ProloguePrologue

Do your readers suffer from inbox fatigue?

Of course they do.

So why should they choose to open your newsletter amidst the barrage of information and spam cluttering their inbox?

Michael Aft (formerly of The New Paper) said it best when he spoke at Newsletter Fest last year:

“NEED to Have trumps NICE to Have. So much so that I would say that if your product is just nice to have you shouldn’t start your business.”

Ouch.

But, also, true.

Because why create something that is easily scrolled past, unopened, unsubscribed to?

If your goal is to run a newsletter that people actually read, you’ll need to do the following as you strategize content:

1) Understand the competitive landscape

Who else publishes a newsletter about this topic? What do they specialize in?

2) Find a gap in that landscape

Is there a “need to have” itch that no newsletter is actually scratching?

3) Create an unfair competitive advantage

Lean into your talents to deliver a newsletter that would be difficult for someone to replicate. That sometimes requires having a unique point of view and / or the ability to curate and make sense of information your audience will find extremely helpful or entertaining.

Your goal is for your subscribers to smile (or at least mentally smile) when your next issue arrives.

Because nice to have turns into “why am I subscribed to this?” after a while.

Be the reason they still open emails.

Teach them they need to have what you send.

Ashley Guttuso  

Newsletter Tips



Marketing


Writing

Curation


Publishing

What Opportunities Does The Future Hold For Publishers?

Despite what you may have heard or felt, the future of publishing is not all doom and gloom. This week’s Publishing Insights take a look at potential opportunities for publishers that range from gamification to the Metaverse.

 

Money Matters



Curated News Curated News

How To Hide Category Headers In Curated

Hey everyone, Seth with Curated Success here.

In Curated, categories help you structure your newsletter and present your curated content to your readers in an easy-to-read format. As you collect content, you can categorize it.

Then, as you build a new issue, the links you import will automatically be sorted into the category order you’ve established, creating sections of your newsletter. If you don’t have any links for a category, the category header will not appear in the issue.

Bonus: you get category-level metrics that help you understand which categories in your newsletter get the most engagement (clicks).

But did you know you can hide category headers in the published issue while still using them to build your newsletter?

Reasons you might hide category headers:

  • You don’t like headers (maybe you just want a list of links with commentary and the categories aren’t necessarily public-facing)
  • You want some categories / sections that aren't content categories to feel different
  • You have one category and would prefer not to use a header for it

How to hide ALL category headers

In Curated, you can set the default category header style to “Hidden”.

  1. Click the gear icon to the top right of any page and click Settings
  2. Scroll down to the Issue Content section and click Look and Feel
  3. Set the Header Style to “Hidden”

Now any new category you create will default to the “Hidden” header style. You'll still need to change the header style for any existing categories you had before you made this change.

Partner Update is a Curated newsletter that’s set their default category header style to “Hidden.” In their published issue, there are no category headers, but they're still able to use categories as they are building out an issue to keep the building process easy.

How to hide INDIVIDUAL categories

You can hide some category headers while keeping others visible.

  1. Click the gear icon to the top right of any page and click Settings
  2. Scroll down to the Issue Content section and click Categories
  3. If no categories exist, create a new category by clicking New Category
  4. Click Look and Feel to the right of the category you want to hide
  5. Set the Header Style to “Hidden”

For an example of this, all you need to do is scroll to the bottom of Opt In Weekly. The signature section is its own hidden category.

Have questions about this? Let me know at support [at] curated.co.

 


New to Curated? Make a copy of this Getting Started with Curated Checklist to help launch your newsletter (public, private, or paid).

 

Opt In ChallengeOpt In Challenge

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.

Happy newslettering,

Ashley Guttuso