Paid Newsletters, Platforms, And Who’s Really Profiting
“Who owns the customer?” Benedict Evans examines the implications that paying for content may hold.
Discovered via Inbox Reads.
Is Your Newsletter So Unique It Can’t Be Ignored?
Josh Spector offers 4 ways to create something unique in this article.
Newsletters, Platforms, & The Fate Of Journalism
This piece is not so much a newsletter tip as an opportunity to consider the genre’s current role in the balance shift between media companies, independent creators, and the tech platforms that profit from their content.
In this Wired article, Chris Stokel-Walker proposes that though Substack has created what cofounder Chris Best claims is a better alternative to the broken world of social media—especially for those like Alex Berenson who have been “deplatformed”—that it’s not really that different:
“Substack has managed to build an impressive business predicated on the idea that people will pay for good journalism—and prefer to support writers directly, rather than mediated through monolithic media organizations. But is what Best proposes all that revolutionary? Or is it just doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past in a zeitgeisty disguise?”
He includes remarks from Chris Best and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.
“‘Every platform, large or small, whether long-established or new, whether very public like Twitter or much more private like email newsletters, will face questions about content moderation,’ says Nielsen. ‘We’re at the beginning of the discussion around how content moderation works in semiprivate spaces like email newsletters and podcasts.’ The question is where that discussion leads—and whether Substack’s approach can hold up to further scrutiny.”
A stat that surprised me (it’s a bit hidden in the article if you’re scanning): in the US, 22% of people get their news via email newsletter.
Discovered via American Press Institute.
Email Is Evolving (Not Dying); These Stacked Stats Tell The Story
This round up of statistics capture the changing role of email. Bookmark them to share with the next person who tells you email is dead.
Discovered via theCLIKK.
The Newsletter Exit Strategy Dilemma
What’s the “right” way to quit? Delia Cai looks at how difficult it is to exit a newsletter in this Vanity Fair article.
Discovered via The Media Roundup.
Good News: Newsletters Are STILL On The Rise
The Atlantic just announced nine newsletters (and more to come) for subscribers and this has people asking, “have we reached peak newsletter yet?” In this piece for Politico, Jack Shafer takes a hard stance: no, not even close.
Why?
Onward, newsletterers!
Discovered via American Press Institute.
Ann Handley’s Newsletter Growth Story
To say Total Annarchy, the newsletter by Ann Handley, has grown is an understatement. She’s sharing what worked, what didn’t, and the metrics she likes to watch in her 99th issue.
Note: if you missed my ode to Ann last week it’s here.
How Front Office Sports Scaled From 25,000 To 500,000+ Subs In 18 Months
Front Office Sports grew its audience 20x in 18 months. Their team is sharing how here.
Discovered via Really Good Emails.
Ann Handley On Creativity And Newsletter Growth
Letterlist published a Q&A with Ann Handley and it’s delightful. You’ll learn the backstory on her newsletter, Total Annarchy, and how she’s grown it from 2K subscribers to over 42K in 3 years. Her growth strategy?
“I’ve grown it organically. No forced opt-in or lead magnets or coercion or popovers. That might sound judgmental about popovers… it’s not. Popovers work, but they’re not right for my newsletter. I wanted a reader’s relationship with me, ultimately, to be the trigger than would grow the list.”
She chose to create something very personal. And it works.
I found the section of this interview on her writing and editing process particularly insightful.
Read the full interview here.
Time For A Check-Up: Where One Newsletter Stands
Extra Points, the college sports newsletter, is 18 months in and sharing their playbook.
