Prologue

Guess what people don’t love to read:

Stories that don’t have CONFLICT.

It’s true.

I intentionally use emojis in the subject line of this newsletter so I can scan the reply-to inbox and see which issues get the most direct responses.

And, no surprise, the ones where there’s actually a bit of plot in the intro get way more replies than the ones without.

Think about it.

You’ll hear people say, “Oh, that was such a good story.”

What they really mean is, “I was emotionally invested in the outcome.”

So it’s easy to understand why when I shared about my family’s struggle to get to our cruise port in time after a canceled flight, I got messages from people saying they’d stopped everything to read about it.

And it’s also easy to understand why a less conflicted story about how gemstone hunting (and the jewelry made from it) is like curating quality content results in less response. It teaches a lesson, but there’s not really anything at stake.

So… what am I getting at?

Should every issue of our newsletters drive intense emotional response?

I don’t think it’s possible.

Think about your favorite television series.

Sometimes it’s full of drama and surprise.

But there are also episodes dedicated to character and plot development, where nothing seems to happen.

They’re episodic in nature, moving the bigger story forward.

Our bigger story here is the universal conflict of being a newsletter creator.

We live in a land of conflict:

What to write about.

When to send.

How to grow an audience genuinely interested in what we create.

How to connect with that audience beyond the inbox.

All the opens and clicks and metrics tied to the unfolding of a narrative between you and the people who subscribe to the thoughts that burst from your brain.

Sometimes you will be on fire, telling an intense story.

Sometimes you will share little bits of yourself that help your readers without tapping into conflict.

And, perhaps, if you talk to them enough, you can bring them on a transformative journey that feels more like a weekly letter from a friend, where it seems like nothing really happened, but, in fact, so much actually did.

This week’s round up of newsletter tips and insights includes an article about owning the conversation (see Marketing). What conversation do you want to own, and are you doing that in your newsletter?

Newsletter Tips

Should You Publish On Weekends?

There’s an emerging trend among newsletter publishers to start releasing weekend editions, and one of the most notable is theSkimm. Why?

“‘Previously, theSkimm would keep in touch with its audience on the weekends through social media,’ said Eugenia Cassidy, vp of content development at theSkimm. But the team felt there was a ‘gap’ in the engagement between the brand and their readers on Saturday and Sunday.”

Learn why other newsletters are jumping on board and consider the potential benefits here. (Fair warning: If you’re not a Digiday+ member, part of the article may be blocked, depending on how many free article views you’ve used in the past month.)

Discovered via Inbox Reads.

Newsletter Terminology 101

Pop quiz: can you define bounce rate, mobile responsiveness, and permalink? If you want to brush up on your newsletter terminology, check out Casey Botticello’s Newsletter Glossary.

Note: It’s officially titled Newsletter Terminology (The Ultimate Newsletter Glossary), but it’s more of a primer. Hence, 101 in our title here.

Discovered via Inbox Reads.

Can You Improve Your Sending?

In this episode of “Email’s Not Dead”, Laura Atkins, CEO of anti-spam consultancy and software firm Word to the Wise, shares what happens when email goes wrong and explains how you can become a better sender.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

Marketing

Could Your Brand Own That Conversation?

In this Springboard article, Lieu Pham breaks down how to create ownable conversations to better engage with niche communities.

The good bits:

“Ownable conversations sit at the intersection of your brand value proposition and the content zeitgeist — the big shifts, key themes, challenges, and opportunities within your industry. So in theory, it’s as simple as answering two questions:

1. What is your value proposition?, and

2. What is the content zeitgeist?”

To do this, you might want to check out the Ownable Coversations Framework in the article. The circle graph will be your guide.

Discovered via Social Media Today.

The 5 Levels Of Content According To A Tweet

What is “high-quality content”? Tim Soulo of Ahrefs was tired of this buzz phrase so he broke down what he considers to be the 5 levels of content in this tweet.

TL;DR

Level 1: Simple listicles

Level 2: Advanced listicles

Level 3: Guides / Deep dives

Level 4: Experiments / Surveys

Level 5: Research studies / Original ideas

But you’re going to want to click through to understand how he defines each content type.

Discovered via Ghost Newsletter.

Expert Recommended Content Marketing Tools

Looking for tools to research, optimize, and distribute content? This list by Camille Trent for MarketerHire rounds up solutions recommended by a handful of top marketers.

Feels like Tim Soulo would say this piece is a level 2.8 (with a pinch of 4 since experts were surveyed?).

Discovered via Raisin Bread.

How Are You Marketing In The Metaverse?

Recently over 800 marketers were surveyed to discover how they were approaching the metaverse, cryptocurrency, and NFTs. Andrew Hutchinson summarizes the findings in this Social Media Today article.

Key findings

• “41% of marketers believe that they understand the metaverse well - while more than 1 in 10 don’t understand it at all
• Over half of those who understand the metaverse will be looking to use it in their marketing strategies this year
• Accepting crypto payments and creating branded NFTs are among the top recommendations from marketers relating to new tech”

Discovered via Social Media Today.

A Google Ads Setting To Be Aware Of

If you want to control your ad copy, you may need to turn off the “Ad-suggestion” setting in Google. Myles Madden explains why and how in his LinkedIn post.

Curation

Another Guide To Content Curation With Tips

It feels like the web is experiencing a deluge of this particular type of article.

The setup is pretty predictable:

What is content curation, its benefits, and how do I do it?

I include them for the Opt In Weekly first-timers looking to master curation.

In this rendition, we’re told that the result of high-quality content curation is that “Your audience stays engaged.”

Well, yes.

But the best advice is probably hidden in a list of best practices (even if it’s worded a little awkwardly):

“Discuss about what you share and give your own point of view so that your unique brand voice shines through.”

Aka: Really good curation should include your spin on why you think it’s worth your reader’s time. (Even if it’s as simple as me writing that this article is par for the course of articles about content curation, but does contain this little gem.)

Read the rest here.

Discovered via UpContent.

Publishing

When it comes to our newsletter readers, engagement is the goal. This week we’re looking at ways to improve engagement both now and in the future.

• “Any story’s a good story if you can get me to read it.” Faisal Kalim writes about how publishers are engaging readers using wire stories in this WNIP article.
• According to Rick Edmonds, the key to engaging mistrustful newsreaders is this: “Do it quickly.”
• Innovation in media is booming, so why is it innovation in email advertising seems to be stalled? Esther Kezia Thorpe with Media Voices takes a look.
• CEO and President of FIPP, James Hewes thinks that publishers have no choice but to adapt to the changing landscape. This WNIP article explains why.
• Are your subscribers frustrated or engaged? According to Madeleine White, it’s a careful balancing act.
• If your newsletter is going to be competitive, it may help if it’s “on-trend.” Sarah Ebner identifies newsletter trends in this InPublishing article.

Money Matters

Which Business Model Are You Building?

According to ​​Nathan Barry, the founder and CEO of ConvertKit, you’re either building a skyscraper or a strip mall. Jay Clouse explains what these 2 business models are and why you would want to build them here.

Discovered via For the Interested.

Curated News

Collect Favorited Pocket Articles To Curated

Hey, everyone. Seth with Curated Success here.

Curating a newsletter is a challenging task, but using a bookmarking service to save links that you can later add to your newsletter can make the process a lot easier.

Curated has a number of ways to quickly collect links to your publication and one of the most versatile options is our Zapier integration. You can use this integration with a bookmarking tool like Pocket to automatically send favorited articles to your publication’s Collected Items in Curated.

Here’s what you’ll need in order to use the Pocket Zap:

• A Curated account
• A Pocket account
• A Zapier account

Once you have these accounts, you can enable our preconfigured Pocket Zap here.

During the Zap setup, you’ll be able to choose which publication you want the favorited articles to be sent to. Once you choose that, be sure to map the URL field to Resolved URL from Pocket. You can also add more customizations to the Zap, such as bringing over the article’s image. Finally, you can test the Zap to make sure everything is working correctly and you’ll be good to go.

If you have any questions about setting this up, let me know!

P.S. Using a different bookmarking tool? Check out our list of Preconfigured Zaps to see if we have a Zap for it, or you can build your own Custom Zap.

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

Newsletter Referral Programs: Match The Reward To The Content Value Prop

Brett Dashevsky recently tweeted an example of what not to do when it comes to referral programs, and then says this: “the value prop of content should match the value prop of rewards.”

This week’s challenge is to check it out, and then consider what a good referral program for your newsletter might be.

Discovered via The Rebooting.

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,