What Makes Successful Newsletters... Successful?
Morning Brew knows a thing or two about building newsletters, and in this article, they break down what 3 successful newsletters are doing right.
In a nutshell: positioning and differentiating (actually mattering to readers) are top success criteria.
Discovered via Inbox Reads.
Does Your Newsletter Signup Page Look Like Everyone Else’s?
If you think every newsletter signup page looks the same, you’re not wrong. Kolby Hatch examines why this popular landing page design works in this Twitter thread.
Discovered via Publisher Weekly.
One Newsletter Creator’s Story Of Quitting Corporate And Building Success
Miserable and fed up with the corporate life, Bari Weiss walked out of her job at the New York Times without a backup plan. A year later, she has a successful podcast and newsletter with paying subscribers and is making way more than before. Brett Arends shares the story and some advice in this opinion piece.
Related: Elle Griffin wanted to publish a novel and started by growing her newsletter by 1,200 subscribers over a summer. Discovered via For the Interested.
Also Related: Swapstack co-founder, Jake Singer, shared his newsletter experience with The Newsletter Crew.
Also, Also Related: Thinking about a paid community? Dru Riley built a paid community to 1,000+ members in 10 months and is sharing how. Also discovered via For the Interested.
Dos And Don’ts For Your Email List Growth
Not all tips are created equal, and this article offers some strong tips for growing your email list... but also some I don’t love.
Strong Ideas
Each of these focuses on prioritizing your reader and offering quality content:
Sometimes Scary
These are tricky to get right, often company-focused, and can lead to less engaged subscribers.
Discovered via Inbox Reads.
Are You Measuring Your Newsletter By 2021’s Standards?
In this Martech Alliance article, Sarah O'Neill takes a look at just what makes a 2021 newsletter successful. Use it as a list of possible ways to improve yours.
Speaking of Dan Oshinsky, Let’s Review August’s “Not a Newsletter” Highlights
Dan Oshinky’s August edition of “Not a Newsletter” (aka the Google Doc he shares full of helpful information) highlights everything from privacy updates to monetization. My favorites include:
How To Use Gifs In Your Newsletter
If you’re hoping to use gifs in your newsletter, this guide, 10 Tips For Animated Gifs In Email, offers some good pointers about creating them, including helpful specs like optimal file size.
Discovered via Really Good Emails.
Tips From A Successful Newsletter Creator
Christopher Lochhead has co-authored books, hosted podcasts, and publishes Category Pirates, a paid subscription business newsletter. In this recent LinkedIn post, he shared a solid list of tips for business newsletters (and beyond).
A few he included:
Check out the post for the full list and follow him for more wisdom.
Related: Speaking of success, Phillip Temmel has reached 1,000 newsletter subscribers and is sharing what he’s learned here.
Also Related: Newsletter Crew interviewed Mark Stenberg about his newsletter Medialyte. I love that he’s using it to surface ideas and not plunging into monetization right away.
One Man’s Complaint Is Another’s Opportunity To Stand Out
Ian Bogost is frustrated with the state of his inbox. He thinks email is
“less like a mailbox and more like a wormhole into every business relationship you maintain: your bank; your utility provider; your supermarket; your favorite boutiques, restaurants, housewares providers, and all the rest. It’s your own digital commercial district: Opening up email is akin to visiting a little mall in your browser or on your phone, where every shop is right next to every other.”
And the complaint is valid.
But here I am emailing you a link to his article. So while I can commiserate—yes, a barrage of promotional emails can be painful, but you do have the option to unsubscribe—I think their existence actually supports the editorial approach inherent in email newsletters as a genre. By creating, finding, and sharing quality content, we can win the opens that others cannot.
Read this to get into the headspace of the person you send to and figure out what would turn that sour grimace into an “Ah. Finally, something worth reading!”
Discovered via a teammate sharing this article in Slack. Yes, I used the Curated Slack Action to send it to my collected items.
Related: Check out these 10 reasons winning the inbox is important.
5 Steps To Stop Procrastinating Your Passion Project
Why is taking the first step always the hardest? Jessie Kwak lists helpful steps on The Write Life to stop procrastinating your passion project (is it launching a newsletter?) starting with visualizing why it matters and getting organized.
Check out the rest here.
Psst! Scroll to the Curated News section if you want to join me in a Newsletter Launch Challenge.
