iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 28/10/2025

I’ve been away from Bluesky for a few months now! 😬 Life’s been busy and I’ve been working on some new stuff so here are some updates 👇

110

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/07/2025

Been taking it a bit slower when it comes to marketing EasyStartupIdeas.com But thankfully, we just crossed 1500 email subs! Hoping to double (or more) by the end of the year. If anyone has any advice on paid ads, I think now may be the time I start running them 👀

easystartupideas.com

Easy Startup Ideas

The inspiration you need to start your next business.

030

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 05/06/2025

Remember starter packs? 😅 But also - is there one for people building/running newsletter businesses??

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/06/2025

Whenever one of my comments pops off on Reddit, I definitely DON’T: A) check google analytics to see how many people are on my site B) switch to the Beehiiv dashboard and continuously refresh to see how many of those people are converting C) repeat A & B

000

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/06/2025

While Google says that traffic spikes don’t boost your site’s DR, I always see my site get closer to the first page of search results when this happens. 🤔

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 29/05/2025

Getting newsletter subscribers organically through Google search hits different

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 28/05/2025

EasyStartupIdeas.com continues to move in the right direction 😤

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 21/05/2025

Can you point to the 2 days from this past month that I commented about my newsletter on a viral Reddit post? 🤔

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 20/05/2025

The newsletter just broke 1200 subscribers this morning. Let’s see what happens after tomorrows Product Hunt launch 🚀 I’ll be promoting it to the entire mailing list in tomorrow’s edition, so I’m hoping for some sort of a boost from that!

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 16/05/2025

Well this is a first. May has been FULLY booked with Beehiiv Ad Network ads! 🤯 AKA every day I've sent (or plan to send) a #newsletter in May, has received a sponsorship offer. Now if I could only fill all the ad spots I have set aside for advertisers outside the Beehiiv network...

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 14/05/2025

While it hurts to lose newsletter subscribers, it’s good to know that my cleaning automation is successfully re-engaging some! It’s also just nice to remove people that aren’t opening any emails and are dragging down my average Open Rate.

000

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 12/05/2025

Kinda sad, but using the Profile Analysis tool in TrendSpotter.blue makes it obvious that Bluesky was way more active in late 2024/early 2025. WAY more engagement on posts from around then. Do you agree, or is it just the people that follow my account that have dropped off? 😅

trendspotter.blue

TrendSpotter

Discover trends and viral content on Bluesky Social.

110

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 12/05/2025

Hitchhiking on viral Reddit posts continues to be the best marketing tactic. In the last 24 hours I gained more than 85 newsletter subscribers by commenting on a viral Reddit post I found. This wasn’t luck, I knew it was going viral from the number of people viewing it. Use the Reddit mobile app!

000

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 11/05/2025

Just caught another viral Reddit post. 😏 My comment directing folks to my newsletter has gotten me 20 new subscribers so far in the last few hours.

150

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 08/05/2025

Finally 😮‍💨 Now onto 5000 😅

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 07/05/2025

My views 1 month ago when I just started using Post Bridge (left). My views now after a month of Post Bridge (right). Thank you @jackfriks.bsky.social for helping me to learn and iterate quickly!

121

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 07/05/2025

The bittersweet feeling of finally being about to pass the 1000 subscriber mark… … but having my Beehiiv subscription jump up 40% because of it. 🥴

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 05/05/2025

Clicks for EasyStartupIdeas.com have been very meh, but impressions are really starting to ramp up. It’s OVER once I start getting proper organic traffic 😤

040

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 03/05/2025

For those wondering how I grew a subreddit from 0 to 1400 members in just 3 weeks, check out the Medium article I just wrote about it here: medium.com/@chrris.ray/... #Reddit #RedditMarketing #GrowthHacking

medium.com

How I grew a new subreddit to 1400 members in 3 weeks

Hustle, skill, and a little bit of luck

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/05/2025

3.5 weeks ago I made a subreddit (r/QuitCorporate) Since then: - it's gone from 0 to 1400+ members - it's in the top 19% of subreddits by size - every post get's tons of engagement (1K-4K views) This was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be.

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/05/2025

Which looks better? Real Jersey Mike’s sub (left) or ChatGPT sub (right)? 😂

000

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 01/05/2025

I’ve pushed my mailing list cleaning automation back 3 times already since I’ve been too scared too lose subs before hitting 1000 😅 This is the LAST time, I swear. Subscribers that don’t open a single email for 100 days are gone forever (unless they engage with the re-engagement email)! 🫡

130

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 28/04/2025

TrendSpotter.blue is surfacing some great posts about the power outages in Spain and Portugal if you search any related keywords (“Spain,” “Portugal,” “blackout,” “outage,” etc.)

trendspotter.blue

TrendSpotter

Discover trends and viral content on Bluesky Social.

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 26/04/2025

I’ve truly had to FIGHT for each and every newsletter subscriber I’ve gotten so far. Sometimes they come in small waves from a particularly good Reddit post/comment, but it’s never more than 20 subs. Maybe this is simply the way in the beginning?

130

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 25/04/2025

Hmm turns out reshoring all manufacturing doesn’t work at all 🤔

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 25/04/2025

Just got the gpt-image-1 API successfully integrated in my next web app. It lives! 🤖

000

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 22/04/2025

Yesterday was pretty crazy. I created a subreddit 2 weeks ago and yesterday morning it had 297 members. Now? It has 1210. The sub gained over 900 members in about 12 hours. How? Being the first to comment on a viral post I found. Here’s how you spot them 👇

110

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 21/04/2025

UPDATE: My “new” subreddit I created as another funnel for my newsletter is nearing 500 members after just 2 weeks. Change my mind: there is NO better growth hack than commenting on a viral Reddit post at the right time. I’m set to gain 200 members today alone from this one comment.

120

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 18/04/2025

As part of a new push to market my newsletter, I’ve started posting 2 videos per day to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Thanks to @jackfriks.bsky.social ‘s Post Bridge, I’ve gotten 120,000 views in just 10 days across all 3 platforms. It may not be a lot but it’s a start!

030

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 14/04/2025

Newsletter growth experiment #127: I made a subreddit The subreddit isn’t branded after the newsletter, but instead relates to a larger niche that the newsletter falls within. So far r/QuitCorporate is 1 week old and has 105 members - going better than expected! #newsletter

140

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 11/04/2025

What I learned this week: If your TikTok doesn’t pop off in the first 30 minutes, it’s dead. Instagram barely shows your Reels to anyone for at least 2 hours after posting, but then engagement starts to climb.

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 08/04/2025

I’m an idiot for not adding Google Analytics to my Beehiiv newsletter site earlier. Apparently in just the few days between April 4 and April 7, there’s been over 700 visitors to the site!? I had no clue my web traffic looked like that 🤯

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 05/04/2025

Jan: EasyStartupIdeas.com Feb: DogGroomingDirectory.com Mar: GoodBadWar.com Apr: ??? May: ??? Jun: ??? Jul: ??? Aug: ??? Sep: ??? Oct: ??? Nov: ??? Dec: ??? Anyone else trying to ship something every month this year?

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/04/2025

Hot take(?): Canva > all AI logo generators

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 02/04/2025

EasyStartupIdeas.com has been hovering just under 700 subs for over a week now and it’s KILLING me 😅 So far, nearly all growth has come organically via Reddit, but I’ve just created an Instagram and TikTok account and am using @jackfriks.bsky.social ‘s Post Bridge in an attempt to grow further.

easystartupideas.com

Easy Startup Ideas

The inspiration you need to start your next business.

130

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 01/04/2025

Made a (very stupid) game that I launched this weekend as a means of checking my March box (I’ve decided to try and ship something every month of 2025). It’s a global battle of good vs. evil - to be played daily 😇👿 But really it’s a simple daily voting game with a cool UI/UX. www.goodbadwar.com

goodbadwar.com

Good Bad War

A daily battle of good vs bad - vote once a day and see how the world feels

011

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 27/03/2025

@jackfriks.bsky.social great Starter Story video dude!! Just watched it. Congrats! Lot of good info in there 🔥

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 18/03/2025

Does anyone have experience running Facebook (or other) ads and getting a good ROAS? I’m starting to consider running paid ads for my newsletter but don’t want costs to exceed $0.80 or so per subscriber. Any obvious Do’s/Dont’s you could pass along?

020

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 17/03/2025

My newsletter just passed 650 subscribers 🥳 Pretty cool considering it's only been 2.5 months and I sold my last newsletter when it had just 585 subscribers. Check out this form if you'd like to advertise your project to my mailing list of aspiring founders: tally.so/r/nrGBWX

tally.so

Advertise with Us

Made with Tally, the simplest way to create forms.

120

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 10/03/2025

Best “attention to detail” UX feature: Go into a message thread on Instagram and slowly swipe up on the screen without letting go. Do you feel that haptic feedback? So well done. Feels like a rubber band getting more and more strained the higher you “stretch” the screen.

010

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 06/03/2025

Out of all the Bluesky tools out there now, does anyone use any of them regularly? As the creator of one, I’m curious about what features are driving repeat use.

110

Chris Ray @itschrisray.com · 05/03/2025

Ahrefs is telling me my site itschrisray.com has a DR of 22 and that makes zero sense to me (but I’m not mad) 😂 For context, the site is only 1.5 months old and has a few links to my ongoing web projects. That’s it. The domain hasn’t been owned by anyone in the past either (I think). So… how 22?

itschrisray.com

Chris Ray's Web Portfolio

Check out Chris's portfolio of different web projects.

000