at project management' but something like 'why the 50 percent deposit rule is killing your agency cash flow.' Luna: That specificity is what makes it feel valuable. So how does the conversion happen? If they're not selling in the email, where does the revenue come from? Lucas: It's indirect. Subscribers who reply to that bottom of email prompt get a personal response from the CEO or a senior team member within an hour. That conversation often turns into a demo request. They've tracked that about 30 percent of all their demo requests now come from newsletter subscribers. And those leads convert at a higher rate because they've already been educated by the content. Luna: So the newsletter is basically a top of funnel qualification engine. I love that they use reply to engage rather than a 'book a call' button. It feels human. Lucas: Exactly. And the data backs it up. Their average deal size from newsletter leads is 20 percent higher than from other channels. These are warmer, more informed buyers. Luna: You know, this kind of deep-dive content is exactly why we keep doing these shows. If these conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own work, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small gesture that makes a big difference. No pressure, but if you're finding value, that's the place. Luna: Alright, back to the newsletter. Lucas, you mentioned they test subject lines. What have they learned? Lucas: They A-B test every single subject line on 10 percent of the list before sending to the full list. The biggest lesson: questions outperform statements by about 15 percent on open rate. But the most opened subject line they ever ran was simply 'Your retainer is too low.' One sentence, no question mark. It pulled a 62 percent open rate. Luna: That's direct. It reads like a peer telling you something uncomfortable but true. That's the voice they've built. Lucas: Right. And they avoid any hint of clickbait. No 'you won't believe' or 'this one trick.' The subject line delivers on the promise of the email. If they say 'Your retainer is too low,' the email gives three data points on why agency retainers are undervalued and how to renegotiate. Luna: So the content inside has to match. That's a trust compounder. What about frequency? Weekly feels right for B2B. Would daily work? Lucas: Flowium tested daily for a month and open rates dropped to 28 percent. They went back to weekly. The CEO's view is that daily is for news outlets — for a B2B company, you're asking too much of your audience's attention. Weekly gives you enough time to have something real to say. Luna: I've heard that the unsubscribe rate is the real north star metric for newsletters. What was theirs? Lucas: It hovered around 0.1 percent per issue. That's incredibly low. Industry average for B2B is about 0.3 to 0.5 percent. So they're retaining subscribers really well. Luna: Let's talk about scaling. If a small team wants to start something like this tomorrow, what's the minimum viable version? Lucas: I'd say: one person, one hour per week, pick a very narrow niche. Don't try to cover the whole industry. Focus on one pain point for one audience. Flowium's niche is 'agency project management' — that's it. Write one opinion, share one link, include one personal story. Do it the same day every week. Track replies as your primary success metric, not open rate. Luna: Track replies — I like that. It's a qualitative indicator of engagement. What about growth? How do you get those first 1,000 subscribers? Lucas: Flowium's first 1,000 came from a single guest post on a popular agency blog. They offered a free template in exchange for the email. That template was a project brief template they already used internally. So they repurposed an existing asset. After that, they added a signup link to their email signature and included a 'forward to a friend' prompt in every issue. Luna: And that's how you hit 50,000 — organically, through word of mouth. No paid ads, no lead magnets every week. Lucas: Exactly. They did run one sponsored newsletter in a related publication, but that only added about 2,000 subscribers. The rest was organic. The newsletter itself was the growth engine. Luna: I want to zoom in on the 'curated links' part. They share three links per issue. How do they select them? Lucas: Each link has to pass a simple test: would the CEO forward this to a friend with a one-sentence comment? If yes, it goes in. They don't share competitors' content unless it's genuinely useful. And they always add their own take — not just a link, but why it matters and what they disagree with. Luna: That's a good filter. It keeps the newsletter from becoming a generic link dump. So the value is in the curation plus the opinion. Lucas: Right. And that opinion doesn't have to be right — it has to be interesting. The CEO has taken controversial stances, like arguing against agile methodologies for agencies. That sparked a lot of replies and debates, which deepened engagement. Luna: I think that's the secret — having a point of view. Most company newsletters are so safe they're boring. But Flowium's newsletter sounds like a person, not a brand. Lucas: It's genuinely the CEO's voice. He writes the first draft himself. The marketing team only checks for typos. That authenticity is hard to fake. And it's why subscribers feel like they know him — which makes them more likely to buy when they're ready. Luna: Alright, I'm convinced. I might start a newsletter for our podcast network. But last question: what's the one metric Flowium watches above all else? Lucas: The CEO told me it's not open rate or click-through — it's the number of replies per issue. If replies are high, the content is resonating. Everything else is vanity. Luna: That's a great note to end on. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. And if you're thinking of starting a newsletter, start today. Even if it's just to one person.