Solo Builders Club

A newsletter to help you build, deploy, and sell your dream projects ✨

Hey — It's Jerrell

Welcome back to life post-Thanksgiving. You know, that magical time when your fridge finally has room for actual groceries again, and you've convinced yourself those pants definitely shrunk in the wash.

And yes, I've already started eyeing those "New Year, New You" gym membership deals. Though let's be honest - like my previous years' resolutions, that motivation will probably last about as long as the leftover turkey did.

We're so back.

Estimated read time: ~2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Three Newsletter Platforms That Won't Break Your Spirit (or Bank)

Choosing a newsletter platform is like picking a life partner - you're going to spend a lot of time together, and switching later is a pain. Here's what I've learned after trying way too many of them.

1/ Beehiiv

Full disclosure: this newsletter lives on Beehiiv. And no, they're not paying me to say nice things (though if you're reading this, Beehiiv team, I wouldn't say no to some swag). Here's why I picked it: it's built for people who want to focus on writing, not fighting with email templates. The free plan handles 2,500 subscribers, which is plenty while you're finding your voice. Yes, the design options are about as flexible as my attempt at yoga, but that's actually helped me focus on what matters - the content. Plus, their built-in analytics tell me exactly how many people skim my dad jokes at the start of each newsletter (I see you, and I'm not mad).

2/ Kit (formerly ConvertKit)

Kit is like that friend who's really into productivity apps - they have a solution for everything. Want to sell digital products? Built in. Need beautiful email templates? They've got 15 ready to go. The catch? At $29/month for just 1,000 subscribers, it's not exactly budget-friendly. But if you're planning to monetize your newsletter from day one, it might be worth the investment. I used it for a previous project and the commerce features alone saved me from the special hell of integrating payment processors myself.

3/ MailerLite

Here's a hot take: MailerLite is the hidden gem of newsletter platforms. While everyone's fighting over Substack vs. Beehiiv, MailerLite is quietly offering everything you need at $13.50/month. Their drag-and-drop editor actually works (looking at you, every other platform that claims this), and their templates don't make your newsletter look like it's stuck in 2005. Perfect for those of us who want something between "plain text only" and "I have a degree in email design."

Two Growth Hacks That Actually Work (And Won't Make You Feel Gross)

1/

The "Comment First" strategy. Instead of dropping my newsletter link everywhere, I spent two weeks just leaving thoughtful comments on other builders' tweets and blog posts. No promotion, just genuine engagement. Then I added "Building in public at [newsletter link]" to my profile. Result? 50 new subscribers who actually cared about what I was building. Why? Because they already knew I contributed value to conversations they cared about.

2/

The "Solve One Problem" approach. I created a super simple spreadsheet template for tracking indie hacker metrics. Nothing fancy - just the basics every solo builder needs to track. Shared it for free, with a note that my newsletter covers more tools like this. Got quite few subscribers in just one week, and better yet, they were exactly the kind of builders I wanted to reach. Turns out, solving one specific problem is better than promising to solve everything.

One Thought on Imposter Syndrome

Last month, I was on a call with a potential partner for a web app I’ve been building. They asked about my tech stack, and I froze. Should I admit that my "tech stack" is basically Notion and no-code tools? That my coding experience peaks at changing the color of buttons in Webflow?

But here's what I've realized: not being technical isn't a weakness - it's my superpower. Because I have to find creative solutions that don't involve coding, I end up building things that are actually accessible to other non-technical folks.

When I launched this newsletter, I almost didn't because "what do I know about building solo?" Turns out, figuring things out as a non-technical founder is exactly what many of you wanted to read about. My most popular posts? The ones where I admit I had no idea what I was doing but found a way anyway.

So now when that imposter voice pipes up, I remind myself: being open about what you don't know is way more valuable than pretending to know everything. Plus, my genuine excitement when I figure something out? That's way more relatable than another "I built this in a weekend" story.

****

And that’s it for issue #7. Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed it please do forward it to a pal. It takes ten seconds and makes a big difference. If you don't enjoy it, you can unsubscribe here.

See you next week — Jerrell & Chase

P.S. — We just launched our Solo Builder Toolkit! Please check it out here. Make sure to get it now, because we’ll be updating it every week with new tools that we find.

Did a friend send you here? Join the newsletter (it’s free).