I’ve been writing this newsletter for almost 3 years (launched in December 2022), so it’s hard to remember what happened in the early days.
So I recently went back into my analytics and saw some wild milestones:
- Day 30 – I hit 283 subscribers
- Day 64 – I hit 1,000 subscribers
- Day 90 – I hit 2,500 subscribers
I couldn’t believe it. I knew I grew fast, but I don’t remember it being that fast.
So I wanted to dig in and see how I did it.
Here’s my complete breakdown of what actually worked – and what you can replicate.
Profile Optimization Before Everything
Before I posted a single thread, I accidentally made a big change that many people skip.
I completely rebuilt my Twitter profile around Growth In Reverse. Nothing else was mentioned, because it didn’t matter.
I changed everything.
- The description became only about Growth In Reverse.
- The header image focused on the newsletter.
- The link went directly to growthinreverse.com – no LinkTree or anything like that.
- The new profile picture that looked professional and on-brand with the orange outline.
I removed everything else that might confuse someone about what I was building.
This mattered more than I realized at the time. I was essentially building a landing page for people to sign up for the newsletter.
That single decision gave me my first 3 subscribers from one comment interaction. And led to much more than that over time.
The Comment-First Approach
I focused on commenting a lot in the early days.
And it wasn’t strategic – I was honestly just too scared to hit publish on a post.
Eventually, I got past that fear and did post a thread.
But once I started posting, I was replying and engaging on other people’s posts 20+ times per day for months. Sometimes more.
Not quick “great post!” responses, but thoughtful replies that added value. I’d spend 2-3 hours daily reading Twitter, then reply meaningfully to a bunch of posts.
Of course, this wasn’t dedicated 2-3 hours, but if I needed a break from research or writing, I’d go over and scroll a bit. Spend 15 minutes, and do it again in an hour or so.
Productivity people are probably nauseous reading that, but it worked for me.
The first few weeks felt like shouting into the void. But I started getting followers, and one subscriber here, one there.
The compound effect was real. People were finding the newsletter, subscribing, and sharing my content.
After a few weeks, people started recognizing my name in comment sections. I wasn’t just another random commenter anymore. Because I was building a community there.
The UTM Obsession
Because the content of the deep dives was so unique, I was getting quite a few people sharing it with others.
And it’s not always easy to see who is sharing it and where. But sometimes you can.
I used SparkLoop’s subscriber source to track this like a detective. Many times a day I’d check where new subscribers came from. When I saw an unfamiliar source, I’d research it until I found who shared my content.
Then I’d send them a thank-you note. Every single person, even for one subscriber.
Here’s how obsessive I got: I’d see 5 subscribers from a “ConvertKit” source, search my inbox for newsletter mentions, find the person who had shared my post in his newsletter.
I’d always send them an email saying thanks, and often would post it publicly too.
People remember genuine gratitude. Many of these connections led to bigger opportunities later. The personal touch scaled better than any automated system could.
I wasn’t doing this for some strategic thing, it just felt like the right thing to do. How cool was it that people were sharing my stuff?!
Building Relationships, Not Just Followers
I also Twitter like a networking event, not a broadcasting platform.
I was sending Calendly links to chat with interesting people I’d never met. Having 30-minute calls with “strangers” from the internet. Following up on conversations and looking for ways to collaborate.
This approach led to cross-promotion opportunities and collaborations. I got podcast appearances and community invites just from being genuinely interested in what other people were building.
The insight here is that relationship building via social media scales better than in-person networking. You can meet more people, more efficiently, with less geographic constraints.
But I LOVE in-person events for deepening those relationships and meeting people you might otherwise not. I’m actually headed to a conference tomorrow 🙂
The Content Strategy: Threads + Teasers
My posting strategy on social had two core components that worked together.
For threads, I’d write one per deep dive I published. The hook focused on specific numbers or outcomes. I’d link back to my newsletter at the end.
My early thread performance was brutal. First thread got 42 likes, which is super misleading because most of those came weeks after posting it when someone else shared it 🙂 My second thread got 2 likes. I almost quit.
But I kept posting despite the low engagement, and thread quality improved over time.
The other thing I did was a teaser post the day before my newsletter went out.
For teasers, I stole Justin Welsh’s strategy. The template was simple: “[Impressive stat in the first sentence, interesting outcome in the next 1-2 sentences].
Then in a separate tweet within the thread “Tomorrow my subscribers are getting the roadmap about a creator who did exactly that. Sign up at growthinreverse.com.”
The evolution was slow but steady. December teaser posts averaged 7-10 likes. January bumped to 15-25 likes. By February, I was consistently hitting 30-50 likes per teaser post.
And those “likes” are super misleading. Over time, these teaser posts led to 100-150 subscribers each week.
The Breakthrough Moments
Three specific events accelerated everything.
The first was Jay Clouse featuring my newsletter in his email in week 3. Jay had subscribed from visiting my Twitter profile, received two of my newsletters, and loved the content so much he decided to shout me out in his newsletter.
That single mention brought 40-50 new subscribers overnight and taught me that one quality connection beats 100 random followers.
The second was Mario Gabrielle liking my thread about him after I posted it. It didn’t drive any subscriber growth, but it gave me the psychological boost to keep going. Creator validation matters when you’re starting from zero.
The third was Ethan Brooks finding and amplifying my 20-day-old thread on day 22. He quote tweeted it saying my work was “so good” and mentioned me on his podcast with Tim Stoddart. This was huge – Ethan had worked at The Hustle and was “behind-the-scenes newsletter royalty.” So many people don’t know him, but he’s extremely smart and a super cool guy.
The credibility boost in the newsletter space was massive – even if it was purely internal for me.
The Data: Month-by-Month Reality
December was foundation building. I started with 0 subscribers and ended with about 200. The key pieces here were profile dedication, my first threads, and consistent commenting. The breakthrough was Jay Clouse featuring me.
January was when my growth rate accelerated. I maintained 20+ comments daily while improving my thread performance and building more creator relationships.
February through May was escape velocity territory. I reached 1,000 real subscribers on February 6th and continued the same strategies with better content execution. By month 6, I hit 11,000 subscribers. WILD.
I’d also like to note that this was before recommendations really took off and helped grow people’s lists faster.
Why This Worked Then (And Still Works Now)
The platform dynamics in 2022 helped my approach. Twitter rewarded engagement over follower count. The creator economy was growing rapidly. Newsletter tools made tracking easier. There was less AI content, so authentic voices stood out more.
But the timeless principles still apply today. Genuine relationships scale. Consistency beats perfection. Value-first approaches work. Personal gratitude is rare and memorable.
The Real Lesson
The biggest insight isn’t tactical – it’s psychological.
I’m envious of my past self for being this determined and persistent. Two likes on a thread. One like on a post. Weeks of what felt like no progress.
But I kept going because I believed in the content and saw signals from people who mattered. Most people quit at two likes. The ones who succeed play a longer game.
That’s the real competitive advantage: persistence when everything feels like it’s failing.
Ready to Replicate This Strategy? Join the September Social Growth Challenge
I’m putting these exact tactics to the test again.
Starting September 1st, I’m running a 30-day social growth challenge to help you execute everything I just shared.
Here’s what you get:
- Exclusive community access to meet others in the challenge and learn from one another.
- Live coaching calls where we’ll review your posts together and show you exactly how to improve your hooks. These “roast my post” sessions are brutal but incredibly effective – I’ve seen people 10x their likes just by changing their first sentence.
- A full leaderboard and prizes based on growth percentage, not absolute numbers. Someone starting with 100 followers can beat someone with 10K by growing faster.
- The Hook Helper GPT I built specifically for this challenge. It analyzes your content and suggests better angles you didn’t think of.
- Coworking calls where we write posts together, plus office hours for individual questions.
- Platform flexibility – whether you want to grow on LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads, Instagram, or Substack Notes, you can join and connect with like-minded folks.
The challenge starts September 1st, but you need to join by August 28th to get the prep content and onboarding that sets you up for success.
If you’re already in Growth in Reverse Pro or bought the Growth Vault, you’re automatically included. Everyone else can join at growthinreverse.com/social.
We ran this back in January in the Pro community and it was awesome. I can’t wait to do it again, and this time, open it up to the wider Growth In Reverse audience (vs just Pro members).
Fair warning: this requires actual work. You’ll need to show up, engage authentically, and stick with it when posts get 2 likes. But if you do the work, you’ll start to see traction.
Come join us! https://growthinreverse.com/social/
