How The Publish Press Reached 130,000+ Subscribers with 45% Open Rates
Expanding from YouTube to newsletters to educate creators at scale
Table of contents
Overview
The Publish Press is a twice-weekly newsletter by Colin and Samir covering the business of creators, written by creators, for creators. Launched in May 2021 as an extension of their YouTube channel, the newsletter delivers timely creator-economy news paired with clear analysis and actionable takeaways.
In under a year, The Publish Press grew to 130,000+ subscribers while maintaining 45% open rates, becoming a core education channel for creators navigating platforms, monetization, and media businesses.
The Newsletter
- Name: The Publish Press
- Category: Creator economy, media, business
- Frequency: 2x per week (expanding to 3x)
- Subscribers: 130,000+
- Open rate: ~45%
- Platform: beehiiv
The Challenge
Colin and Samir already had a large YouTube audience, but video wasn’t the right format for:
- Fast-moving creator-economy news
- Short, scannable insights
- Building a daily or weekly habit
They needed a channel that could:
- Scale beyond their personal time
- Deliver timely education
- Deepen their relationship with creators
They launched on Substack initially, but quickly ran into limitations around growth tooling, analytics, and referrals.
Why beehiiv
The team migrated from Substack to beehiiv to unlock:
- Native referral program to drive subscriber-led growth
- Advanced analytics (link-level clicks, subscriber quality, source tracking)
- Improved deliverability
- Flexible email design for a more visual, scannable format
For a publication planning to monetize and scale, data quality and growth infrastructure were critical.
Content Strategy
The Publish Press complements YouTube rather than duplicating it.
- YouTube: Long-form interviews and analysis
- Newsletter: Timely news + fast insights
Each issue breaks down creator-economy news and answers one question:
“What does this mean for creators?”
Rather than headlines alone, the newsletter frames news as a curriculum—turning real-world events into lessons creators can apply immediately.
Growth Strategy
- Leveraged Colin and Samir’s existing YouTube audience for initial distribution
- Focused on product quality before aggressive growth
- Preparing to scale growth through:
- Referral program
- Paid acquisition
- Cross-promotion
beehiiv’s analytics allow the team to evaluate subscriber quality, not just raw growth—critical for advertising and long-term monetization.
Results
- 130,000+ subscribers in under one year
- 45% open rates on a twice-weekly newsletter
- Seamless migration from Substack completed in minutes
- Positioned to confidently launch referrals and paid growth
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