Leila Hormozi Just Started a Newsletter — Here’s the Positioning Move Most Writers Miss
Steal her sauce to start 2026 strong and finally dare to do things differently
Happy New Year, my online writer friend!
I hope you had fun ringing in the New Year.
It’s January 2.
Your inbox is waking up. Your goals are blinking at the light. Your motivation might still be wearing cozy socks.
Mine’s already running laps. Because my brain won’t calm down until I tell you this.
I accidentally found Leila Hormozi on TikTok a few days ago.
One short video. One low key announcement. And suddenly I was rethinking newsletters, value proposition, and why so many smart online writers are making this way harder than it needs to be.
Before we get to the clever part, here’s what Leila did together with her hubby Alex 2026 (according to her Insta account)
She broke a Guinness World Record.
She bought a second building.
She made $106M in three days.
She crossed 100 teammates at Acquisition.com.
She hit 1M followers on Instagram and YouTube.
She bought a new house.
She became an aunt.
At the same time, this year nearly knocked her flat.
6 lawsuits.
An unexpected 8 figure tax bill.
Rebuilding an entire department twice.
Months of being sick.
Surgery.
Losing her mother in law.
Leila’s reflection on 2025: life’s a trade off
“I really believe you can’t have the 50% good without the 50% bad. Life is trade-offs. Enjoy the 50% good, and be grateful for the other 50%, as it gives you perspective to be grateful for the rest.”
Everything passes. Life’s a trade off.
Now here’s the part I haven’t seen anyone talk about. Leila’s also a newsletter writer!
She just doesn’t call it a newsletter. And that tiny choice changes everything.
Leila Hormozi’s “newsletter” that’s not adding more to her plate
In the TikTok video capturing her in the car, talking about her “letters” she shared she looked at her content and thought: I communicate all day long. Mostly in writing. But only with my team. So instead of asking, how do I create more content, she asked a better question.
“How can I share more without adding more to my plate?”
Her answer?!! She started leaking her internal messages. The exact memos she already sends her team while scaling Acquisition.com.
No new writing habit. No extra content calendar. No forcing herself to be inspiring on a schedule. Just a new container.
No BS Leadership Lessons
She calls it:
No BS Leadership Lessons - Get the unfiltered memos I send my team as we scale Acquisition.com to $1B+
You can find it on leilahormozi.com
What you get is access.
Actual internal memos.
Hiring and onboarding decisions.
How they built a new advisory practice.
A full breakdown of the book launch that broke a world record.
Free. Unfiltered. Real.
And that’s what make her emails feel different.
Not like a “newsletter”. Like something private. Like you’re reading something you weren’t supposed to see.
Which brings us to a word people love to use and rarely explain well.
Positioning.
Positioning is what readers think they’re getting. Not what you write.
Here’s the simplest way I know from my marketing background to explain it:
Positioning is what people think they’re getting. Not what you write.
Newsletter feels like: Here are my thoughts. Hope you like them.
Internal memos feels like: You’re inside the room where real decisions happen.
In my opinion as a marketing and brand manager, that shift changes everything!
It’s the simple answer to:
“What is this, really?”
And it matters because your reader’s brain decides in 3 seconds:
Is this for me?
Is this new?
Is this worth my time?
Good positioning makes that answer easy.
Bad positioning makes you work twice as hard to explain yourself!
The promise underneath: value proposition
And the value proposition? That’s the promise underneath.
It answers one question.
Why should I care?
Leila’s promise is clear.
You’re getting real leadership lessons from inside a company scaling to a billion dollars. What’s actually happening. That’s why it feels special.
What we can learn from Leila Hormozi
Leila’s content is not “better” because it is longer or more polished.
It feels better because of the frame:
1) She picked a powerful container
Not “weekly newsletter.” It’s “unfiltered memos.” So it feels private and rare.
2) She made the value obvious
You’re getting leadership lessons from inside a real company as it grows. Not theory.
The real stuff.
3) She made it easy to repeat
She already writes these memos. So she can ship consistently without forcing inspiration.
That last part is huge for entrepreneurs, business owners, part-time writers, side hustlers, anyone with an actual job or company…
Because the best newsletter is the one you can keep sending! I see so many quit after week 10 or 20.
4) Positioning is context setting
Think of positioning like the opening scene of a movie.
In a few minutes, you know where you are, what is happening, and how you should feel. Your newsletter needs the same thing.
It should quietly answer:
Who is this for?
What is this really about?
Why does this matter to me?
Leila’s positioning answers all of that before you read a single word!
And honestly, that’s why Leila Hormozi’s approach hit home for me. Because this month, I’m celebrating 2 years (!) of my paid newsletter.
Two years of trying to be your marketer in your pocket.
Keeping you up to date on Substack news.
Newsletter news.
Online writing tips and tricks
Helping you become a better writer.
Monetize your skills and words
I think: education should be accessible. Clear. Useful.
That’s a value Leila and I deeply share.
So here’s…
A simple positioning checklist you can steal
If you want to tighten your own positioning, start here.
What do you call this?
Newsletter is fine. But a sharper name helps people get it faster.Who is it really for?
Be specific. The more specific, the easier it is to say yes.What do they get every time?
One insight. One example. One clear takeaway. One interview. One life story.Why should they believe you?
Your experience. Your process. Your results. Your point of view. Your expertise. Your failures.
Your turn! Share your positioning in the comments (or photo of your socks in the chat!) and get feedback from me :))
So if this made something click for you, here’s what to do next!
🎆#1 Come join the Online Writing Club Community! This is where we break down positioning, writing, and growth in a way that actually makes sense. If you want feedback, clarity, and fewer guessy decisions, the community’s where that happens.
Psst! New Year’s deal on the membership. Get 50% off! It won’t be this low again all year.
🎆#2 Join the weekly live Q&As. The next one’s on January 8th. And yes, it’s exactly about positioning and value propositions. If you feel stuck or simply need a repositioning :) …bring your idea. Bring your newsletter. We’ll work on it together!
🎆 #3You can meet me in an exclusive 1:1 to talk through your value proposition and positioning. Clear it up. Make it simple. Make it sell without feeling weird.
🎆#4 Join the Notes Bootcamp for the lowest price ever. $99!
Because I want education accessible. NEW: When you purchase the on-demand Bootcamp, you can also also get access to StackBuddy to schedule 1 week or 1 month of posts on Notes in 15 or 30 minutes. Finally use Notes to make money, build hype, and actually be seen in 2026!
And last but not least.
🎆#5 ALL 💎founding members also get the StackBuddy Notes scheduler for 365 days plus ALL AI tools Patrick’s releasing in the next weeks.
If this is your year to do things differently.
This is your sign.
“Wishing you a happy new year and hopefully a better 50% of good stuff than last year :)”, as Leila Hormozi would say.
Happy New Year!
Here's our chat thread:
https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/66a19341-fb9b-439f-9f02-24d176cb1ff1?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=f1242
Marketing has a way of taking the soul out of everything.