The Best Referral Systems Among Creator Newsletters

As newsletter creators we only have three ways to grow our newsletter.

1. Organic Growth
2. Internal Growth
3. Paid Growth

We went over these in a bit more depth in my deep dive on The Top 3 Ways To Grow Your Newsletter, but today we're going to be taking a much deeper look at Internal Growth.

Specifically: Newsletter Referral Programs.

There are technically other methods that may classify as "Internal Growth", like giveaways, for example, but I personally think referral programs are the most powerful for Creator Newsletters like we run.

I really don't get excited seeing "Win a free iPhone!" in my inbox from my favorite creator who I normally see sending me tons of value - but there are some other ways to do it that we can eventually go over.

Today, though, we're all about Referral Programs.

So to start: What the heck is a Referral Program?

A newsletter referral program is a system that allows us to reward subscribers for sharing our newsletter with their network.

These referral programs can come in all shapes and sizes depending on the type of newsletter, and we'll [of course] be sticking to Creator Newsletters for this breakdown.

That said, I want to start with one of the best performing referral programs among ANY newsletter - the newsletter that made referral programs popular: Morning Brew.

Here's the breakdown with examples:

📬 Morning Brew's Newsletter Referral Program

As we know, Morning Brew is a Media Brand Newsletter.

If you aren't familiar with some newsletter business models I recommend going and reading through my deep dive on them here.

But I want to show you what our Creator Newsletter referral programs are stemming from, especially because some of our larger creator's referral programs look more similar to Morning Brew's than our other creators (which I'll reference below).

Here's how it works:

1. You refer people in your network to Morning Brew.
2. The referral program automatically keeps track of the referrals.
3. As you refer more people you earn rewards.

Simple, right?

Note: Every single creator we are analyzing below uses Sparkloop to build their referral program.

This is also one of the handful of reasons I recommend ConvertKit as my top choice among ESPs (with a Creator Pro Plan you get free access).

Let's break down the full Morning Brew Referral Program from the image above:

• 3 Referrals = Premium Sunday Newsletter
• 5 Referrals = Stickers
• 10 Referrals = Exclusive Community
• 15 Referrals = Phone Wallet
• 25 Referrals = T-Shirt
• 50 Referrals = Coffee Mug
• 100 Referrals = Crewneck Sweater
• 1000 Referrals = Trip to Brew HQ

One note I want to make on Morning Brew's referral program is that it starts at THREE referrals.

With the exception of one creator below you'll notice that all of the referral programs start at 1 referral - BUT, 1 referral can also take some testing to avoid people using a secondary email to get rewards.

That said: testing is going to be KEY for your referral program.

You need to test:

1. The incentives you provide (rewards).
2. The amount of referrals each takes to get.
3. If people are continuing to make it up tier levels.

The best referral system will keep your audience referring your newsletter even after they receive the first or second reward.

📬Sahil Bloom's (The Curiosity Chronicle) Newsletter Referral Program

Starting off our list of creator referral programs is Sahil Bloom.

His referral program is going to be the closest to Morning Brew's referral program on this entire list, but I still wanted to show it off because of the depth he takes and how he uses a mix of digital and physical products as he goes up the rewards.

If you can't full read the images above, here's the breakdown: 

• 1 Referral = The Most Powerful Decision Making Razors ebook
• 3 Referrals = My Favorite Books & Lessons Learned ebook
• 5 Referrals = 25+ High Impact Ideas on Investing, Growth and Life ebook
• 10 Referrals = My Morning & Evening Routine ebook
• 15 Referrals = Fortune Favors The Curious T-Shirt
• 25 Referrals = Intellectually Curious Hat
• 50 Referrals = Fortune Favors The Curious Hoodie
• 250 Referrals = 15 Minute One-On-One Call with Sahil

When you have an absolutely massive personal brand, with over 700,000 newsletter subscribers, this is the kind of referral system you can consider implementing.

For most, though, this isn't going to be the most optimal option.

Another thing I highlighted in the image above that I see more-often from Media Brand Newsletters than Creator Newsletters is an email Sahil sends his audience after about a month of being on his list.

He writes: "Want to join the Curiosity Chronicle referral program?" as his subject line, and then writes a fairly simple plain-text email telling you about it (where-as his normal emails are branded and extremely long).

This is another thing we as creators can test the impact of, especially as our lists begin to grow and we have more leverage.

📬Chenell Basilio's (Growth In Reverse) Newsletter Referral Program

Next up we have Chenell Basilio from Growth In Reverse who uses a very clever, and very popular incentive for her referral program.

Chenell offers a shoutout in her "From the Community" section of her newsletter if you refer 10 people.

Here's what she writes:

" Refer 10 people, and I'll feature you in this section! Send the newsletter to some people who will enjoy it (your referral link is below) and I'll include you in a future issue of the newsletter."

And on the left side of my image you see the referral link provided by Sparkloop, which Chenell includes below her branded signature section (another one of the sections that landed in our must have sections of a Creator Newsletter deep dive).

Chenell mentions stealing the idea from elsewhere, and this one is definitely a popular tactic, but that's because it works!

So well that in a Tweet Chenell posted when she was hitting 30,000 subscribers in March she shared that it's one of her top sources for growth.

When asked: "What is your biggest source of subscribers? Is it X?"

Chenell wrote: "Referrals, recommendations, and Twitter - I refuse to call it by a single letter :)"

And I have two things to analyze on this topic:

1. Chenell isn't really posting on X (Twitter) that much anymore, which means her referrals and recommendations must be bringing in some substantial growth.
2. If she put those in order, that means referrals are bringing in A LOT of subscribers.

📬Katelyn Bourgoin's (Why We Buy) Newsletter Referral Program

We couldn't do a rundown of the top referral programs without including our favorite marketing psychology wiz Katelyn Bourgoin in the mix.

And she uses her marketing psychology with her referral program, with one of the more unique incentive lists we're going to be analyzing in this deep dive.

Note: In the image above I included the placement of Katelyn's referral program which is where nearly every single creator places it: directly at the bottom of their newsletter.

Katelyn is one of the creators I noticed using a multi-level reward system, optimizing for three different rewards: 

• 1 Referral = $1 Donation "Each month we pick a new charity to support. Refer 1 person and we'll donate $1 in your honor."
• 3 Referrals = Hot Seat Draw - "Refer 3 people for a chance to join in a Hot Seat call with Katelyn and get 1:1 feedback on your biz."
• 12 Referrals = Clarity Call Cheatsheets - "Refer 12 people and get our Clarity Call Cheatsheets ($129) free - Stop guessing. Start growing."

I personally really like the way Katelyn structures hers, with 12 referrals seeming extremely do-able as someone in her audience, but still giving a ladder to climb up.

Note: At the end of this deep dive I mention why having a higher tier of 100+ could be effective for larger creators with a lot of leverage.

📬Codie Sanchez's (Contrarian Thinking) Newsletter Referral Program

Next up we're going to be taking a look at Codie Sanchez's referral program for her list Contrarian Thinking.

Two things I immediately want to point out are:

1. The referral program wasn't at the bottom of EVERY newsletter (but was in most).
2. The referral program hook changed from "Want free stuff?" to "Want free access to 30+ templates & guides?"

You can see both Codie's hooks on the left side of the image above, and on the right we see her full referral hub.

Here's the full breakdown:

• 1 Referral = The Contrarian Library - "Get access to our exclusive library. Over 20 templates and guides on everything business buying."
• 3 Referrals = Contrarian Sticker - "Rep your Contrarian pride with a Contrarian sticker."
• 10 Referrals = Contrarian Tee - "Rep your Contrarian pride with a slick (& comfy) tee. Unisex & all sizes available."
• 100 Referrals = Investor OS - "Learn how to speak the language of money with the Investor Operating System. Worth $150."
• 200 Referrals = The Business Buying Course - "Learn how to buy a business. Worth $2000. Free for you. If you can get 200 referrals ."

Codie's is another referral program that has a lot more tiers, but there's something that stands out among the newsletters that do: the list size.

• Codie's List = 550,000 subscribers
• Sahil Bloom's List = 700,000 subscribers

With a larger list you have more leverage. 

With more leverage you want to give more opportunity to use it.

📬Justin Moore's (Creator Wizard) Newsletter Referral Program

Next we have Justin Moore's referral program for his newsletter Creator Wizard.

We saw Justin featured in a few other deep dives, including our massive breakdown on newsletter types and formats.

Justin has 36,000+ subscribers on his list and takes advantage of a fun referral program.

He starts off with just 1 referral (like we have seen from Codie, Sahil and Katelyn as well), and then moves up the ladder with 4 total incentives.

Here's the full breakdown:

• 1 Referral = Secret Sponsorship Research - "Gain access to my even MORE detailed sponsorship research that I send out every week."
• 5 Referrals = $100 Off My Brand Deal Wizard Course - "Get $100 off my course, Brand Deal Wizard.
• 10 Referrals = Free 1-1 Strategy Session (30 Mins) - "You + me talking about your sponsorship strategy = exactly what you need to uplevel your income.
• 100 Referrals = Free Enrollment To Brand Deal Wizard - "You'll get free enrollment to my course, Brand Deal Wizard."

I do like Justin's four tiers, minus his 5 referral tier.

I understand WHY giving a discount might be nice, but if my goal is to TRY to get 100 referrals for free access to the course, then I unfortunately miss out on an entire tier in the system, which can be the opposite of motivating.

Also, telling me that my incentive is being able to pay you is also not very motivating if I'm not ready for the course yet.

So overall, I love the referral rewards, just not a huge fan of the discount incentive.

📬 Do You NEED A Newsletter Referral Program?

You don't NEED a referral program.

But if you don't use one, then you're missing out on potential growth.

And as we have seen from Chenell Basilio, if done right it, can be EXTREMELY powerful.

That said, in our analysis of the top 5 sections in every creator newsletter we did make note that some large creators did NOT have a referral program:

• Justin Welsh - Saturday Solopreneur - 215K+ Subscribers
• Mike Romaine (Me) - Superhero Jacked - 100K+ Subscribers
• Jay Clouse - Creator Science - 50K+ Subscribers

If you have the leverage, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't start a referral program.

If you DON'T have the leverage, then it might be best to wait to implement it.

When Should You Start Your Referral Program?

Referral Programs do take leverage.

By that I mean you should have a decent amount of subscribers before taking the time to implement it.

I generally recommend:

• Minimum Starting Point: 3,000-5,000 Subscribers
• Best Starting Point: 5,000-10,000 Subscribers

That said, an argument could be made for starting at 1,000-3,000 range to begin testing your incentives.

📬 How Do You Start a Newsletter Referral Program?

As I mentioned above: every single one of the creators on this list uses SparkLoop as the tool to run their referral program.

In my breakdown of ConvertKit VS. BeeHiiv (my TOP pick is ConvertKit, but I also love BeeHiiv in some cases), I discuss how ConvertKit acquired SparkLoop and integration is now even easier; adding onto the reasons it is my top choice.

BUT, either way, ConvertKit AND BeeHiiv users will eventually want to use SparkLoop for the growth tools they make available to us.

That said, here are a handful of things to think about when starting your newsletter referral program:

1. Are you going to have a full referral hub, or use a tactic like Chenell with shoutouts?
2. Do you have enough leverage? (enough subscribers to make it worth it)
3. Are you ready to test different incentives?
4. Do you have the incentives ready?

Once you have thought about all of these things and are ready to start implementing and testing your referral program you head over to SparkLoop and they take you through the process of starting it.

What is my favorite referral program?

I personally like Chenell Basilio's the best because her audience needs to refer 10 people (hopefully getting rid of any duplicate email issues), and it's also extremely repeatable.

People can get one shoutout, and then start referring more people for another!

BUT, the only thing I would keep in mind is the opportunity to allow people to get A LOT of signups at once.

Justin Moore writes "One creator shared ONCE on YT/IG and got 230 signups " above his referral program, and he has the incentives to allow people to WANT to get 100 sign ups with a big shoutout like that.

If you think people in your audience have the potential to do that, then you may want to consider a referral hub with higher tier levels.