2021 Perfect Putt Yearly Review

A look into the Perfect Putt newsletter and 2022.

Every Monday, I write a newsletter breaking down the business in golf. Welcome to the 16 new Perfect Putt members who have joined us since last Monday. Join 417 intelligent and curious golfers by subscribing below.

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I am genuinely curious about business and golf. Every week, I spend 10 hours researching and writing the Monday morning Perfect Putt newsletter. I have a favor for you. Would you mind sharing your favorite newsletter article? Here are some great places to share:

• Twitter

• Reddit

• Email

• Text a few friends

If you could get a friend or two to subscribe to Perfect Putt by sharing your favorite newsletter, it would mean the world to me. :)

Let’s get into today’s newsletter.

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Hey Golfers -

Thank you. Thank you for an incredible start to the Perfect Putt newsletter; I am humbled and inspired for so many reasons. We are going to break down two items this morning.

• 2021 Review of Perfect Putt

• A little bit about me

Perfect Putt’s first newsletter was delivered on August 2nd, 2021. It went to two people - my wife and my best friend. While 415 free members may not seem like a lot to some, it is incredible to me. I can’t believe 400+ people read my newsletter on Monday morning; it’s humbling.

Subscriber growth was slow to begin; it took 11 newsletters to reach 100 subscribers. I was so pumped. It took another month to double and reach 200 subscribers, then another month to double and reach 400 subscribers.

Here is a look at new monthly subscribers.

Perfect Putt has three primary traffic sources.

• Direct

• Twitter

• Reddit

Driving 30% of sign-ups from Twitter has been a tremendous learning experience; Twitter is a unique platform and has been highly beneficial in building Perfect Putt's subscriber base. When I started Perfect Putt, I had 68 Twitter followers, not ideal to start a newsletter. To grow my Twitter account, I did a few things.

• Created Twitter lists

• Utilized Typefully for analytics and threads

• Got rid of the clutter - focused on business and golf accounts

I am not breaking any records with my 1,200 Twitter followers, but I am making progress with this recipe.

The email open rate percentage has been surprising thus far. I see a ~55% open rate—the top five email newsletter open rates.

• Japan’s $3.5 billion golf company - 67%

• Callaway’s flywheel is taking shape - 61%

• The Indoor mini-golf race - 59%

• Srixon’s big deal - 59%

• The Ryder Cup: Wisconsin’s $135 million golf match - 56%

In total, I have sent 3,135 email newsletters. Six people have unsubscribed to the Perfect Putt newsletter. Unsubscribes always sting, but I understand I need to add value to your busy lives. :)

I have a handful of goals for the Perfect Putt newsletter as we head into 2022.

• Create valuable, engaging content

• Tell the story of small to medium-sized golf companies

• Reach 1,000 subscribers

• Keep Perfect Putt free

I truly appreciate all of you; you are so kind and motivating. Thank you for reaching out to me via email, Twitter direct messages, and providing feedback via the weekly newsletter survey. I enjoy the positive, constructive, and negative feedback - it is how we learn and get better.

There are two people I want to give some love to.

• Geoff Shackelford - Geoff played collegiate golf at Pepperdine and is one of the most prominent voices in the golf media landscape. Geoff writes a newsletter, The Quadrilateral, that has provided a source of inspiration for Perfect Putt. Geoff has been extremely kind to me, providing me advice, sharing my newsletter, and promoting it on his platform. Here is one of my favorite tweets from Geoff.

  Geoff Shackelford @GeoffShac

  Significant Augusta National Design Artifact Up For Auction dlvr.it/SDtP6z

  

• Nathan Baugh - Nathan writes a daily sports newsletter. If you are familiar with Morning Brew, think that, except for sports. Nathan started Sideline Sprint nearly a year ago and has built it to 10,000 subscribers, fantastic work. Nathan has taken the time to answer my questions and provide guidance on creating a newsletter. He has provided me with invaluable advice. Nathan had an excellent Tweet thread this weekend.

  Nathan Baugh @nathanbaugh27

  20 life lessons you’ll learn from sports (but not from school):

Geoff and Nathan had no reason to help me out. They have tens of thousands of followers on Twitter and thousands of newsletter subscribers, but they did. The world is full of caring people, and I can’t thank them enough.

A little bit about me

This is the part where you (might) stop reading.

Raised in rural Iowa, I graduated high school with a class of 42 students in 2007. We were lucky enough to win two state titles in boys golf.

I was obsessed with golf; my dream was to play Division 1 golf. I worked so hard to play golf at the collegiate level but didn’t get a crack at the Division 1 level out of high school.

I ended up at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. A small NAIA school that had a tremendous golf program. I accepted a golf scholarship, but the golf program was so competitive that everyone had to earn their spot every year. Scholarship or not, it was an annual tryout. You needed to finish Top 15 after four rounds to make the team. I was in 17th place heading into the final round; I needed to make up six strokes to get inside the Top 15. I was a realist; that was going to be impossible - I was emotional on the phone with my Dad the night before the final round, he supported me as he always does.

Overnight, it rained five inches; the course was unplayable. The coach took the Top 20 players after the first three rounds. I made the team.

I managed to play well my freshman year at St. Ambrose and received a couple of offers to play Division 1 golf, my dream. I accepted a preferred walk-on spot at the University of Northern Iowa. I played in nearly every event as a Panther; I will never be able to thank Head Coach John Bermel and Assistant Coach Adam Luehmann enough - they changed my life.

Northern Iowa Men’s Golf is very average to below-average Division 1 Program. With a limited budget and scholarships, our team was made up of scrappy unwanted Division 1 guys. We would drive rented 15 passenger vans to tournaments while the big boys flew private. My best finish at UNI was T-11th, twice. I was mediocre, but the life lessons and discipline I learned were invaluable.

I graduated from UNI in 2011 with a degree in business and recently earned my MBA at the University of Iowa. I am the VP of Sales at Metalcraft, a small manufacturing company in Iowa. I have the opportunity to work with two of my best friends and former college teammates every day. We are so lucky.

My wife and I started dating in High School, and I had to trick her into liking me. We have a two-year-old daughter and live in Mason City, Iowa. Emily is way too good for me. She is my biggest supporter, and it is genuinely incredible she married me. Emily is in healthcare; I always knew she was a badass, but witnessing it during the pandemic and being a provider in her hometown opened my eyes wide open; she’s an absolute rock-star.

There will not be a Perfect Putt newsletter, Monday, December 27th. We will talk to you Monday, January 3rd. I hope you have a safe and healthy Holiday Season. Thank you for your continued support; we are just getting started. I cannot wait for 2022.

Have yourself a Monday, talk to you in two weeks!

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