Hey Reader,

"Just sign up for my newsletter! I share tips!"

cringe

If I had a dollar for every time I saw this generic signup form, I could retire tomorrow.

But here’s what really gets me…

You know exactly what I’m about to say...

You’ve seen your conversion rates drop. Sales aren’t what they used to be. And you can’t figure out why.

Let me take a wild guess...

Somewhere along the way, you shifted from solving a specific problem to just "sharing valuable tips." Maybe you removed that targeted lead magnet because maintaining different ones felt like too much work. Or maybe you saw others doing it and thought, "hey, that looks easier."

"But Jason, The Morning Brew and The Hustle did it!"

Yeah, and they’re MEDIA COMPANIES. Their business model is literally selling ads to their audience. Unless you’re planning to monetize through sponsorships, this strategy is costing you money.

"But Jason, when I see [INSERT BIG NAME HERE] doing this, it must be working since they have large audiences!"

Look closer.

Those creators you admire? Many of them actually have specific resources, frameworks, and tools mentioned right on their landing pages. They're not just promising "tips" - they're solving specific problems.

What about the referral and recommendation tools promising to "10x your list growth"?

Here's something you won't see in your favorite creator's threads. Many big creators who've tried these recommendation engines quietly abandon them after a few months. Why? Because size isn't everything. Having 10,000 subscribers who don't buy (or worse, go cold in 2 months) from you is worse than having 1,000 who do.

Sure, they’ll grow your list. That’s their job. They’ll happily cross-pollinate subscribers between different newsletters, sometimes without those subscribers even realizing what they’re signing up for.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth...These tools (and even your ESP) make more money when your list gets bigger. They don’t care if those subscribers ever buy from you. Why would they? They get paid either way.

Look at your own inbox right now. How many "tips" newsletters are sitting there unread? But how many have actually led you to buy something?

The hard truth? Your subscriber count might be going up, but your bank account isn’t.

Why?

Alignment.

It's pretty simple.

1. These subscribers have taken little to no action
2. Some don’t even remember signing up for your list
3. They have no idea what problem you actually solve

You’ve seen this in Creator Quick Start - the power of aligning your lead magnet with your paid solution. It’s not just about getting subscribers; it’s about getting the RIGHT subscribers.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to fix this without throwing away your existing list.

- Jason "Fighting Generic Signups" Resnick

P.S. If your lead magnet isn’t converting like it used to, hit reply. Let’s figure out why.