Iāll be honest. The election did not go the way I wanted or expected it to.
Iāll be working through my feelings about that on my own time.
But when I get something that wrong, I like to do a post-event analysis.
Iām not breaking out my TI-89 or anything, just taking stock of the assumptions I made and the data I overlooked.
Itās not a short list.
I think I let myself hear what I wanted to hear and believe who I wanted to believe.
Thereās enough content out there to find proof of your preferred reality, accurate or not, and I found it.
I should stop doing that.
As my wife is fond of saying, āhow you do one thing is how you do everythingā. So I might as well start right here, with this newsletter.
I started this newsletter with goals in mind.
Chiefly, to be useful to the medical educators Iām writing it for.
But also to gain subscribers and grow a formidable community. To form connections and extend my network.
To do the near impossible: write an email that people actually want to read.
I started in August, and Iāve had some fun. Iāve gotten a few positive comments and texts from friends.
Is that enough? I could pretend it is. I could keep going and trust that itās working. At least until I get tired of it and move on to something else.
Or I can believe my eyes and ears. Look at the results Iāve gotten so far and find ways to improve. Accept the true things that I donāt like and realize they can make me better.
Time to get objectiveā¦
Letās look at the facts:
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Number of subscribers: 141
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Number of newsletter issues sent: 12
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Average estimated reading time per newsletter: 8.5 minutes
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Percent of subscribers who open the newsletter, on average: 62%
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Unique link clicks / emails opened: 13.7%
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New subscribers in October: 6 (4.4% growth rate)
Technically, a 62% open rate and a 13.7% click-through-rate are quite good for a newsletter.
But at only 141 total subscribers, those metrics are probably not worth much.
A growth rate of 4.4% in October is anemic in my book, and while I donāt expect to jump to 10,000 subscribers over night, I would like to see a steeper slope. Iād say a goal of 250 subscribers by the end of the year is ambitious but achievable.
An average estimated time to read of 8.5 minutes is too long. The original pitch was 5 or fewer, and with an audience that includes busy clinicians, thatās probably the upper limit.
My Plan:
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Continue publishing MedEdge newsletter weekly
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Cut the average estimated reading time in half
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Limit each newsletter to one specific topic
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Keep the SOAP Note format, but apply it more literally, as if the topic were a patient
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Write the newsletter only I can write
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Seek feedback and check key metrics monthly
Suggested Plan for You:
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Reflect on the narratives youāve accepted in your life, and look for ways to see more clearly - even if it stings a bit
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Reply with your thoughts, both on the topic and my plan
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Answer the eval question below
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Help me reach my end-of-year subscriber goal by sharing the MedEdge with a friend or three š
Ready to go pro?
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