I got my first subscribers with a shopping cart...

When I first started building my subscriber list nearly 9 years ago, it wasn’t really on purpose. I’d taken a step back from my business (Caliber Media) and was focused on rebuilding my life with my young teens and new baby. My days were spent rebuilding my business and changing diapers, and my evenings were spent delivering food and groceries with Doordash and Instacart.

A marketer at heart, I took full advantage of Instacart’s referral program and decided to make a faceless video of myself grocery shopping and earning through the app.

Before I posted the video to groups on Facebook, I set up a simple website which contained a simple graphic, my own email subscription form, which promised to share more gig and job opportunities similar to the one on the video, and a redirect to the gig’s application form.

That was it. What I didn’t expect was for the video go viral. I guess you could say that I was in the right place at the right time in history. This was right before the gig economy became what it is today. That video resulted in over 1000 new independent contractors joining the Instacart and Doordash programs using my referral links and led to my company securing DIRECT partnerships with both companies, Uber, Lyft, Shipt, and several other gig platforms.

The referrals were amazing and did a great job of boosting my business over the next few years, but more importantly, it grew my subscribers list to over 50k in only a few months. To this day, I continue to nurture that audience through a variety of career and gig related content, and have cross-promoted a large percentage of those subscribers to my other newsletters.

Growing your newsletter isn't about going viral overnight.

The truth? Most successful newsletters are built one conversation, one reader, one value exchange at a time.

If you're just getting started (or restarting), here's where to focus this week:

1️⃣ Tell the people who already know you.
Your friends, LinkedIn network, co-workers, old clients — even 5–10 personal invites can start a snowball.

2️⃣ Add a signup link anywhere you’re already active.

Your LinkedIn bio

Your email signature

Your Instagram bio

Your personal website (if you have one)

3️⃣ Offer something small and valuable.
A simple checklist. A quick insight. A shortcut.
People subscribe for help — not just updates.

Your first 100 subscribers won’t come from luck.
They’ll come from showing up, sharing your voice, and solving small problems along the way.

And once you have 100?
You have proof. You have momentum. You have the beginning of something real.

I’d love to be one of your early subscribers. Just reply with the link to your newsletter and I’ll sign up and tell a friend 😄 

Keep building.
You’re not late. You’re right on time.

— Portia