PrologueOn Saturday, my brother and I took our children fishing.
Four cousins enjoyed a Mississippi summer afternoon casting off the edge of the lake and reeling in small bream.
There was a hectic time period when my brother and I were constantly baiting hooks with worms and releasing fish back into the water.
But that moment had to be earned.
At first, everyone had to be set up.
Imagine the anxiety of 4 children walking around with hooks and not really listening to us coaching them to stand far apart.
Then, everyone had to be patient.
One gave up for a bit.
It was hot and the fish weren’t biting.
“I want to go home!”
Then, we had to tweak some settings.
My oldest had a lure she’d bought a year ago, but the fish seemed to prefer live worms, so we changed that.
Then, when we found a few hot spots and the bream started biting, the giver-upper decided to be a joiner-inner. So we set her back up again.
She ended up catching more than anyone.
There was a bit of jealousy.
Why, after sitting things out, had she been able to outfish them all?
It was the size of her hook.
It was smaller.
Turns out that was the optimal setting.
There was a time period when every single time she cast her rod she caught a fish.
What can we learn from this and apply to our email newsletters?
You don’t catch fish (readers) sitting on the sidelines.
You’re going to have to test and tweak your approach.
Sometimes a smaller hook (think niche) can be the reason you capture attention.
This issue is an exciting one for me.
We’re announcing the release of Paid Newsletters for Curated here first. Scroll down to Curated News if you’re interested in making 100% commission on paid subscriptions. We’re not taking a cent.
There are also some inspirational stories, expert advice, and a few new approaches you might want to consider.
Let’s get started.
Hello, Newsletter People.
I’ve missed you.
So much has happened since my last send 2 weeks ago.
Namely, Apple’s announcement of new privacy features that will mean open rates won’t mean what they used to. I’ve included plenty of content about that in the Newsletter Tips section of this issue, so go ahead and scroll if it’s what you’re most interested in today.
You won’t hurt my feelings. Promise.
But I do have a little story… because I’m me.
You may remember my family moved states from Florida to Mississippi last week.
Everything is going well.
We’ll be unpacking boxes for a while.
In addition to having a dedicated office from which I can draft you this epistolary thing we call Opt In Weekly, we’re now in a neighborhood with children.
This is huge for our daughters.
Our Florida neighborhood was lovely, but it was mostly retirees. There was a brief time period when a girl near their ages lived next door and it was really nice to let them play together. But that was a 6-month rental situation. It ended and things got boring again.
So as we chose this house, knowing there would be other children in the neighborhood was really important.
The result?
They can look out windows, see other children playing, go outside to introduce themselves, and experience the joy of not having to go somewhere to engage with friends. It’s a pretty amazing transition for them.
And here’s how you can apply this little joy we’re experiencing to your newsletter:
You need to (intentionally) be where the audience you want to attract hangs out. If you don’t know where that is, find out.
Don’t go there to sell them something or to try to bring them to your newsletter.
Go there to become one of them. To understand them. To learn to write in their language.
This week’s issue is a little on the light side (let’s get real: you care about Apple’s changes right now and I get that, so I prioritized that news). But let’s not forget that open rates are just one of the ways we know we’re reaching people with our content. The relationship you use your newsletter to build transcends quantitative data.
We’re cooking up some ideas at Curated to help you through this challenge, so stay tuned for that.
Reply to let me know your thoughts and concerns, if you even have any.
Surprise!
It’s another Friday delivery of your (favorite?) newsletter about newsletters.
Savor it. There will be no issue next week because I’m taking the week off and moving back to my home state of Mississippi.
I’ll spare you the surge of emotions I’m feeling about leaving Florida, and focus instead on the most exciting feature in our new house (and I’ll attempt to metaphorically tie it into the act of newslettering).
It’s this thing I’ve been wishing for since I began working from home in June 2019. So, you know, two years in the making. It’s an office with… a door!
I feel like a child who is getting her own room for the first time: stinking ecstatic.
You see, I’ve been working in an open concept living room for the past two years and it hasn’t been pretty.
I love my family.
Really.
I do.
But achieving deep focus while their lives take place around me has been challenging.
Add to that a pandemic and the longest spring break ever (March - September 2020), and you might be able to understand why I’m an adult woman who fantasizes about closing a door. I seriously have daydreams about not getting interrupted in the middle of typing a sentence.
So I’m really concentrating on that door as I box up belongings and say goodbye to the coastal life I love.
Now, how can my closed door fantasy support your newsletter ambitions?
I think I’ve teed up a lesson about distractions—recognizing them and figuring out how to limit them.
And this isn’t just about not having an 8-year-old practicing piano five feet away.
It’s about understanding how you work best and creating that scenario for yourself.
It’s about evaluating opportunities that present themselves and not overcommitting.
It’s about identifying the digital doors you need to close (cough, cough—Slack) and concentrating.
As a subscriber of many newsletters, I can tell you this: the very best ones come from people and teams who prioritize the deep focus it requires to win inbox attention.
Figure out which doors you need to close to keep your subscribers opening.
Today’s issue has a few real downer stories mixed in with some very solid tips and advice.
Maybe I’m a little melancholy about the move or maybe the reports about the state of writing and trust in journalism are suffering from a shadow cast by the pandemic?
As always, let me know what you like or dislike. I look forward to your responses almost as much as I’m looking forward to my new door.
My daughters both bridge to the next level of Girl Scouts next week.
It’s a big deal.
We all get a great sense of pride at these ceremonies.
Mainly because the week before bridging I hustle and get all their badges on their uniforms.
Just kidding. Kind of.
It’s more about what they’ve done in the past two years as a Daisy, Brownie, or Junior.
The task of making sure all the badges and pins are on before that final moment is pretty monumental, too. Especially in a pandemic year when I’ve been operating in mission critical mode and procrastinating things that require extra energy I don’t seem to have.
As I worked on one vest the other night, making sure the different types of badges and pins were all in the correct spots and reflecting on how they were earned, I thought about copywriting.
I know. I’m a nerd. We’re all aware.
What struck me is that to an outsider (say, someone who has no clue what anything on the vest means), it’s just a mix of fabric bits and pins. But to a Girl Scout, the placement and number of pins is everything.
For example, the girl’s left side of the vest is reserved for Journey Badges. These are multi-week journeys that require the girls to really dive into a certain topic (this year they did Think Like a Programmer) and then complete a Take Action Project (not a community service, a sustainable project that has lasting impact).
On the right side she boasts “Try It” badges. Each has 5 requirements she must meet to earn the badge. They add up as she learns a variety of skills such as Simple Meals, Horseback Riding, Eco Camping, ect.
And there are pins that represent how many years she’s been a Girl Scout, how many years she has sold cookies, and if she’s completed 3 journeys during her time at any level (it’s called a Journey Summit Award).
This is a simplified explanation, of course. But what you end up with is a visual display that seems foreign to some but immediately communicates how accomplished she is to those who understand the Girl Scout world.
A few weeks ago, I shared a video clip from Newsletter Fest of Liz Willits explaining the importance of writing for skimmers and for those who read every word. It’s like the Girl Scout vest. There will be bold statements that communicate the main points, but more meaning waiting in the text below.
There are people who just want a surface-level explanation, and people who understand that there’s a story behind that subhead: people who read and click.
Write for both skimmers and divers.
Fill your vest (newsletter) with the stories you want to tell.
And, issue after issue, build a world they can choose to explore at the level they enjoy.
Today’s Prologue hints at a topic I hope you’ll find as interesting as I do: worldbuilding. There’s a wonderful article in the Marketing section about how you can use fiction writing tactics to build a world for your real life audience.
There are also some pieces about the creator economy and exciting announcements about private newsletters and a special event we have coming up in Curated News.
Now, let’s spelunk into this newsletter world.
It’s time to face a really harsh truth:
Quality content is not what grows a newsletter’s audience.
Yes. Top-notch writing is nice. I won’t begrudge you that. But, more importantly, it should be content that people actually care about enough to share.
People aren’t compelled to share content because it’s rigorously researched, well organized, and beautifully written.
Instead, we share the things we care about.
Things that prompt an emotional response.
For instance, if I read something fascinating about ancient history, I share it with my husband.
If I watch a sentimental video that brings me near tears, I send it to my mother.
If I see a good Harry Potter or Star Wars meme and it’s kid-friendly, I share it with my daughters.
If it’s not kid-friendly, I share it with my father.
The point, though, is that for something to take off and be shared with the right audience (people who would benefit from subscribing), it needs to stir something inside the reader that makes them think, “It’s worth the time it’ll take me to forward this to the people in my life that care about this topic. They’ll appreciate it.”
Better yet? “I serve an audience of 50,000 followers that care about this deeply and I think they should read this.”
That’s the kind of organic amplification that will grow an audience, newsletter or otherwise. (Note, if you’re running paid advertisements for your newsletter, you’ll want the ad copy to be something worth caring about, too.)
The questions you should to ask yourself with each send:
Have I written something worth sharing?
Would I thank someone for sending it to me?
Who, specifically, am I hoping will share it?
When you write with the goal of your content being shared, you align your intention with the intentions of the sharer. You apply a critical eye to what might have seemed important as it flowed out your fingers but is now less powerful when you think, “What would X think of this? Would they care?”
I’ll happily admit that one of the best editing techniques I’ve ever used is to pretend to be a specific person in my audience (it helps if we’ve had an actual conversation) and to read my content from their perspective. Even if this person doesn’t actually open my newsletter (gasp!), I’ve written “to them” in a way that resonates with a majority of my niche audience.
Go ahead. Pretend to be your most influential reader. Did your words make the pretend version of that person care? Or was it more “meh?” Time to revise.
Today’s Prologue was inspired by Rand Fishkin’s recent Sparktoro blog post Who Will Amplify This and Why? He offers some reasons why your content might not be performing well and provides advice on how to find and write for amplifiers (people your audience looks up to). You’ll want to spend some time with his article. I subscribe to his blog. It’s insightful and frequently worth sharing.
This issue finds itself somewhat focused on the intersection of marketing, writing, and publishing. There are some interesting voices in the mix and a challenge to leverage your content strategy (specifically writing about things your readers actually care about) to improve deliverability.
Please let me know what you think about the assortment of insights and advice included today, and, if you find yourself emotionally compelled, please share it with a newsletter creator who might find it useful.
...And we’re off!
There’s a difference between I don’t have time for something and I won’t make time for something.
For instance, I like to imagine myself as being able to add a new habit to my life, like working out every morning. I know it’s good for me. But… lately I just haven’t made the time for it. At least not like I once did.
And it’s all on me. I could prioritize it (and I know I should), but it’s going to take some effort and motivation.
Let’s apply that to your newsletter open rate. It’s the percentage of people who actually make the time to do a thing they thought they wanted to do (unless you’re not letting people opt in and then we’ve got other things to discuss).
If it was easy to work out and I didn’t have a million things going on, I’d do it, right? Imagine you’re competing in the inbox with thousands of emails. What can you send that’s not “if I have time” and is more “oh, I make time for this” because it’s worth prioritizing?
Your challenge from the moment someone discovers your newsletter (word of mouth, advertisement, SEO, etc.) and subscribes is to become a part of their routine.
Ways to do that:
This week’s issue (hopefully a welcome part of your routine) rounds up some great advice and inspirational newsletters, including a list of really great Chrome extensions (several of which are free and brilliant brand relationship builders because they become part of their customers’ lives before they’re actually paying customers).
There’s also a very doable Opt In Challenge at the bottom (if you’re new to Opt In Weekly, I close the newsletter with a challenge). Be sure to check it out.
Let’s dive in.
“It’s not annoying if they’re the market.”
Margo Aaron said this during her Newsletter Fest session a few weeks ago when we talked email cadence and frequency.
She’s right, y’all.
Think about it.
When you start worrying your messaging might be pestering people who’ve opted in to receive email from you, maybe what you’re really concerned about is...
1) That they didn’t truly opt in and don’t really want what you’re sending (how did they end up on your list?)
2) That you aren’t actually sending what they hoped to get (is there a disconnect between what you promised and what you send?)
3) That they’ll unsubscribe because you overwhelm them (but they subscribed, right? And the people who unsubscribe when you send quality content were probably not worth your time anyway.)
Let’s get over the teenage anxiety of trying to be who we think our subscribers want us to be and just be the people/brands we are.
If they’re the market, they’ll eat it up. Those are the people you want to connect with and support anyway.
Margo explained it like this:
To someone who IS NOT THE MARKET, a room full of boy band posters all look the same.
To someone who IS THE MARKET, each is unique and important.
Write your email newsletters for your market and send as often as they’ll open and read them.
You might have noticed I held this newsletter until Friday this week. It was unintentional, but I’ll use it to experiment with this time going forward. I did use the extra time to add a few extra bits of newsletter advice and inspiration that would have been bumped until next week. Enjoy the bonus content and let me know what you think.
Are you using your newsletter to bring people along on a journey?
One of my favorite things about the newsletter genre is that it’s like a passenger train with a specific destination in mind—learn more about X; enjoy more Y; or become amazing at Z—and with each issue more passengers decide to board and travel with the conductor (creator).
Let’s extend this further.
Your open rate is the number of people who not only boarded the train, but who are actually paying attention to the announcements.
Your click rate represents the people who think your announcements are really interesting and worth exploring (maybe this train is making stops like a trolley tour and encouraging riders to visit relevant sites).
The 1:1 responses you get from people (we’re talking actual replies) represent the people who are A) getting the most out of the journey and want to personally let you know OR B) not sure why they’re on this ride and want you to know they could do it better (be careful how much weight you give these people).
And on and on, issue after issue, the growing crowd of people who’ve joined you for this ride experience an adventure of your creation—opening, clicking, responding, absorbing, and deciding with each send if the ride is worth the effort.
Are you connecting? Bringing people along? Building excitement?
Are you attracting an audience that finds it helpful and comforting—perhaps thrilling—to join you in this journey?
Today’s Opt In Challenge (last section of the newsletter for anyone new this week) involves learning how to whisper pitch, which essentially means to sell without being obnoxious. To me, that means emailing with the intention to be so valuable to your reader that when you tell them what you sell they have no doubt it will be good.
And for the editorial newsletter creators in the crowd, it could be that your whisper pitch is simply your next issue, aka the next leg of the journey.
Hoping you find today’s roundup of resources as exciting as I do.
This past weekend, we were visited by two critters:
The Easter Bunny: A loving and kind animal that leaves plastic eggs stuffed with candy in your yard
&
The Easter Raccoon (or Opossum?): An animal that pries open those candy-stuffed eggs and indulges on sweets until he gives up, goes home, and (we assume) suffers through the ensuing tummy ache
Don’t panic.
We’re fine.
The girls are ok.
There was a five-minute window of “This is the worst Easter ever,” then the realization that the 10-15 eggs our Easter Raccoon ravaged (leaving a candy wrapper mess in the backyard) was a small percentage of the loot they divided in the end.
The newsletter lesson here?
Someone is going to be your Easter Raccoon and make you feel like you’re not going to be successful. They’ll try to defeat you with claws. But they usually don’t have the energy to destroy a good thing.
Don’t let them make you forget about all the goodies waiting for you.
Focus on serving the bunnies who love you (yes, they multiplied… because that’s what rabbits do, right?).
And by this I mean don’t get distracted by failures. Learn from them. Consider them tests that taught you a lesson and move on to the candy part.
Thank you for enduring my Easter tale.
This week’s issue has several treats, including some very wise people who preach persistence and tenacity.
Enjoy.
