- Platform: meet
- Source: Read.ai 01K6FZ5PB259NNFNKJG9VFH6RF (via Ben Ornstein’s account, imported 2026-08-06)
Transcript
Ben Ornstein: Hey, Tom. Tom Chabran: Hey, Ben. How’s it going? Ben Ornstein: Good, good. How are you? Tom Chabran: Not bad. It’s a bit busy, but good. Ben Ornstein: Yeah. So give me a little context on what you’re working on. Tom Chabran: Yeah, so I’ve been working in content for a while. I was actually in the media side for a while, then agency side, and now I’m actually in house and leading content for a company called GrowthX. I think you might know them. Ben Ornstein: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Cool company. Tom Chabran: Yeah, so basically I’ve been there about a year, and I’m really responsible for all of our content strategy, content production. So like webinars, podcast, kind of like the top of funnel stuff, and then also like the consideration content, so like case studies and things like that. Ben Ornstein: And what are you looking at from a newsletter standpoint? Tom Chabran: Yeah, so the newsletter is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while, really as a, you know, a way to kind of create a consistent touchpoint with our audience, drive some engagement, and kind of, you know, position GrowthX as a thought leader in the space. We had a newsletter before, but it was kind of haphazard, like, we’d send it sometimes and not others. And now I want to be really intentional about it, have a consistent cadence, and actually make sure it’s like genuinely valuable. Ben Ornstein: What’s GrowthX’s audience? Who are you writing to? Tom Chabran: Yeah, so it’s primarily growth practitioners and growth leaders. So like, people who are heads of growth, VPs of growth, growth PMs, things like that. And the content is usually kind of like in the weeds tactical stuff, but also like strategic career type content. Ben Ornstein: And what platform are you on for the newsletter? Tom Chabran: We’re on Mailchimp right now, but I’d be open to switching to something else if it makes sense. Ben Ornstein: Okay, yeah. And what’s the list size? Tom Chabran: It’s pretty small. We have maybe like 1500 people, which is partly why I want to grow it. Ben Ornstein: What’s your current send frequency? Tom Chabran: It’s been pretty inconsistent. We’ve done like weekly sometimes and then we’ll fall off for like a month and then come back. So now I want to establish like a true weekly cadence. Ben Ornstein: And have you measured engagement at all? Do you know what your open rates have been? Tom Chabran: Yeah, I think we were around like 30-35% open rate when we were consistent, which I thought was pretty good. Ben Ornstein: That is good, yeah. And what’s the main pain point right now? Is it production, strategy, or both? Tom Chabran: I’d say both, honestly. Like, I don’t have a ton of bandwidth to produce all of this myself, and I also want to make sure that whatever we produce is actually interesting and useful, not just like a content dump. Ben Ornstein: Yeah, makes sense. And are you looking at this as like a standalone growth lever or more as like a retention and nurture tool? Tom Chabran: I see it as both. I think growth lever in the sense that we can use it to bring in new folks, maybe through referrals or SEO or social sharing. And then retention in the sense that it keeps our community engaged and top of mind for GrowthX. Ben Ornstein: Okay. So let me tell you a little about what we do and we can see if there’s a fit. We work with B2B companies to produce newsletters that are genuinely editorial in quality. We don’t just take a content dump and repackage it, we actually report, interview, do research, and produce something that feels more like journalism than marketing. And the idea is that your audience should want to read it even if your company didn’t exist. Tom Chabran: I love that framing. Ben Ornstein: And from a process standpoint, we partner closely with whoever’s leading content on your end, usually a weekly or biweekly touchpoint, and we produce all the copy for review. Some clients want more editorial control, some want to be more hands-off, we can adjust. Tom Chabran: Yeah, that flexibility sounds good. I think I want to be involved enough to make sure the voice is right, but I don’t want it to be a burden either. Ben Ornstein: Totally. And what’s your timeline on this? Is there a specific quarter you’re trying to launch by? Tom Chabran: I’d love to have something consistent and good by Q3. So like in the next few months. Ben Ornstein: That’s doable. Let me send you some examples of work we’ve done in similar spaces, and then we can talk about scope and pricing in a follow-up. Does that work? Tom Chabran: Yeah, that sounds great. I’m really excited about this. Ben Ornstein: Awesome. Talk soon, Tom. Tom Chabran: Thanks, Ben. Appreciate it.