How Vaibhav Dwivedi operates the Psych newsletter

Hello! Who are you and what newsletter did you start?

Even though this is a super basic question, it made me think and spend a good minute trying to figure out how to explain in a line who I am because there are many hats I like wearing. For now, I would like to answer this question as,

My name is Vaibhav and I write about Psychology in a newsletter called Psych. The newsletter started as a place where you learn about amusing psychological insights which can prove to be beneficial in your personal as well as professional life. 

Each newsletter consists of three core things -

1. A Psychological Phenomenon Explained

2. Where does it occur?

3. Why do you need to know?

These questions ensure that the reader learns something of value and their time is respected.

How did you launch it and what did you do to get the first 100 subscribers?

When I was launching psych I did not have any specific idea in mind regarding if I wanted to do any marketing or anything special as at that time I was in a zone of creating, publishing and just putting things out there. So this happened after I got the results for the social psychology exam, I started seeing a trend on Twitter where a lot of people were creating newsletters as a platform called substack was getting hype, being a new writing tool around the block. 

Because of how easy it was to create a newsletter where all you had to do was just signup & start writing, I quickly created one with a sketch in the back of my mind of what I was going to do with it. I tweeted that I'm starting a newsletter around psychology which will teach people about various biases and insights. Made it bi-weekly, free to sign up, no bs just straight psychology facts. This was also a way for me to stay connected with psychology as this became a thing which kept me accountable and associated with psychology. This is around July, I guess.

Because the emphasis in the beginning was around studies that were related to biases that people could use in their professional life or say when they were marketing their products, I was mainly promoting it around small business communities, forums, Twitter etc. Heck, I even tried once on the Psychology subreddit which didn't go quite well but the experience was interesting as I got criticized and was given a wholesome award.

I wrote more about the details in a dedicated progress post but yes, subreddits also worked well which were focused on founders and marketing. Many tiny experiments lead to contribution in signups. I crossed 100 subscribers in September.

What does your process for creating the content look like?

The theme around creating the emails/posts is fairly common but the intensity with which I do the research varies from time to time based on my lifestyle. Sometimes I do not have enough time to dig deep into a topic.

I tend to mostly check the details, references and cross-check the validity of studies that I cover but there are days where I will fully lean into a study, see how it is being used with its applications, what are the implications, references which can teach or enlighten more about that particular study’s insights.

Maybe I can make this the default regime for all the emails I write when the newsletter is profitable enough and can help me go full-time with it.

So yes, when I have fully absorbed something or say a topic, I write it in a manner which is simple, concise, understandable by anyone and in a format that works for the email because I don't like the idea that my emails get longer.

Most people assume that readers are going to spend more than a few minutes reading your whole email at once.

What tools are you using to create, send, and grow the newsletter?

For creating and sending, I don’t know if this will be helpful but I will spill the beans. I don’t use anything special to write them. The default substack editor is sufficient enough to create drafts, embed links of studies. My take in this regard is that the more tools you will use to compile your write-ups, the more it will increase the friction to publishing. And that’s something I can’t afford when you have to write 8 emails per month. 

For growing, I wasn’t doing anything of impact. I have recently started a couple of things after ‘surveying’ my audience. There is a podcast now that I am doing called The Brain Psych Podcast where I talk to founders & go deeper into how they function, execute, work on their products & ideas. The podcast is all about decoding their mindset, motives and psychology around it. Also, picking their brains around questions that are left unanswered.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain subscribers?

Honestly I don't have the answer. But I'm going to make a couple of guesses which I strongly believe are the reasons.

One thing is the consistency of the format. Since the last two years, the email format has stayed the same. The three questions that I mentioned in the earlier question? It's still the same thing.

In one of the surveys that I did among the audience, I asked people why do you love the newsletter and quite a lot of the answers were about the simplicity of the newsletter.

How are you doing today and what are your plans for the future?

Ooh, that is always a tough question to ask nowadays, isn’t it? You get these flashbacks and reminders of what all you’re doing with your life, while trying to come up with the answer. I have recently learned about the Arrival Fallacy which means that you’re living in the future all the time, in the expectation of something to happen which will make your present better. This has put me in a “question-everything” mode. 

How am I doing? Trying my best to be better at things I have going on. I don’t have a set future plan because it keeps on updating based on progress but I can tell what’s the focus for the rest of the year. Make Psych a profitable project.

While I do have a product called The Psych Handbook which is basically a handbook of 100+ biases and insights on Psychology. I don’t want to limit it there.

There are a couple of ideas and soon, one (or many) of them will see the light of the day.

Now that I have shared this, it will hold me accountable to actually make it happen otherwise this will be embarrassing!

What’s one piece of advice you’d like to share with someone who wants to get started or is just starting out?

Whatever you are starting, don't overthink the possibilities of your idea. You have an idea that does something, make it happen first and just go with it. The biggest problem is when we increase the friction to do something. We put ourselves in a situation where we're just thinking of all the possibilities, ideas and things we can do with an idea that we never go with taking the first step. Figure it out along the way. It’s rather better than pre-planning everything at once.

Where can we go to learn more?

If you want to learn psychology and you like to consume in a reading manner, your best bet is the classic email newsletter which is on Psych.Email.

However, it is not limited to that. You can also follow on Instagram, Youtube with the handle @thebrainpsych where you can watch psychology shorts, interviews of founders and me picking their brains, trying to understand their thinking processes which is super insightful.

And if NFTs are your cup of tea, we have a collection called Curious Minds. I am not joking!

You can tag along with my shenanigans on Twitter at @vaibhavThevedi.