HELP MY NEWSLETTER

Triage for sick newsletters that should be printing money

Growth Quality

List Health

New Metrics

Acquisition Reality Check

That growth channel is not "working" if nobody does anything for 14 days

Everyone is buying traffic right now. Facebook ads, LinkedIn sponsorships, newsletter swaps, podcast placements — all generating "subscribers." But here is the question nobody is asking:

Are those new subscribers actually ALIVE?

Most operators track subscriber count and maybe open rates. They celebrate when a campaign brings in 500 new names. Then wonder three months later why revenue did not move and engagement tanked.

The problem? You are measuring the wrong thing. The metric that matters is not how many people signed up. It is how many people showed ANY sign of life in their first 14 days.

This edition covers: The F14 Engagement Rate that predicts list quality, how to calculate it in 5 minutes, why most "growth" channels are secretly killing your newsletter, the Quality Quotient framework from Big List Energy, and the one action that fixes acquisition immediately.

Part 1

Introducing F14: The fastest way to judge if your growth channel is real

F14 stands for "First 14 Days" — and it measures something brutally simple:

F14 = (new subs who click or reply within 14 days ÷ total new subs) × 100

That is it. You are not measuring opens (Apple MPP broke that). You are not waiting 90 days to see who converts. You are looking at who showed ANY intent signal within two weeks of joining.

What counts as "engagement" in the F14 test

✓ Clicked any link in your emails
Even a single click shows they are reading and curious.

✓ Replied to any email
The gold standard. These people are ALIVE and paying attention.

✗ Just opened
Treat opens as directional only. They might be Apple MPP ghost opens.

✗ Did nothing
Zero clicks, zero replies in 14 days = zombie subscriber.

Target F14 scores by audience type

Boutique B2B (500–1,000 subs)
Target F14: 30–50%. You need tight fit, high intent.

Creator / Educator (1,000–5,000 subs)
Target F14: 20–35%. Broader audience, still needs curiosity signals.

Mass Publisher (5,000+ subs)
Target F14: 15–25%. Volume game, but below 15% means acquisition is broken.

If your F14 is under these thresholds, your growth channel is not growing — it is inflating your list with dead weight.

Part 2

How to calculate your F14 in 5 minutes (no fancy tools required)

You do not need special software. Just your ESP and a spreadsheet. Here is the protocol:

Step 1: Pick a recent cohort

Pull all subscribers who joined in the last 30 days. Tag them as "Cohort Jan 2026" or whatever makes sense.

Step 2: Filter by acquisition source

Break them out by where they came from. Facebook ads vs organic vs partner swap. Each source gets its own F14 score.

Step 3: Count engagement signals

Look at who clicked or replied within 14 days of signup. Your ESP should have this under "engagement by subscriber" or similar.

Step 4: Do the math

Example:

Facebook Ads brought in 200 new subs last month.
37 clicked a link within 14 days.
F14 = (37 ÷ 200) × 100 = 18.5%

That is BELOW target for most models. Time to adjust the ad or kill it.

Step 5: Track by source monthly

Build a simple tracker. Column 1: Source. Column 2: New subs. Column 3: Engaged in 14 days. Column 4: F14 score.

Pro tip: Run F14 on your BEST acquisition source too. Just because something worked six months ago does not mean it still works today. Channels decay.

Part 3

The Quality Quotient: F14 is just the start

F14 tells you if new subscribers are alive. But what about your ENTIRE list? That is where the Quality Quotient (QQ) comes in.

QQ is a scoring system from Big List Energy that measures list composition over time. It helps you decide where to put attention and which subscribers actually matter.

The subscriber hierarchy (based on 90-day behavior)

Tier 1 — Superfans (5–10%)
Replied 2+ times in 90 days, OR purchased, OR referred someone. These drive revenue.

Tier 2 — Engaged Readers (20–30%)
Clicked 1+ of last 6 emails OR replied once. Ready with the right offer.

Tier 3 — Casual Browsers (40–50%)
Opened 1–2 of last 6, no clicks/replies. Monitor and invite action.

Tier 4 — Dead Weight (20–30%)
Zero opens in 60+ days, no clicks/replies in 90. Prune them.

The Quality Quotient formula

QQ = (Superfans × 50) + (Engaged × 10) + (Casual × 1) − (Dead × 2)

It is a prioritization score, not a valuation. Higher QQ = better leverage per person.

Example comparison

Bloated List (10,000 total)
Superfans 200, Engaged 1,000, Casual 3,000, Dead 5,800
QQ = (200×50) + (1,000×10) + (3,000×1) − (5,800×2) = 1,400

Curated List (500 total)
Superfans 50, Engaged 150, Casual 200, Dead 100
QQ = (50×50) + (150×10) + (200×1) − (100×2) = 3,200

Smaller list, 2.3× the QQ. Translation: more leverage per person.

The goal: Increase QQ before increasing headcount. If F14 is broken, every new subscriber tanks your QQ further.

Part 4

What to do when F14 is broken (the 14-day fix)

If your F14 is below target, you have two problems:

Problem 1: Your acquisition is attracting the wrong fit
Bad targeting, vague promise, or incentive mismatch (freebie-chasers).

Problem 2: Your onboarding does not activate new subs
They join and get… nothing that makes them curious or compels action.

The 14-day activation sprint

Day 0 — Instant Welcome
Auto-send within 5 minutes of signup. One specific outcome + one clickable next step.

Day 3 — Proof Email
Mini case study or result snapshot. "Here is what happened when [client] did [thing]." Include ONE link.

Day 7 — Ask Email
Binary choice: "Which would help more: A or B?" Simple question. Tag the click.

Track clicks and replies. If someone engages in this window, tag them "F14 Active" and prioritize them in future campaigns.

And add a qualifying question to your opt-in

Stop accepting everyone who types an email address. Ask ONE question that filters fit:

"What are you trying to achieve in the next 90 days?"
→ 3 choices aligned to your offers

Light friction = better fit = higher F14.

Expected outcome: F14 should jump 10–20 points within one cohort cycle (30 days). If it does not, the acquisition source itself is broken — cut it.

These insights come from

Big List Energy: How to Command Respect, Revenue, and Reach with Just 500 Subscribers

F14, Quality Quotient, the Subscriber Hierarchy, and 9 other frameworks for building boutique newsletters that print money. Available now for just $7.99 on Amazon (FREE with Kindle Unlimited).

Get the Book ($7.99)

Or get it FREE by sending us 3 referral subscribers

Last thing

Forward this to someone who is buying traffic they should not buy

Know someone spending money on ads but complaining about engagement? Send them this. Know someone celebrating subscriber count while ignoring subscriber quality? Send them this.

Because the difference between operators who build real audiences and operators who collect dead weight is ONE METRIC: F14 Engagement Rate.

Your growth channel is not working if new subscribers do nothing for 14 days. Track F14. Fix acquisition. Build quality before quantity.

Now hit reply and tell me: What is your F14 score? And which acquisition source surprised you the most? I read every response.

Help My Newsletter · Inbox triage for people who would rather keep the list than burn it

Can you guess which 14-day window predicts everything?