Motif

Founder

beehiiv

Ambassador

Perspective

Rapyd

Demand Generation Specialist

For-Sight

Campaign Marketing Executive

Reforge

Marketing Strategy Cohort Member

Cooper Cottages

Marketing Strategist & Creative Assistant

Marketing And Business Development Intern

Siabann 

Digital Marketing Intern

I write newsletters for a living • I also share my thoughts on self-improvement, creativity & philosophy • 5+ years in marketing

Your companies newsletter goes out to 1000s of people every month, yet nobody owns it and nobody knows if it's doing its job. 

Marketing sends it out - company updates, product announcements, the occasional thought piece that took six rounds of approval.

Sales doesn't use it. 

Leadership keeps asking "what's the ROI on this?" 

Nobody has an answer.

Meanwhile, you've got thousands of contacts in your database and no systematic way to keep them engaged between "showed interest" and "ready to buy."

Your marketing team is busy with campaigns, events, and content that needs to go out this week. 

The newsletter is nobody's priority because nobody knows what it's supposed to do.

So it sits there. Generic. Inconsistent. Ignored.

But it could be keeping thousands of prospects warm during 6-12 month sales cycles. 

Positioning your company as the obvious choice. 

Generating inbound conversations that make your sales team's job a hell of a lot easier.

If you partner with Motif, I take ownership of your newsletter and turn it into an asset that works for both marketing and sales.

My focus is making sure your companies email newsletter keeps your prospects engaged between "interested" and "ready to buy" - so your sales team spends more time closing warm conversations and less time chasing cold ones (and appreciates your marketing team just a little more).

__

About me: 

I’m Harrison.  

I've spent the last 7+ years in marketing, with a focus on demand generation for both early and late-stage startups, including work at a $15B fintech unicorn. 

I now run Motif, a solo venture that manages newsletters for creators with over 60 million followers, Sunday Times bestselling authors, Solopreneurs with a combined LinkedIn audience of over 500K and 7-8 figure B2B companies. 

My approach is straightforward - understand your audience, write emails that sound like you, and let the results speak for themselves.

If you want to learn how I recently helped a B2B service company generate 7-figures in potential pipeline revenue, DM me the word "INFO".

I just crossed the 2 year anniversary of running my own business. 

At this point, I’ve sent over 1M emails for: 

- Content creators (with over 60M followers)
- Sunday Times bestselling authors
- 6-7 figure B2B service companies
- Influencer-led brands
- Media publications

And I”m proud to be trusted by over 40+ clients (including some of the most recognised names in the creator economy). 

If I’m honest, I don’t really know what else to say. 

I find it hard to truly reflect on how I personally feel on days like this (something I’m working on). 

But what immediately jumps to my mind is the story of my first client signing…

It was December 2023. 

I had been scrolling LinkedIn for the past few weeks trying to figure out how to get my new freelance service off the ground after leaving my marketing 9-5. Lots of consuming, very little action. Classic overthinking.

Then I distinctly remember coming across Ethan Golding's posts. Anyone that knows him will recognise his distinct style and how refreshing it can be. So I did something I rarely did back then… I reached out and asked if he'd hop on a quick 15-min call to network.

I wasn't pitching him, I had no idea how to even if I wanted to lol. 

I genuinely wanted to learn FROM him. 

So we jumped on the call.

Then mid-conversation, probably while I was trying not to sound like a complete beginner, Ethan suddenly said: "Harrison, I want you to help me with starting my email list. How much is it and when can we get started?"

I froze.

My brain was screaming "YOU'RE NOT READY FOR THIS."

I had:

- No pricing structure
- No onboarding process
- No testimonials
- No real confidence I could deliver

But somehow I managed to quote him a price that felt fair, and we started working together for the next four months.

And Ethan became both client and mentor, he genuinely provided feedback/advice that shaped my entire approach going forward. 

By the time our work together ended, I had developed systems, processes, and most importantly, the confidence to go after more clients.

Fast forward 2 years:

40+ happy clients, over 1M emails/newsletters sent, case studies from some of the most respected names in the creator economy/agency space and a boatload of lessons learned.

Looking back, I'm grateful for the shot in the dark Ethan took on me.

The version of me 2 years ago would never have expected to be where I am now.

All this is to say: 

Thank you to everyone that has trusted me to take their emails off their plate, to those that have come to me for newsletter advice and to the good friends I’ve been fortunate enough to make on here - I appreciate each one of you 🙏

Here’s to year 3 🍻

-

P.S. 

2 years ago: "I hope someone notices my work."

Today: HMRC notices. Without fail.

Be careful what you wish for folks 😅

Harrison McIntyre-Miller

Hi, I’m Harrison.

A Bit About Me:

→ I’ve been in Marketing for over 5 years
→ I’m obsessed with self-improvement (cold plunge anyone?)
→ I’m a Newsletter Ghostwriter for 3 awesome clients. 

Why Newsletters?

They represent the most personal, uninterrupted dialogue possible between you and your community. 

So yes, you need one.

But I get it.

Between strategy development, writing drafts, editing, optimising, and promoting, great content takes a LOT of work.

Here’s the thing though: content is one of the most powerful tools you have for attracting leads, nurturing relationships, and closing sales.

Without it, you miss out on huge opportunities to connect with potential customers and grow your business.

So, Here’s How I Help:

→ I’ll write you a welcome sequence for new subscribers 
→ I’ll create a lead magnet (if you need one) 
→ I’ll write you 2 or 4 newsletters per month (your choice)

If you like the sound of any of this, let's make it happen...

→ Go here: harrisonmcintyremiller.carrd.co/


What Some Absolute Legends Had To Say:

"He was always ahead of the curve, bringing fresh insights and innovative ideas to our marketing initiatives."

"What a flipping DREAM Harrison is to work with."

"The onboarding went smoothly, and he easily took over multiple project streams right away"



Thanks for reading this far and have a great day 🤝

Newsletter Management Partner for Creator-led Brands | Founder @ Motif

Most people hear "free work" and think you're getting taken advantage of. 

They're wrong.

Free work isn't charity. It's not exploitation. It's not "working for exposure."

It's the fastest way to compress years of trial and error into a few months of results.

-

When you do free work for the right person, you're not working for £0.

You're getting paid in:

- credibility you can't buy 
- experience that only comes from real projects
- confidence that no course can teach 
- access to advantageous networks 
- relationships that may turn into referrals

All of which convert to actual cold hard cash much faster than you think.

When you’re just getting started as a freelancer or business owner, people don't trust you with money until you've proven you can deliver.

That's just reality.

It’s called being sensible with where you send your hard earned money. 

Until someone sees you actually solve their problem, you're just another stranger asking for cash.

Free work can remove that barrier completely.

It flips the entire dynamic from "Will this person be worth the money?" to "Holy s**t, this person just delivered insane value for nothing."

And when you create that kind of goodwill, people can't help but tell others about you.

Let's say you do brilliant free work for someone with a decent network.

They love what you did. Maybe they tell their newsletter. They tag you in posts. They send you referrals.

Suddenly you've got inbound interest from people who already trust you because someone they trust vouched for you.

That's how one free project turns into £5K, then £10K, then maybe - a fully booked calendar.

-

Now, caveat: not all free work is equal.

The right way: 

Targets people with networks you want access to, solves a specific problem that showcases your best skills, has a clear end point (not open-ended "help me with everything") and positions you as an expert giving value, not a desperate beginner. 

Desperate free work: 

Will do it for anyone who asks, vague "I'll do whatever you need", no boundaries or scope, positions you as cheap labour.

The difference matters.

Oh, and you also have to be somewhat good at what you do or this doesn't work (for obvious reasons). 

-

I got to where I am through being smart with free projects and I stand by them to this day. 

It gets a bad stigma, but no one is above it in my opinion. 

For the right lead/network, I still do it to this day - and I expect to continue doing it. 

P.S. 

Would love to hear your thoughts if you disagree/have had a different experience.

Newsletter Ghostwriting & Management Partner for Creator-led Brands | Founder @ Motif

The last couple of weeks were busy (for me): 

- launched a newsletter for an accounting firm
- launched a 3-week sprint for a closed group 
- completed a 4-week consulting gig 
- signed on two new retainer clients
- watched Hans Zimmer live (incredible)
- finished writing 3 flows for a new startup
- wrote up a fresh case study for my website
- sent out a chunk of $ for referrals (I pay 20%)
- cut down my tech stack again lol
- finished my xmas shopping 
- realised I’m hopeless at wrapping gifts

Also had a great chat with a founder I’ve been trying to get on a call with for at least a year now, and did some free work to get my foot in the door of a large AI startup. 

Play the long game folks…

I’ve of course forgotten a boatload of things, but all in all, a pretty good week.

I never get nervous before a sales call anymore. 

And it’s because I have completely detached myself from the outcome I want. 

But, like any good story, it wasn’t always like this…

Going back a couple of years or so when I was first starting out, I needed the sale more than anything else in the world. I’m sure many reading this can relate. 

What I didn’t know at the time was that energy is very conspicuous to the prospect on the other end of the call. 

I may as well have had “BUY NOW” written in neon across my forehead. 

The simple fact is: That need to make money made me seem desperate (maybe I was at the time), unconfident and unhelpful. Turns out those 3 things are pretty detrimental to a sale (who knew).

And in that situation, not only is the prospect put off, but I’m nervous going into every single call. 

I mean let’s say that somehow, despite all of the above, the prospect decides to sign with you and become a client. 

Trust me when I say, they’ll be watching you cook with one hand scrolling on Uber Eats. 

It’s not ideal for either party. 

Now, I do believe this stage is a rite of passage. It is almost impossible to avoid it, especially when you’re new to business or sales. What makes the difference is if you learn from it or not (goes for anything in life, try to only make any single mistake once). 

In my case, I like to think I learned from it. 

I noticed that the sales calls I enjoyed the most, and subsequently had the most success from, were the ones that I solely tried to help the prospect in any way I could. I was treating them like a 1:1 audit. 

Helping, without the expectation of receiving anything in return is one of the purest ways to live. And that energy, just like desperation, is very conspicuous. 

So when I hop on a call and: 

chat about life, let them talk through their problems and then offer extremely helpful solutions/actions they can take to solve those problems - they warm to me - because I’m being genuine. 

At this point in the call, I do not care if they sign or not. I’m fulfilled that I have improved their business by a small measure. But 9 times out of 10, they then ask to hear my offer and how it works. Some sign up, some don’t. But I am at peace with their decision. 

I don’t let myself get overly excited when it’s a “yes”, because I know from experience that a higher MRR doesn’t make me a happier person. 

And I don’t let a “no” ruin the rest of my week, because I know from experience that if I zoom out across a 5 year timeframe - it doesn't matter. 

Reading this back, I realise I’ve rambled a bit.

So, to sum up: 

The moment you stop needing the sale is the moment you’ll start getting them a lot more consistently. 

Desperation repels. Genuine help attracts.

And if you can detach your self-worth from whether someone says yes or no - you'll not only close more deals, but you'll actually enjoy the process.

Which, after all, is kind of the point.

I’m Scottish. Aged 26. Living in Manchester. And I run a newsletter management agency for 6-7 figure brands who want to capture the commercial value of their list.

I just crossed 2 years of running my own business

I gym 4x a week

I wake up at 8AM

I’ve played guitar since I was 12

My #1 song to play is comfortably numb 

I have a low social battery

I love Lord of the Rings 

I’ve been in marketing since 2018

I work with 6-8 clients max 

I’m frugal except when it comes to where I sleep and what I eat

I’m still working out how to be a good partner/son/brother/friend

I have a great 1:1 relationship with all my clients

I’m obsessed with health and longevity

-

And honestly? Most days feel like I'm making it up as I go.

I still don't know what "success" looks like for me yet.

But I know what it doesn't look like.

And that's enough for now.

Oh, and another fun fact: 

My nexus event into entrepreneurship was at 17 years old - dropshipping norse inspired jewellery while still at uni (story for another time).

You absolutely love to see it...

In less than 1 month of setting up a: 

1. simple lead magnet
2. opt-in page 
3. entry offer 

We've already doubled this client's total email subscribers. 

If we consistently rotate new simple lead magnets and double down on high performers - I estimate in 3 months he'll easily have a list of over 3K.

With each subscriber being a new opportunity to ascend through his offer suite. 

Will update here with the results in 3 months time 🫡

Over Black Friday, I offered a limited number of newsletter audit spots at £399. One founder that took me up on it had a newsletter with 2K subs. But it wasn't converting into revenue the way they knew it should.

So I went through literally everything.

And this is what I found…

[Part 1]

Their lead magnets were too good.

This sounds counterintuitive, but it was the first problem.

They had genuinely excellent resources (the kind of material you'd expect to pay for). 

But that depth was working against them.

A 100-page playbook requires commitment. Most subscribers download it with good intentions, feel satisfied that they have it, and never open it. 

Which means they never experience a quick win. They never build that initial positive association with the brand. And they never develop the trust that leads to buying.

The resources weren't creating the psychological progression that turns a subscriber into a customer.

[Part 2]

Too many entry points, not enough cohesion.

They had 4 different opt-in offers running across their content. Each one led to a slightly different experience. 

On paper, more options seems like a good thing. In practice, it fragments the subscriber journey and makes the relationship-building inconsistent. 

[Part 3]

They had an older 5-day email course, but it was positioned as something subscribers could choose to receive. Most didn't. Which meant most new subscribers were added to the list and immediately thrown into the general newsletter rotation.

No introduction. No origin story. No explanation of who this person is, what they believe, or why they're different. No belief-shifting. No case studies. No invitation.

The subscriber joins, receives a few newsletters without any real context, doesn't feel any particular connection, and either unsubscribes or goes cold.

The welcome sequence is where the relationship is supposed to be built. Theirs wasn't doing that work.

[Part 4]

Their newsletters were inconsistent. 

When subscribers don't know what to expect or when to expect it, they have no reason to look forward to your emails. There's no anticipation. Each email arrives as a slight interruption rather than something they were waiting for.

[Part 5] 

Their open rates were lower than the content quality warranted. Not catastrophically low, but underperforming.

The issue was a significant segment of subscribers who hadn't opened an email in over 90 days were still on the list. 

When a large portion of your list never opens, your domain starts getting routed to promotions or spam for everyone (including the subscribers who do want to hear from you). 

—

There is a lot more I could talk about but the LinkedIn character limit restricts me once again.

—

What happens now:

I'm not the type to say "this is what's broken, good luck"

That's not how I work.

Instead, we're going to take the time to fix each one of these problems properly.

The audit identified the problems. 

Now we do the work to solve them.

I believe founder-driven newsletters are the most underused growth channel in service, SaaS & ecom right now.

And Poppy AI is the perfect example of a company that could benefit from this. 

Quick context: 

Poppy is one of the only AI products that feels like it was designed for creators in mind. 

Instead of a linear chat, it’s built as a canvas / whiteboard where you can drag in: YouTube videos/podcasts, TikToks, Reels, Shorts, PDFs, Voice notes & Images. 

And they’re killing it across their UGC and social content. 

I’ve personally been a user for a number of months now. 

But…

I’ve never received any nurturing emails from them. 

HUGE missed opportunity. 

Founder-led newsletters collapse the distance between the person building the thing and the people using it.

With a product like Poppy, people might be asking:

Who’s steering this thing?

Do they understand the game I’m playing?

Will this product still make sense in 12–24 months?

A founder showing up in your inbox every week narrating trade-offs, owning mistakes & showing receipts (what’s working, what’s not) builds far more trust than “here’s our latest feature” from a logo.

The email becomes: “Come build with me”, not “We’d like to update our privacy policy.”

Plus, if the founder is the ideal power user (which they often are with tools like Poppy), then emails from them can do the heavy lifting on:

Activation 
– showing “this is how I use the tool”

Retention 
– keeping people engaged with constant small “aha” moments + workflows.

Expansion 
– naturally showcasing advanced use-cases that make upgrades feel obvious.

All of this continuously renews the customer’s excitement, understanding, and belief in the product - which (you guessed it) enormously reduces churn. 

Which for any subscription model, should be priority no.1

Anyway, I believe in a show, don’t tell model. 

So, I wrote an example newsletter in their co-founder (Rafeh Qazi) style and sent it to them.

Not paid, not commissioned, just me exploring their voice and how I’d evolve the newsletter if I were running it.

In my humble opinion, I think I nailed his:

- storytelling patterns
- energy
- metaphor stacking

But with retention, logic, and deeper reader psychology baked in of course. 

Plus, I annotated the whole thing to show my own thought process behind the copy. 

Because in my opinion, email for creator-led brands has to do 3 things to perform well over a long period of time: 

1/
Make the founder the content

2/
Make the story the delivery system

3/
Make the newsletter a weekly dopamine hit people look forward to 

If you hit those 3 points, you might just be onto a winner. 

As I said, I sent it to them team already but if you want to read what I put together...

...to maybe get some inspiration for your own founder-led newsletter strategy then comment “POPPY” and I’ll send it to you.

I'm not naturally outgoing.

I don't love networking events. 

I don't slide into DMs easily. 

I'd rather stay in than go to a conference.

For years I thought this would hold me back.

Turns out you can build a business that fits your personality instead of forcing your personality to fit a business.

Took me a while to give myself permission for that.

The hardest skill I've had to learn while running my own business is knowing when to stop for the day.

No one's telling you to log off. The work is never "done." There's always another task, another idea, another thing you could optimise.

Left unchecked, the work just expands to fill every hour you give it.
I'm still not good at this.

But I'm getting better at noticing when I need to close the laptop and go for a walk.

Sales, marketing, operations, leadership etc etc - walk in the park in comparison.

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