Here’s a fun story for you…
A guy gets hired as a copywriter without knowing the first thing about copywriting.
Instead of panicking, he starts documenting everything he’s learning in a Google Doc. Fast forward a few years, and the content from that Google Doc has evolved into a newsletter with over 75,000 subscribers.
That’s how Eddie Shleyner started the Very Good Copy newsletter.
And the best part? He didn’t set out to build a massive audience or reverse-engineer subscriber goals. He was just trying to survive at his new job.
This story is so good, and it made me super happy to have Eddie be the first person I’ve interviewed someone I wrote a deep dive on.
It was great to get some more context and hear Eddie’s side of things as well. And also, he’s just a genuine guy who I respect. I actually got a text from a friend that said:
“Listening to your podcast with Eddie and he seems like a genuinely good guy. I like his perspective.”
I think you’re going to like this one. You can listen to the podcast episode here, and also read the Eddie Shleyner deep dive I wrote if that’s more your thing.
The Accidental Beginning
“I really didn’t want an audience at all. That wasn’t the goal. I just wanted to be better at this job that I had gotten that I knew nothing about.”
When you look at successful newsletters today, many start with a carefully crafted growth strategy.
Eddie’s story started much differently, with him simply trying to learn a new craft of direct response copywriting – writing down lessons and examples as he discovered them.
“If I would listen to a podcast, read a book, watch a seminar, whatever – if I came into something that was interesting to me and something that helped me do my job better, I would challenge myself to write about it. I figured if I could teach it to other people, then I knew it well enough.”
It wasn’t until a colleague spotted him writing and suggested he publish his lessons online that Very Good Copy was born.
But even then, Eddie wasn’t thinking about building an audience, he was publishing these micro-lessons hoping they might help other people.
The HubSpot “Accident”
Eddie’s first big break came from a conference he attended. He was at a talk at the Hubspot Inbound conference, and one of HubSpot’s editors was giving a talk. He attended that and afterwards decided to shoot his shot:
“I recognized her and I came up to her and I was just like ‘hey, can I submit something?'”
Putting himself out there like that led to his first article getting published on the Hubspot blog.
People were loving the content. So much so that people reading his articles there were going to his website trying to figure out a way to get his new content via email.
There was one problem: Eddie didn’t have a newsletter or any email list setup. But these people were so interested to read more of his work that they filled out his contact form asking how to sign up.
Can you imagine writing for another site and having people practically begging you to create a newsletter?
Since then, he’s written dozens of posts for their site.
The Power of Building Your Well
One of the way’s that Eddie has been able to continue coming up with great ideas to write about comes from “The Well” – a systematic approach to never running dry on content.
“Sometimes I’ll be at the top of my stairs and have an idea, then get a text, respond to it as I’m walking down the stairs, and by the bottom, I’ve forgotten the idea,” Eddie said.
This isn’t just about having a place to store random thoughts. Eddie has a specific four-part framework for each idea he captures:
- The headline or main idea
- The core lesson he wants to teach
- A story or anecdote to illustrate it
- Additional context to help his future self remember why it matters
He’ll write each idea in it’s own Google Doc and save them for a time when he feels inspire to write about that idea.
“I’m just conscious of how fleeting these thoughts are and how fleeting these connections can be, so I just I try to make it a habit to write everything down and keep it in one place.”
Eddie said these now live in Notion, but the same framework and ideas apply.
His Controversial Sabbaticals
Perhaps the most counter-intuitive part of Eddie’s success is his approach to taking a break.
In a world where creators feel pressured to publish constantly, Eddie regularly takes 2-3 months off to work on bigger projects and recharge a bit.
“I need to focus on a project to really get the best out of myself and get the best results.
That’s super hard to do when you’re trying to manage marketing on social media and trying to manage writing a newsletter every week.”
But these aren’t vacations – they’re strategic pauses to work on larger initiatives. During his most recent sabbatical, he completed his book “Very Good Copy.”
“A sabbatical is kind of misleading because it conjures images of being on a beach with a corona,” Eddie laughs. “That’s not what I’m doing. I’m just not marketing and I’m just not present online as much.”
He makes sure to take time away, but he’s still working. He’s just been able to give himself the grace to not try and create new things during this time.
On Content Creation and Burnout
Eddie has a refreshingly practical take on content creation and avoiding burnout.
“Some people conflate creating with marketing,” he notes. “You can’t create something every day or even every week sometimes. To do it really well takes time and effort.”
Instead of trying to maintain a relentless publishing schedule, he advocates for quality over quantity:
“Write stuff that moves you, compels you, makes you feel good – something that doesn’t bore you as you read it back. That’s a good barometer of the quality of your work.”
He’s also not afraid to repurpose his best content: “Seinfeld is in syndication… great content is always being syndicated. If I produce something that I’m really proud of that has moved a lot of people in the past, why not put it out there more often?”
“Only a fraction of my audience sees every post,” Eddie says about his current strategy. “So that to me is just kind of like a no-brainer to syndicate content and put it out there more often.”
This is such a refreshing take as someone who always feels the pressure to constantly create net new content. It’s just not sustainable, for both yourself and your audience.
Building a Sustainable Business
While many creators chase multiple revenue streams, Eddie keeps his business model pretty simple. His main revenue channels are:
- Newsletter sponsorships (though he’s currently focusing on promoting his book)
- Consulting work that keeps him sharp in the industry
- His course “Transformational Landing Pages“
- His new book “Very Good Copy“
The success of Very Good Copy is a great reminder that sometimes the best businesses grow out of a genuine desire to learn and share knowledge with others.
There’s still room for thoughtful, intentional building instead of just chasing the money.
“Creating something takes a long time….you just have to be so thoughtful and intentional and to do it really well it takes time and effort.”
You can read the full deep dive on Eddie Shleyner or listen to the podcast episode here.
