This may be the last newsletter, please read

Dear friends,

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Kwanzaa! Thank you for your readership and support through the first 10 editions of The Healing Pulse of Central Maryland.

As many of you know, I started this newsletter to support both personal and community healing, and to help financially with my out-of-pocket cancer treatment expenses.

I’ve shared insights from my journey with metastatic cancer and mental illness, along with holistic resources and local wellness events to support you on your healing journey. My heart is for us to heal collectively, believing that when one of us heals, we all do.

However, after today’s edition, I’ll be taking a pause to reflect on the newsletter’s future. Here’s why:

The core challenge is that I need about 30,000 subscribers for the newsletter to be financially viable. My research suggests that around 1% of local residents might be interested in a wellness newsletter, so I chose a large area—Central Maryland (with its five counties and Baltimore City).

Yet, that large geographic scope creates another challenge. Even with 30,000 subscribers, most readers would live too far away to attend the events or support the wellness businesses featured in the newsletter. This lowers the value for advertisers.

I knew from the start that these competing needs (number of reader vs geographic span) could be an issue, but I wanted to see if these were true barriers or just a limiting belief, so I moved forward with the newsletter.

Then I ran into another challenge: attracting the right audience. Right now, most subscribers are personal friends supporting me on my cancer journey, or local businesses to whom I offered free advertising while the newsletter is in its early growth phase. I haven’t yet connected with many ideal readers—people on active healing journeys who want to discover local resources.

I’ve posted in local Facebook groups to gauge whether there’s a genuine need for this newsletter, but in these 10 weeks, the subscriber base hasn’t grown much. I’m not sure whether that’s due to low interest or simply not marketing to the right people. It’s something I’ll explore further during this break from writing.

This newsletter needs to create a “win-win-win” situation.

• Win #1: It must offer real value by connecting the right readers with events, resources, and practitioners to support their healing.

• Win #2: It must help local wellness practitioners reach more people who want and can access their services.

• Win #3: If the first two wins happen, this third one will happen naturally. The newsletter becomes financially viable, allowing me to keep doing meaningful work.

If you’ve found value here—whether it solves a problem, meets a need, or helps you on your healing journey—I’d love to hear from you. Please reply to this email. Your feedback will guide me as I decide whether to keep building this community. I’m also open to your ideas on how to reach more people who might benefit from what I’m offering.

Thank you for being part of this journey. I treasure the connections, encouragement, and support you’ve shared with me. It has been an honor to share my struggles and lessons with you, and to spotlight some of the wonderful healing opportunities in our area.

I trust the future will unfold just as it should—and if this newsletter genuinely serves a need, it will find its way forward.

Wishing you perfect health and joy,

Ana

THIS WEEK’S SPONSOR: (If you’d like to support me financially at no cost to you, clicking on this advertisement will earn me a small commision. Thank you!)

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