⛔ Excess HTML?

Prologue

Have you created a newsletter creation workflow that keeps you on track?

Here’s my weekly curation process:

1) I follow keywords using good old-fashioned Google Alerts, scan them once a week, and collect any headlines that seem like they might serve you, a newsletter creator.

2) I subscribe to newsletters from people/companies who create and share content. I scan them once a week (in a separate mailbox) and collect any headlines that seem like they might serve you, a newsletter creator.

3) I use automations to collect links to articles from people/companies who consistently produce quality content that might serve you, a newsletter creator.

4) I use a similar automation to collect links to new content from YouTube channels and podcasts created by people/companies who consistently produce quality content that might serve you, a newsletter creator.

5) If I read something on social media or in my day-to-day life that might be a good fit, I collect the link because I think it might serve you, a newsletter creator.

6) I use Curated (yes, a brand I market—this newsletter is intended to show you how it can be used) to review those links I've collected to it and import the ones that seem the most relevant into the next issue. Some were already categorized into the sections they fit into as I collected them, some need categorizing.

7) I look at the mix of content for each section, dive into each piece, and reorder them within my established topic categories based on how well each one will serve you, a newsletter creator.

8) I delete the ones that fall short of serving you, a newsletter creator.

9) I then force myself to do more rounds of cuts until I have only the best.

10) I write my commentary for the pieces that made it through the last round of curation. The prompt for that commentary is "This piece of content will serve a newsletter creator well because..." I write my intro, subject, and preview text last.

Let me know if this is anything like your own workflow or helps you with yours. I’m always looking for ways to improve it.

And, yes, it is Friday. Thank you for noticing that I changed my send day (just for this crazy week!).

Shall we proceed to the part where I share the best stuff I found?

Screen Share

Can Bloated Code Impact Inbox Placement?

The answer? It’s possible. Brian Minick of ZeroBounce explains why excess HTML could harm your inbox placement in this short clip from his Newsletter Fest 2021 session 3 Key Steps to Landing More Emails in the Inbox.

Newsletter Tips

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.

Morning Brew: the importance of reader referrals
Associated Press: teasing articles instead of giving the whole story
NY Magazine: driving subscription growth across the entire publication

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.

Marketing

Product-Led Content Is A Thing

We’ve all had that agonizing moment when we’ve thought, “Why am I creating this top-of-funnel content that has absolutely no tie-in to what I’m trying to sell?”

And the answer is usually “to attract traffic to my website so I can somehow tease people into a funnel to buy my product with a CTA at the end of the article or a retargetting ad campaign.” But how often is that creating demand for the product?

In this episode of Content Logistics, Fio Dossetto, the Editorial Lead at Wildbit told host Camille Trent why prioritizing including the product in the content has been a really successful play for the brands she has served.

It’s worth a listen.

Short cut: Camille breaks down Fio’s way of ranking how product-led a piece of content is (and what to aim for) in this LinkedIn promo post.

Another Look At Ungating Content

In April, I shared a piece from Ann Handley about ungating content. Now, a few months later, she’s shared an update from the agency that tested this approach in a recent issue of her newsletter.

The big takeaway?

The team at Aha Media Group reported that “Ungating Our Content Increased Downloads by 102%”.

Interested In Interactive Content?

Can interactive content improve SEO? Rock Content says if it increases engagement and improves experience, then definitely, yes.

“In the simplest of terms, interactive contents are dynamic materials that site users are encouraged to engage with.”

This includes:

Animated infographics
Quizzes
Ebooks
Assessments
Calculators

Question to consider:

Could you take this beyond site SEO and make your newsletter more interactive? I’m especially looking at you, people who have a publication site that contains SEO-rich archives of your newsletter content.

Discovered via Social Media Today.

YOUniverse Scheduled For Sept. 23 (FREE)

My favorite Account-Based and Field Marketing LinkedIn guru, Nick Bennett, says this free online event is going to be super valuable and I trust him.

What’s the premise?

They’ve set up sessions with experts intended to teach you to build meaningful moments with your target audience, instead of, say, meaningless touch points, which are what most teams are doing. You’ve gotten at least one automated message that made you cringe in the past 48 hours, right? Just me?

Some sessions that look interesting:

Delivering Moments to Build Strong Customer Relationships - Sydney Sloane and MK Getler
Marketing Amidst the Digital Privacy Era - Panel
Harnessing the Power of Community - Panel

Register here if this sounds like something you’d like to master.

Writing

SEO Content Writing & SEO Copywriting Are Different Things

Confused about the differences between SEO Content Writing and SEO Copywriting? Jessica Foster explains it like this: the first creates high-quality, keyword-focused content that ranks well, while the second converts traffic into leads. Learn who you should hire for each.

Discovered via theCLIKK.

Related: SEO applies to headlines, too. Learn how to write headlines readers and search engines both favor.

Curation

Are You Curating Content For Engagement?

Content curation can cut through the noise and build trust, but to be really effective, it needs to be tied into your core offering. This article by Bill Hortz offers solid insights in Curated Content Designed as a Strategic Engagement Tool including:

“The bottom line for success seems to be in consciously crafting the nature and quality of your messaging by understanding that content, for the sake of content, is not effective.”

Publishing

How Can Publishers Retain Subscribers In A Constantly Changing Landscape?

Over the past year, publishers have identified, utilized, and maximized the power of newsletter subscribers. However, gaining a subscriber doesn’t mean you’ll keep them. Take a look at some possible tactics and solutions in this week’s publishing insights.

Once you get subscribers, how do you keep them? Jeff Sonderman and Gwen Vargo with the American Press Institute surveyed publishers and came up with 9 strategies for subscriber retention that might work for you, too.
Speaking of retention, in this Influencive article, Bruno (no, I can’t figure out his last name) takes a look at how publishers are expanding their newsletters in an effort to both gain and retain subscribers.
Upcoming cookie changes have brands and agencies in a frenzy, but Max Willens has found that publishers just don’t seem to be worried. Find out why in this Digiday article (fair warning: you must be a member for full access).
There’s no denying that COVID has impacted subscriptions. In the latest Media Voices podcast episode, Bauer UK CEO Chris Duncan shares his story of building subscriptions through crisis.
Sara Guaglione reports for Digiday about the Atlantic’s growing subscriber base (up nearly 50% in the last year) and the challenge of keeping momentum growing as traffic declines.

Money Matters

Have You Considered Multiple Revenue Streams?

Louis Nicholls took to Twitter to explain why profitable newsletters typically have multiple revenue streams. It comes down to this: growing total subscriber base is harder than growing revenue. Thoughts?

Discovered via Publisher Weekly.

Curated News

Check Out Curated Crash Course, A New Weekly Zoom Call About Everything Curated

Hey everyone, Seth from Curated Success here.

If you’d like a little extra help beyond the super fancy Getting Started with Curated tutorial videos we create, now’s your chance to learn in person.

Next Thursday, September 9, we’re launching a new live tutorial series: Curated Crash Course.

This will be a live Zoom meeting that will run every Thursday at 4 p.m. Central. Each session will be broken into two parts:

1. Curated 101, 4-4:30 p.m. CT

2. Advanced Curated Discussions (Q&A), 4:30-5 p.m. CT

Curated 101 will focus on getting started with Curated and include how to create an account, the different ways to collect links, and a walkthrough of the settings needed to launch a newsletter.

Advanced Curated Discussions will be the time for Q&A. This is the perfect opportunity to ask any questions you have about Curated, newsletter creation, or your specific newsletter.

We can also cover newsletter positioning and strategy during this section. I’ll be more than happy to give my thoughts on these topics if you’re looking for some feedback.

We want this Crash Course to be a come-and-go experience. If you’re already familiar with how Curated works and just want to ask me a question, feel free to join the call after Curated 101. No hard feelings for popping in and out!

I’ll be hosting each session and you might see a cameo from other Curated team members every now and then.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to join and another to add it to your Google Calendar.

I’ll see y’all on September 9!

ICYMI: You can always check our Curated Public Product Roadmap to catch up on recent releases and find out what’s up next.

Don’t want to click through? Our recent bigger releases include Paid Subscriptions and a Free Tier.

Opt In Challenge

Optimize Images In Your Newsletter

The email landscape is changing and including images no longer means you’ll go straight to spam or hinder accessibility. Optimization is possible.

This week, your Opt In Challenge is to read these tips from Litmus and apply them to images in your newsletter.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

Like this newsletter?

Let me know. Reply, email me at Ashley[at]optinweekly.com, or find me on LinkedIn to hit me with some feedback. I’d love to know what you think.