Prologue

It was Monday.

9:45 a.m.

I got 3 consecutive text messages from 3 different moms on a field trip with my 9-year-old daughter Josie.

Each contained a photo of her from a slightly different angle.

And each induced a parental urge to get in my Jeep and drive to the local natural science museum, find her, pick her up, and make things better.

But my rational brain knew that by the time I arrived, the moment would have passed.

The terrible, terrible moment.

The one that unfolded after they called for volunteers and all the children nearly burst from wanting to be picked.

And she WAS.

They PICKED HER.

Do you remember this feeling?

It was magic, right?

Getting selected out of the crowd to do something important.

So Josie, thrilled at this opportunity, stood with 2 other 4th grade girls and followed instructions:

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

Y’all.

Those instructions alone foreshadowed a questionable ending, right?

The first object they were handed was a pipe cleaner.

Easy enough.

But then the process was repeated and

OH

GOOD

GRACIOUS

It was a SNAKE!

In these photos her skin is bright red.

Her face is mid-quiver.

She looks completely tortured, the 6-foot snake spread across the hands of 3 girls while the speaker holds it near the head, which is inches from Josie’s terrified face.

She doesn’t want to talk about it.

But she did say that she was somewhere between calm sobs and pure hysteria.

Yes. She rates her emotions. She has so many of them.

And had she known that getting picked would mean holding a snake she would have hidden under her chair.

When she got home, we hugged.

I told her I was proud.

She’s glad the whole thing is over.

So… newsletter creator, here’s the thing:

How do people end up on your subscriber list?

Make sure to set clear expectations.

And, if you’re using some sort of lead magnet, make absolutely sure that it’s so aligned with your newsletter content that wanting one means they’ll actually want the other. Better yet, earn a separate opt in to the newsletter.

I’m not saying your newsletter is the snake in this story.

But I am saying that some emails/newsletters have a way of slithering into my inbox uninvited.

Newsletter Tips

Newsletter Insights From A Newsletter Expert

In case you’re new here or haven’t caught on yet, I’m a big fan of Dan Oshinsky’s “Not a Newsletter.” This month he addresses:

• Gmail open rate inflation
• How to write a (sincere) apology email
• Best practices and benchmarks for newsletters
• And quite a bit more

Check out the full issue (it’s a Google Doc, not a newsletter 😉) here.

Ann Handley’s Proven Strategies For Growth

“Ann Handley thinks differently about newsletter strategy than most.”

It’s this “different thinking” that has helped propel her newsletter to 42,000 subscribers. This Campaign Monitor article breaks down just how she did it.

Psst: If you want to check out the many times we’ve included her tips and advice in Opt In Weekly, you can find them here.

Thinking Of Pausing? You’re Not Alone

Emily Atkin, author of the climate crisis newsletter Heated, is taking a hiatus.

Why?

She needs time and space to “rebuild her foundation.”

If you’ve ever felt the symptoms of newsletter burnout, check out her story.

Normalizing Smaller Engagement Numbers

How concerned are you with building a large subscriber list? In this issue of the Rebooting, Brian Morrissey explains why creators need to be okay with smaller numbers and what he calls “primary engagement media.”

Marketing

How Much Do You Know About Online Advertising?

Michal Pecánek defines online advertising like this:

“paying for exposure or traffic on the internet”

He then writes about online advertising benefits, principles, channels, and more in this guide to online advertising for Ahrefs.

Related: If you’ve ever struggled with deciding when to optimize vs. when to pay for traffic, this Hubspot article by Corinne McGinley might help.

A Little Help With Referrals

We know the value of referrals, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. Sophia Bernazzani breaks down how to ask clients for referrals and provides a helpful email template here.

Discovered via theCLIKK.

Extend Your Content’s Impact With These 11 Tips

Does your team share a content vision? If not, Ann Gynn argues even the best content marketing strategy isn’t enough.

Check out these tips to take content beyond the buyer’s journey.

Curation

Are You Maximizing Your Curated Content?

You curate content, then what? Here’s a helpful infographic from Andrew Hutchinson with 8 ways you can make the most of your curated content.

All Things Content Curation

This recent Hootsuite article by Michelle Martin covers content curation from a few angles:

• benefits
• best practices
• helpful tools
• software

Read it here.

Discovered via Social Media Today.

Publishing

“How can we grow?” If you’re a publisher, chances are you’ve asked yourself that question countless times. From strategies to content to competition, this week’s publishing insights offer a few answers to that never-ending question.

• If you’re looking to gain digital subscribers, these 6 prolific and lesser-known strategies from successful publishers (identified by David Tvrdon for The Fix) are worth trying.
• AI tools for editing and growing reader revenue are expanding, but just what are publishers planning to do with these? Faisal Kalim with WNIP takes a look and examines the possibilities here.
• Kayleigh Barber has identified an interesting trend: readers are engaging more with non-news content. Read how publishers are using this information to turn readers into subscribers.
• A Polish newspaper has over 280k digital subscriptions. Learn what they’re doing right (including editorial participation) in this WNIP article.
• The growth of newsletters has led to new opportunities for journalists, but what does this mean for legacy publishers trying to keep their writers? Bianca Barratt takes a look.

Money Matters

Can You Make Money Before Conversion?

Is conversion your ultimate goal? Now that one-fifth of The Daily Beast’s total revenue is made up of subscriptions, Kayleigh Barber writes how they’ve shifted to make money even before people subscribe.

Discovered via The Media Roundup.

Could These Recurring Subscription Ideas Work For You?

There are a lot of benefits to recurring subscriptions. Dana Nicole identifies some of them as well as 11 types of recurring subscriptions you can start now.

Discovered via Ghost Newsletter.

Related: Twitch is now offering an ad-incentive program for creators designed to make revenue more predictable. Sara Karlovitch has the full story here.

Discovered via Social Media Today.

Curated News

Hey everyone, Seth from Curated Success here.

Did you know Curated supports working as a team to build newsletters? You can invite unlimited users to a publication at no extra charge. That means can have a team of curators, editors, and writers who all work on different parts of the newsletter.

How to invite users:

• Click on the gear icon in my.curated to open a drop-down and select Users.
• Here you can invite new users, set user roles, and manage existing users.

Why adding teammates is helpful:

More users collecting links means the work of collecting isn’t just one person’s job. Plus, you’ll get a more diverse selection of content. When a user saves a link using Curated’s link collection tools, it’s sent to the Collected Items page in Curated. Here, an editor can select what to include in the next issue and immediately import it.

How to keep it simple for link contributors:

You can invite a colleague to your publication, give them their secret email address, and ask them to email any links they think would be good for your publication. This way, they can contribute relevant links without needing to log into Curated.

Do you curate as a team? 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

Prevent Future Creator Burnout

Even if you’re passionate about your work and love having a creative outlet, burnout is still possible. This week your Opt In Challenge is to keep your creative work on track by taking (at least) one of these seven actions to prevent future burnout.

Discovered via Ghost Newsletter.

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,