ProloguePrologue

“I’d rather have 1 new email subscriber than 1,000 more followers on Facebook.” —Rand Fishkin, SparkToro.

I’m assuming this quote is going to resonate with you, dear newsletter creator. Because you understand how wonderful it is to know the message you want to share will be seen by at least 20%, maybe even 60 or 70%, of the people who expressed interest in seeing it.

Editorial email newsletters win inbox attention. Period.

And part of the reason is because big tech and algorithms have stifled creator incentive to publish outside of platforms.

Rand recently published this piece on just how frustrating it is to try to use social media to drive traffic to a website. And he’s right.

The options he offers to navigate our current plight are helpful: find ways to benefit from platforms, link off-platform less frequently, FOCUS ON EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS, and try to achieve amplification from established brands/personalities with large followings.

It’s not that he’s saying SEO is dead. But he does seem to be saying it’s not your strongest play right now if you’re hoping to build an audience.

I, a newsletter sender, obviously want to lean into the idea that newsletters are a way to combat the algorithm giants we love/hate. But I think it’s important to understand that a creator has to balance the challenge of being discovered (aka marketing, which all but requires we have a social strategy of some sort) and publishing something worth discovering.

That means learning to adhere to the finicky demands of social platforms: like placing links to your site in a comment so that the post performs better or choosing to forgo site traffic and delivering a valuable message in the feed.

At the same time, you’ll need to exert the effort required to actually reward the people on that email list you’re building with reasons to open and engage.

They don’t necessarily have to be drastically different actions. You can repurpose and adapt content from email to platforms and vice versa.

Both serve a purpose.

Social helps you build a brand presence and engage.

The newsletter should deliver content they don’t want to miss.

Does yours?

My life news that impacts you: I’ll be away for the next 2 weeks in England metal detecting. We’re going to skip next week (Sept. 16) and Seth is going to send an issue on Sept. 23 that includes links but minimal commentary. I have full confidence he’ll include some goodies to hold you over until I return.

Now, on to the interesting thoughts I’ve pulled together for this week.

Ashley Guttuso  

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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.

Ashley Guttuso