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👨‍🏫 Happy Birthday to the TPM Craft Newsletter!

It has officially been ~1 year since I sent out the first post of The TPM Craft Newsletter! Happy birthday to the newsletter!

What began as a little experiment has turned out quite nicely! At first, I thought only my dad, mom, and siblings would be interested in reading it. (My wife didn’t subscribe, but I can’t really blame her for that.) 

To my surprise, the TPM community has found value in my musings. At the recent TPM summit, I was thrilled to have so many people come up and share how much they’re enjoying the newsletter.

At the same time, I constantly have a feeling of imposter syndrome. Who am I to write on these topics?

I don’t feel like an expert any more than many of you I’ve met.
I feel like there are others who are much more qualified to write about Technical Program Management.
After sending a post out, I always feel like someone is going to point out a major flaw and that I’ll be discovered as an imposter to the TPM world.

Despite the feeling of imposter syndrome, the show must go on.

To the best of my ability, I’m committed to continue writing and aim to deliver even more value for any current and future reader of the newsletter.

But before we talk about the future, let’s talk about the past 12 months. I’m going to pull back the curtain so you can see the newsletter from the operator’s (me!) perspective.

Why did I start writing?

One of my fundamental beliefs about the TPM role is centered on the skill of writing. I believe the it is a highly underrated skill to becoming a high-impact TPM.

Writing is a First Principle of becoming a high-impact TPM (ie; a skill that is among the most foundational and fundamental).

Writing has the power to persuade, amplify, encourage, and motivate. The better you become at writing, the greater your potential impact at a TPM.

This is a hill I am willing to die on.

This is the backdrop to my decision to invest more time and energy into improving my own writing in a public forum like this newsletter.

But just believing in the power of writing didn’t convince me to start the newsletter. I had very specific objectives in mind for this experiment.

Newsletter Objectives

When I started the newsletter, I had 3 really simple objectives (perhaps more like hypotheses):

1. If I improve my long-form content skills (as opposed to short-form LinkedIn posts), then will that translate to higher writing impact at work?

2. If I write a public newsletter on a regular rhythm, then will the increase of required discipline help accelerate my writing improvement?

3. If I write specifically to the TPM community about the TPM domain, then will they find value in it and be able to improve their own TPM skills?

Two out of three objectives were focused on improving my own writing abilities.

But I wanted to improve my writing in the context of turning it into value for others. By writing publicly, it forced me to focus on value instead of keeping my thoughts to myself.

A good idea trapped in my mind usually ends up dying if I let it just sit there. Writing has been my outlet to give my ideas fertile soil to grow and gather feedback from others.

Key Metrics & Results

But wait. Is the newsletter actually successful?

In the spirit of transparency, let’s take a look at both quantitative and qualitative measures to answer that question.

Quantitative Key Metrics

TLDR: The TPM Community may be small, but wow, is it engaged! Here’s a look at how the numbers stack up after one year. Overall, I believe the quantitive metrics show a reasonable amount of success.

• Unique Posts: 32 (which is about ~2.6 emails per month)

• Subscriber Growth: 0 to 1.3k (that’s an additional ~108 people per month averaged across 12 months.)

• Open Rate: 65.11% (compared to ~30%, which is the general newsletter standard but can vary based on specific industries)

• Click Through Rate: 5.89% (compared to ~3%, which is the general newsletter standard but can vary based on specific industries)

• Unsubscribe Rate: 0.38% (compared to <1% for general newsletter average, so the TPM Craft newsletter appears to be in-line with that.)

• Financials: Loss of $654.53 (The platform I use isn’t free, but I see this as a learning investment. Looking ahead, I’m planning ways to turn this into a win-win for both you and the newsletter.)

Qualitative Key Metrics

TLDR: Positive feedback through great networking opportunities combined with an improved ability to retain career lessons confirms qualitative success.

• Reader Feedback: The general sentiment from readers is positive. This comes in many different forms: DM’s in LinkedIn, direct email responses to the newsletter, in-person feedback at the TPM Summit, etc.

• Retained Lessons: Each post is usually loosely based on a real experience. Career lessons that may have been lost in memory in the past but are now sticking with me longer. Being able to retain these career lessons more effectively is invaluable.

• Networking Opportunities: Writing a public newsletter puts me out there, for better or worse. It has opened up opportunities to meet new people where there may have been more friction had I not been writing regularly.

• On-the-job Feedback: Throughout the past year, there have been a handful of instances at work where my writing quality received really great feedback from stakeholders. Writing this newsletter probably isn’t the sole reason for that feedback, but I definitely it deserves some credit.

Results

Overall, I believe the TPM Craft Newsletter is a success so far!

The quantitative and qualitative measurements of The TPM Craft newsletter indicate that the objectives are being achieved.

It’s not perfect, and there are areas where I want to improve and grow moving forward. But looking back on the past 12 months, I’m happy with the impact of this newsletter on myself and the TPM Community.

What comes next?

There are so many ideas and opportunities that have been rolling into my mind to make the TPM Craft Newsletter even better.

But then, reality comes knocking. Priorities must be set.

My top priority is being the best husband and father I can be (and trust me, the kids aren’t newsletter fans…at least not yet!). With 3 kids and daily demands of being a TPM, time and energy are scarce resources.

All this to say, I find myself being extremely picky about what to do next. I have to ruthlessly prioritize. Here’s are the things at the top of my list of considerations:

• I remain committed to writing free posts regularly (anywhere from 1 - 4 times a month). I do want to refine the content and style a bit more.

• I am exploring the idea of Email-based Courses which is a series of 5 - 7 sequential emails aimed on a specific, relevant TPM topic such as Writing, IC Leadership, Prompt Engineering, and more.

• I want to identify collaboration opportunities with others who have a good pulse on the TPM Craft.

• I want to create downloadable templates and guides to make this newsletter experience even better.

(If you have any amazing ideas of what to do next or just simple feedback on the list above, reply directly to this email! 📧 I’d love to hear from you!)

Wrap Up

I’m excited about what comes next for this newsletter. It is both challenging and fulfilling. I’m grateful for the high level of collaboration across the TPM Community that makes this whole thing possible.

THANK YOU for trusting me with space in your inbox and attention during your busy day.

Until next time, happy TPM-ing!

Testimonial Request

🙏 A Small Favor

I'm eager to show everyone the value of this newsletter.

Instead of me just saying this free newsletter is valuable, your words can make a real difference.

I’d love to hear from you! If this newsletter has been helpful, consider sharing your thoughts in a quick 3-question survey. Your testimonial could inspire future readers and help grow our community

(Psst! These reviews land on the subscribe page of the TPM Craft site where I'm creating a wall of testimonials to help new readers see the value through your eyes. Right now, there are only 3 reviews, but I know many of you have found this newsletter helpful!)

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Resources

📚 3 Popular Posts from the past 12 months

Linked below are a few of my previous articles over the past 12 months that either got high ratings, lots of engagement, or otherwise just got great feedback. If you haven’t read them, enjoy!