Prologue

The air is pretty thin at 12,000 feet.

But also exhilarating.

Kind of like when you walk outside in winter just to feel the cold air in your lungs.

Except, you know, at 12,000 feet you’re more likely balanced on the side of a mountain.

At least that’s where I was last time I was in Colorado.

I think it was 2016.

My husband and I were taking a group on an aquamarine adventure on Mount Antero.

Yes. You read that right.

We were literally hunting for aquamarines.

Which meant we spent our days scraping rocks off of rocks, precariously perched on what felt like a glorified gravel pile, watching for little glints of light reflecting off the pale blue, dust-covered crystals.

The view up there, above the treeline (which is where we camped at 10,000 feet) was absolutely stunning.

But while the panoramic scene is incredible, you find aquas looking down, not out.

And if you’re looking extra carefully, you’ll miss the signs.

Those slivers of crystals look like bits of glass, but everything is covered in a brown dust, so you have to train your eyes to seek them.

We found a decent haul that trip.

On the last day, I took my time scaling the climb to a ledge where we’d been working for the past 2 days.

The sun was at a perfect angle for me to see that the mountainside was covered with tiny aquamarines.

I couldn’t pass them by, so I slowed down and collected one after another after another.

Most were tiny.

As I neared the top of my climb, I almost lost my balance and went sliding down when I saw an aquamarine about the circumference of a C battery. It’s 24 carats.

I wouldn’t have found it if I didn’t go so slowly, and it wouldn’t have seemed so massive if I hadn’t been picking up all the tiny ones along the way.

This past weekend, Sal gave me a necklace and earring set made out of a few of our aquamarines and some gold he’d found in Nevada to celebrate a special birthday.

It captures the memory as artwork, and reminds me of our adventure.

The process of finding them is not something most people would endure.

You have to really enjoy the moments of discovery and the moments building up to the next discovery.

Which is very much like curating and creating a newsletter.

There’s a lot to process.

Sometimes an article title or a new thought on a topic feels like it should serve my reader, then I dig deeper and discover the title is the best part.

And sometimes there’s highly relevant content waiting to be found and set into a lovely composition you’ll actually value.

If you’re curating content and contextualizing, get ready to spend some time on the mountainside doing what other people don’t have the patience or energy to do.

The air is thin up there.

Aquamarines

The result of quality curation: my new necklace and earrings set

Newsletter Tips

An Interview With Brian Morrissey

Brian Morrissey’s newsletter The Rebooting covers the media industry. Ashley Norris with FIPP recently interviewed him.

The Q&A includes a dive into his newsletter / podcast creation process, plus his predictions for the future of publishing.

“And what about entrepreneurs? Is there still space to launch and develop a successful newsletter?”

“There are many, many ways to build a sustainable media business so long as the cost basis is held in check. I think there’s always room for products with a clear point of view that is essential for a specific community. My advice is to always go narrow and deep.”

Do You Know What BIMI Is?

As a newsletter creator, improving visibility and increasing open rates is important. BIMI (or Brand Indicators for Message Identification) can help. Learn what it is and why it matters here.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

5 Lessons On Creating A Curation Newsletter

Have you ever wondered how curation works and how to apply it to your newsletter? Robert Cottrell, founder of the Browser, is sharing curation lessons worth checking out in this article.

Promotion alert: his 5th lesson is to use Ghost, which makes sense since the article is written for the Ghost website. I’m obviously biased and think Curated gets the job done really well, too 😉. Check out how Curated users collect links and this video of our process at Opt In Weekly.

Discovered via Ghost Newsletter.

All Things Alt Text

Alt text. Max Kohler shares what it is, why to use it, how to write it, and more in this post.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

Marketing

Controversial Marketing Attribution Approach: Trust Your Gut

Rand Fishkin is advising marketers to take a counterintuitive approach: forget accurately tracking every step of the buying journey and trust your gut.

He explains why in this Sparktoro article.

Don’t Try These Email Marketing Ideas

Sometimes it’s best to learn what not to do. In this 12-minute video episode of “Email Never Sleeps”, Andrew Kordek and guest Mark Pollard discuss email marketing ideas that failed.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

Curation

Curation Tips And Tools Roundup

Strategic content curation is time-consuming if you want to do it well. Check out this Peep Strategy article, which lists effective tools, strategies, and tips.

Strategies For Finding Great Content

Are you struggling to find content to share? Josh Spector shares 3 strategies to try, including joining a niche community.

Discovered via For the Interested.

Publishing

What are publishers doing to usher in a new era of media?

• Morning Brew recently surpassed 4 million subscribers, but they aren’t stopping there. Alex Sherman writes about their plans and avenues they are exploring here.
• AI is here and here to stay. Nausicaa Renner explains that publishers have a responsibility to understand it.
• Recent world challenges have paved the way for changes in journalism. But will that mean less competition and more collaboration? Nieman reports that it should here.
• In this Digiday article, Sara Guaglione covers how the New Yorker recently switched up their newsletter, “The Daily”, to have more personality and a distinct voice.
• Ken Doctor is coining a new word that may help you describe what you do, too: “newspub”. Learn what it is here.
• People have strong opinions about Big Tech. T. Alexander Puutio thinks breaking it up completely would be a mistake.

Curated News

Hey, everyone. Seth with Curated Success here.

Sending a personalized welcome message to new subscribers is a great way to connect and immediately provide valuable content.

In your welcome message, you can link to your most popular links or past issues so that new subscribers can benefit from subscribing right away.

This is also a great opportunity to start a conversation with new subscribers. Ask them a question that encourages them to respond to the welcome message, like what their biggest challenge in your topic area is. This will not only help you understand what your readers need from you, it will also be the foundation of what can feel like a 1:1 relationship with them.

If you’re looking to spice yours up, check out this roundup of welcome email advice we’ve curated for Opt In Weekly.

Here’s how you can customize your newsletter’s welcome message in Curated:

1. Go to your publication’s Settings
2. Scroll down to the Hosting, Subscriptions, and Publishing section
3. Click Subscription Messages

If you have any questions about setting up your welcome message, let me know!

Curated Crash Course Today At 4 PM Central

Curated Crash Course is today at 4 PM CT!

As usual, the first 30 minutes include a tutorial on getting started with Curated followed by a Q&A session that begins at 4:30.

This is built to be a come-and-go Zoom call, so feel free to hop in whenever you can and leave when you have to.

If you have any questions about Curated or newsletters, we created a Google Form where you can submit them.

Seth will answer them live at Curated Crash Course during the Q&A segment of the session, but if you can't make it, he’ll send you a recording so you can see your questions answered.

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

Opt In Challenge

Have You Tested Your Newsletter In Dark Mode?

From browsers to devices, dark mode is becoming more and more popular. This week your Opt In Challenge is to test your newsletter in dark mode. Learn why and how in this Email on Acid article.

Signature

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,