Newsletter & Email Growth: Growth In Reverse

Newsletter & Email Growth: Growth In Reverse

Growth In Reverse is the must-listen podcast for anyone serious about growing an email list and turning a newsletter into a thriving business. Hosted by Chenell Basilio and Dylan Redekop, two leading voices in the newsletter space, this show pulls back the curtain on how today’s top newsletter operators actually grow and make money. Episodes include deep-dive teardowns of the strategies behind the most successful newsletters. You’ll hear how creators like Justin Welsh, Codie Sanchez, Sahil Bloom, and other creator founders are building loyal audiences and turning subscribers into revenue. Learn how they attract traffic, increase conversions, boost retention, and scale without burning out. Whether you're launching your first newsletter or refining your growth engine, Growth In Reverse gives you proven tactics you can use right away. From onboarding systems and referral programs to sponsorships and paid products, this podcast helps you grow faster and smarter. If you’re ready to stop guessing and start applying what works, tune in and learn how the best are building newsletters that last.

Episodes

February 18, 2026 53 mins

Get Instant Access to the Growth Vault now >> growthinreverse.com/vault

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In this episode of the GIR Podcast, we're airing "cross-published" episode originally featured on Jay Clouse's Creator Science podcast.
Check out the Creator Science podcast here >>

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“If someone can Google what you wrote and get the same thing elsewhere, it’s not differentiated.” — Chenell Basilio

Chenell Basilio joins Jay Cl...

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Get the FREE Growth Levers Library: growthinreverse.com/growth-levers-library/

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“Most people underestimate how long it takes for anything meaningful to happen.” — Matt Paulson, MarketBeat

Matt Paulson is the founder of MarketBeat, one of the largest independent financial media brands on the internet. What started as a scrappy side project eventually turned into a multi-newsletter business serving millions of investors, dr...

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This is a clip from the FULL GIR episode with Tom Orbach:
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LiScMzoSsoyASlymH8vC6
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD-xde5kQ4Q

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How do you launch a paid Substack newsletter earning $50,000—without a long pre-launch, teaser campaign, or complicated funnel?

And all this while working a full-time job?

In this Growth In Reverse podcast clip, Tom Orbach breaks down exactly ...

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Get Matt's 1,000 Email Subscriber Formula: https://growthinreverse.com/matt-yt-download/

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"The way to monetize a small, niche audience is not sponsorships — it’s higher-ticket services." — Matt McGarry, GrowLetter

Matt McGarry has helped grow some of the largest newsletters in the world — including The Hustle, Milk Road, and 1440 — to millions of subscribers. But in this conversation, he makes a contrarian case: you don’t...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“Creators overinvest in subscriber count and under-invest in content quality.” — Chenell Basilio 

We went live on YouTube for the first time and opened up the floor for a full creator Q&A...

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Get 30 proven strategies to grow and optimize your email list FREE >>

This week, we're playin' the hits!

Let's rewind the clock to December 2024. This episode was the very first episode we published—and it's been our most popular episode to date! In this very first episode, we dig into the 3,000+ hours of research Chenell has done into creators and uncovered some of the wildest ways successful newsletter creators have...

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November 19, 2025 40 mins

The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“I think you are being financially irresponsible if you do not have a newsletter.” — Nathan May, The Feed Media

The GIR Podcast is approaching it's 1st anniversary of publishing!

To celebrate, w...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“The quiz brings them in, the newsletter builds the relationship, and the community closes the loop.” — Milly Tamati, Generalist World

This week on Growth In Reverse, we sat down with Milly Tamat...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“Organic needs to be your biggest channel if you want a real audience that feels connected to you.” — Sean Griffey, Industry Dive

You might not have aspirations of building a $100m newsletter emp...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“People think automation sounds hard. But If you do automatic bill pay, direct deposit, an email autoresponder, you're automating.” — Joe Casabona, casabona.org

Chances are all of us writing news...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.

Quick note: We ran a 30-day Social Growth Challenge that we opened to the public for a $100 fee to join.
But all purchasers of The Growth Vault were able to join for FREE ;)  


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“I love the con...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“If you’re not exceptional at one of the Big 3 — it’s impossible to build a content business.” — Dylan quoting Matt McGarry

We're sharing the biggest stories, trends, and lessons from the newsle...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“Stop wasting time picking the ‘perfect’ newsletter tool. Just start publishing. You can always switch later." — Dylan

We're breaking down the most common mistakes newsletter creators make in the...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here—filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“I sent this short email—and got over 200 replies—when I usually get maybe 8 to 15. It was wild." — Chenell

In this episode, we're digging into the art (and science) of getting more replies to yo...

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September 24, 2025 40 mins

The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here! The Growth Vault is filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“One of the worst things you can do is send new subscribers to a dead-end thank you page. That kills engagement immediately." — Chenell

We're breaking down the most overlooke...

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September 17, 2025 39 mins

The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new offer for newsletter creators is here! The Growth Vault is filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“Sometimes less is more. Cut the clutter and highlight the one thing that matters." — Chenell

It's newsletter roast time 🔥🔥 We're putting the spotlight on Hobby Card Life: ...

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Get 30+ video lessons and ideas for optimizing your newsletter: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

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“All roads point to the email list." — Sam Vander Wielen, Sam's Sidebar

In this episode, we interview Sam Vander Wielen—a lawyer-turned-creator who has sold over $9M in legal templates with a 50k-subscriber newsletter. 

Sam shares how her motto of "All roads point to the email list" has helped he...

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The Growth Vault is LIVE: Chenell's brand-new product —The Growth Vault— is here. Filled with newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.


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“If content is king, AI is storming the castle." — Darren Vesterfelt, Mighty Networks

Chenell was just in Cleveland for the annual CEX conference. And she wasn't *just* in attendance—she was also ...

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Join our September Social Growth Challenge: https://growthinreverse.com/social

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“You have to be first—or you have to be best. That's how you win at paid content." — Nathan May, The Feed Media

In this episode, we interview Nathan May, founder of The Feed Media

Nathan shares how he turned a small, private newsletter into a $1M ARR business in under a year, and how his agency helps some of the...

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August 20, 2025 39 mins

>> Join the 30-Days of Growth Social Challenge: https://growthinreverse.com/social

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“The first 6 months taught me that consistency beats everything — even if you’re not perfect."

In this episode of the Growth In Reverse podcast, Dylan and Chenell rewind the clock to when Chenell was just starting her newsletter. She breaks down the two strategies that fueled her early growth to 11,0...

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