Reflecting on a year of writing plg.news
And what’s in store for year 2
Wow, that went fast!
I started writing the Product-Led Geek newsletter at the beginning of March 2023, just over a year ago…
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It all started at the beginning of last year - I’d been sharing a few thoughts on my blog on plgeek.com for a few weeks before I launched on Substack with a couple of pieces that I’d written as a guest for other newsletters.
A big thanks to Kyle Poyar (Growth Unhinged) and Zachary DeWitt (Notorious PLG+AI) because it was those guest posts that sparked a desire to write more long-form content, and ultimately (along with a few nudges from folks) led me to starting plg.news. They awoke a passion for writing that I hadn’t really felt since I was at school (that’s a long time ago), and for that I’m forever grateful.
I’ve published 82 posts in the last year with nearly half a million views, and attracted 7,500 subscribers. Those are small numbers by some standards, but are mind-blowing to me. Your support warms my heart, so thank you!
As I reflect on the past year of writing plg.news, I wanted to share a few thoughts about the experience, and what I’ve learnt along the way.
First and foremost writing has provided a creative outlet, and a much needed mental retreat for me. It’s been an incredibly difficult few months for our family. Learning how to adapt to parenting a neurodivergent child has been challenging, to say the least, and writing has brought me balance, equilibrium, and sometimes just an escape from reality that makes life easier to deal with.
I love the freedom that long-form writing here brings. Within the bounds of content that I think will be helpful and/or interesting to you, my readers, I can write pretty much anything, and just hit publish to send it out.
I also love the fact that, through plg.news, I can develop a relationship with readers and we can explore different themes and ideas together over time. The feedback loop helps me more easily find the topics that are at the intersection of what’s useful to you, and interesting to me.
Consistency has paid off in the form of steady growth. Other than taking a couple of weeks off at the end of December and beginning of January, I’ve posted every single week, with a majority of weeks having two posts.
Sometimes though, it’s really hard. There are days when I know I need to write something, but the words just don’t flow. It feels like hard work. I don’t want to compromise on quality, so when this happens I just have to down tools and try again the next day.
I’m still less proficient with prompting to create my AI generated hero images that I’d like to be. If anyone wants to help me out there with a few tips and tricks, please drop me a note!
I haven’t yet had any dramatic growth inflections. A few posts have been outliers in popularity, with more reach and engagement than others, and resulting in some jumps in readership. But, beyond an early boost from the generous recommendation of Lenny Rachitsky, taking a step back and looking at the big picture, growth has been like a snowball rolling down a hill and gathering momentum over time. As of now, subscriber growth is at around 2x the rate it was 6 months ago, so I guess I must be doing something right.
But Substack recommendations are a huge part of the growth of plg.news. I feel fortunate and grateful that a few of my favourite people in the world of product and growth consider plg.news worthy of recommendation*.
I experimented with a couple of different things last year. Namely short ‘Minute Monday’ posts, and Audio Essay (podcast) versions on some long form posts. The Minute Monday posts were popular, but I couldn’t commit to writing them in addition to the core weekly posts. There are only so many hours in the day, and after working with my advising clients, the additional time spent writing started to impact my family. These posts may make a return in the future but for now I’m focused on the core weekly post. The Audio Essays were hit and miss with folks, and took way too much time to produce.
I started to take on sponsorship for the newsletter. I’ve been very selective with the brands that I work with, ensuring what they offer has high applicability to my audience. Spamming you with irrelevant offers is the last thing I want to do. Please know that I take this responsibility very seriously.
Looking forward
In the coming year with plg.news I plan to continue to focus on high quality and actionable content for the main newsletter. Most of these will be solo pieces, but the posts I’ve collaboratively authored with world-class product and growth operators have all been well received, so I’ll continue to do those from time to time.
I’m also going to continue to highlight the ongoing struggles of a long-time product manager friend of mine under his pseudonym Vik Tree, in his ‘Adventures of a Product Manager’ series. Less actionable advice in this one but episodic content that I know is making people feel less alone in the things they are dealing with day-to-day. I hope that the humour in these also brings a smile to someones face when they need it.
Today is also the day that I introduce a paid subscription tier. I put a great deal of time and energy into plg.news, but I’ve set what I believe to be a modest and fair price. Paid subscribers will receive every issue of the main Product-Led Geek newsletter, exclusive access to the AOAPM posts, as well as full access to the post archive containing every past issue. Free subscribers will have access to new Product-Led Geek posts for 10 days after publishing, before they’re archived.
If you find value in my writing and want to support my work, becoming a paid subscriber would mean the world. I’d encourage you to expense it with your employer if you can - I have a ‘My company’s paying’ tier for that. But whether you subscribe or not, from the bottom of my heart, I am truly thankful for your support over the last 12 months. You showing up to read, like, comment and share is deeply appreciated.
And before you go, I have one small ask of you.
Those feedback loops that I mentioned earlier are really important to me, so please do keep commenting on posts and emailing me with your thoughts and suggestions. Let me know what I’m doing well, and not so well, and what you’d like to see more of going forward. If you feel inclined, here’s a quick survey that I’d love for you to complete. Just 2 questions. Short and sweet.
Here’s to the year ahead. Thank you!
Until next time!
* To the awesome people who recommend plg.news to their audience, a big thank you 🫶. Leah Tharin Elena Verna Kyle Poyar Adam Fishman CJ Gustafson Liz Christo Tom Orbach Zachary DeWitt Ed Sim
It’s the easiest recommendation to make. Thanks for continuing to do the hard work of writing Ben and congrats on a fantastic year 1. Excited to be a long-term supporter of your journey.