sales-skills/sales-lettergrowth

Lettergrowth Platform Help

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. What's your newsletter situation?

   • A) Looking for my first cross-promotion partners
   • B) Have done some swaps — want to find more partners efficiently
   • C) Evaluating Lettergrowth vs other cross-promotion tools
   • D) Need help with cross-promotion outreach or strategy

2. Newsletter metrics (helps match partners):

   • Subscriber count (approximate)
   • Niche / topic
   • Open rate

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the question is about... | Route to... | |---|---| | General audience growth strategy | /sales-audience-growth [question] | | Newsletter monetization / sponsorships | /sales-newsletter [question] | | Paid recommendation networks (SparkLoop, Beehiiv Boosts) | /sales-sparkloop [question] or /sales-beehiiv [question] | | Referral programs for subscriber growth | /sales-sparkloop [question] | | Email deliverability after list growth | /sales-deliverability [question] |

When routing to another skill, provide the exact command.

Step 3 — Lettergrowth platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — how the directory works, profile optimization, partner evaluation criteria, outreach templates, and comparison with alternatives.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Cross-promotion success depends on three things: partner fit, outreach quality, and tracking.

1. Partner fit: Look for newsletters 0.5x–2x your size in adjacent (not identical) niches. Same-niche swaps cannibalize; adjacent niches expand reach.
2. Outreach: Personalize every message — reference a specific recent issue. Generic "let's swap" messages get ignored.
3. Tracking: Use UTM parameters on every cross-promotion link. Compare 30-day retention of swap-sourced subscribers vs organic.

If you discover a gotcha or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about platform status and feature availability.

1. Lettergrowth was acquired — The Wisdom Group acquired Lettergrowth and plans to expand to podcasts/media. Feature set may evolve. Verify current state at app.lettergrowth.com.
2. No automation surface — No API, no webhooks, no Zapier/Make. All outreach is manual. For automated cross-promotion, use Beehiiv Boosts or SparkLoop.
3. No built-in tracking — Lettergrowth connects you with partners but doesn't track swap performance. You must add UTM tags manually.
4. Free directory = variable quality — Not all listed newsletters are actively maintained or open to swaps. Check recency of profile updates before reaching out.
5. Cross-promotions don't scale past ~10K subs — Users report diminishing returns at scale. Transition to paid recommendations (SparkLoop, Beehiiv Boosts) for 10K+ newsletters.

Related skills

• /sales-audience-growth — Growing your email list (lead magnets, cross-promotion strategy, referral programs, social-to-email conversion)
• /sales-newsletter — Newsletter monetization (sponsorships, paid subscriptions, ad sales)
• /sales-sparkloop — SparkLoop platform help (referral programs, paid recommendations, partner programs, cross-promotion)
• /sales-beehiiv — Beehiiv platform help (Boosts for paid cross-promotion, referral programs, ad network)
• /sales-kit — Kit platform help (Creator Recommendations, paid recommendations)
• /sales-email-marketing — Email marketing strategy (what to send once you have subscribers)
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Examples

Example 1: Finding first cross-promotion partners

User says: "I have a 2,000-subscriber newsletter about indie SaaS and want to find cross-promotion partners" Skill does: Walks through Lettergrowth profile setup, recommends searching adjacent niches (solopreneur, no-code, bootstrapping), provides outreach template, suggests starting with 3 newsletters of similar size Result: User has a profile on Lettergrowth, a shortlist of 5 potential partners, and an outreach template

Example 2: Lettergrowth vs alternatives

User says: "Should I use Lettergrowth or something else to find newsletter swap partners?" Skill does: Reads platform-guide.md comparison section, recommends Lettergrowth for manual discovery + Beehiiv Boosts or SparkLoop for automated paid recommendations at scale Result: User picks the right tool based on their list size and goals

Example 3: Cross-promotion not working

User says: "I've done 5 newsletter swaps through Lettergrowth but barely got any subscribers" Skill does: Diagnoses likely causes (audience mismatch, weak CTA, no tracking), recommends evaluating partner open rates, using UTM tags, writing a stronger recommendation blurb Result: User has a checklist for improving swap performance

Troubleshooting

Partners not responding to outreach

Symptom: Sent 10+ messages on Lettergrowth, got no replies Cause: Generic outreach, size mismatch, or stale profiles Solution: Reference a specific recent issue in your outreach. Target newsletters updated in the last 30 days. Stay within 0.5x–2x your subscriber count. Try different niches — adjacent beats identical.

Low subscriber gain from swaps

Symptom: Partner promoted you but you only got 5-10 new subscribers from 5,000+ reach Cause: Weak recommendation copy, audience mismatch, or low partner engagement Solution: Write the recommendation blurb yourself (don't rely on partner to describe your newsletter). Ask for their open rate before committing. Include a specific value hook, not just "check out this newsletter."

Unsure if Lettergrowth is still active

Symptom: Lettergrowth was acquired and you're not sure the directory is maintained Cause: The Wisdom Group acquired Lettergrowth and is expanding the platform Solution: Check app.lettergrowth.com for current listings. If stale, use alternatives: Collab Match (200+ newsletters), Substack Recommendations (Substack-only), or direct outreach via Reletter's 7M+ newsletter database (/sales-reletter).