Prologue

I read something powerful recently and I wish I could remember who wrote it.

It was one of those things that you read quickly, think “makes sense,” then realize later how strong it is.

Like a time-released medication.

Here it is:

“Be the end of the search.”

It was in reference to SEO content, but it feels like, metaphorically, it could extend so far beyond web search results.

But, let’s start there first.

We’ve all been there.

You Google a phrase looking for an answer to the current problem you need to solve.

Cue the top-ranked articles for that keyword.

You click one.

Skim.

Note the advice.

Click “back.”

Pick a new result.

Skim it.

Very similar advice.

Click “back.”

Next result.

Same advice.

Ok, so they’re all saying the same thing: Do X, Y, Z.

But, maybe, just maybe, there’s a standout result.

It’s… better.

Less repetitive.

More actionable.

Worth adding to the swipe file.

Worth going ahead and executing on because the instructions are clear.

And you are also now aware of how the brand that published this actionable advice could further help you.

You didn’t go back to the search results.

Instead, you saw more content they created and recommended as helpful and thought, “Oh, yeah, I should look into that, too.”

Or you felt compelled to subscribe to receive more.

Or explore their case studies.

You might not convert on this blog article / video / whatever that was good enough to rank but different enough to end your search.

But now you have the most compelling version of the answer you were looking for and are aware the company that published it exists and sells a thing you might need.

Let’s think about the end of a search.

It’s the moment when you find what you are looking for.

The moment when you decide, “Yes. Let’s try this.”

Search happens in search engines, but it also happens in private networks, on social media networks (hello, TikTok is crazy popular for search now), in peer-to-peer conversations, and, basically, everywhere.

Think of it like the hiring process.

At some point, a hiring manager decides that a candidate is “the one.” The search is over. That person gets the offer. And the paycheck.

Your content, in whatever medium you distribute it—newsletter, blog, videos, paid media—should feel like the end of a search.

“I need a good resource for X.”

“Oh, brand Y creates trustworthy content about X. In fact, it’s so good, I’ll subscribe and stop looking for more.”

Your content goal: no “going back.”

If you posted about this concept recently, thank you. It stuck with me. Let me know who you are and I’ll give you the credit you deserve.

Newsletter Tips

Stuff You Can Steal From The Steal Club

Ever wish you could get a behind-the-scenes look at how another newsletter works? The Steal Club is pulling back the curtains to show you everything from their content creation process to future plans.

Discovered via Growth Marketer Weekly.

New Best(ish) Practices

Chad S. White of Oracle Marketing Consulting reports on new best practices his team are adopting as they overhaul newsletters for clients. He lists and explains 9 tactics you might want to consider.

My quick takes on a few of them:

1. Personalizing newsletter content (aka letting subscribers subscribe to select topics instead of everything you send). Big fan of this if you’re covering a variety of topics and can send separate newsletters. Alternatively, you can clearly label categories so your readers recognize mileposts and scroll to their favorites.
2. Teasing website content instead of delivering the goods in the email so you can count clicks. This is a post Mail Privacy Protection play to gather insights by measuring clicks more closely. But it’s not something I support because I feel requiring clicks to get to the good stuff is self-defeating. Try to create a balance if you’re employing this.
3. Creating read magnets (burying your most popular content near the bottom of the email but calling it out in the subject line / table of contents to entice the scroll). I'm lukewarm on this. I like the idea of including a fun kicker section that readers enjoy, but I don’t think it makes sense to make people scroll too far before they get to a highly valuable / popular piece of content. I think of the first 1-3 pieces of content in the newsletter as alpha content and consider it a shame if you’re willing to risk it not being seen. Don’t tease me. Deliver—before I get a distracting notification and shift focus.

Insights From A Newsletterer

In this 35-minute YouTube video, Larry Cornett asks For the Interested’s Josh Spector these 3 questions related to boosting your business via a newsletter:

1. How do you make your newsletter a must-read?
2. How do you balance paid advertising and organic marketing?
3. How do you structure your business?

Marketing

A Product-Led Content Rubric To Try

This LinkedIn post by Gaetano Nino DiNardi continues our conversation from last week about product-led content. He explains how to replace outdated marketing concepts with a product-led content framework and shares the rubric he uses as well as an excellent example in the comments.

Rand Fishkin (formerly Moz, now SparkToro) has been publishing pearls of wisdom lately:

“99% of content marketing fails.” In this LinkedIn video, Rand offered a tactic to help you become strategic before creating content: ask, “who will amplify this and why?”

Next, Rand shared a 90-second story he calls “The Parable of the Pizzaria” as a cautionary tale on wasting marketing dollars on channels that claim credit (think Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc.). Not sure if a channel is taking credit or actually incremental? Try shutting it off for a while.

If you’re not following Rand on LinkedIn yet, you should, if only to learn and mimic how he’s using the channel to distribute insights and build thought leadership. Notice he’s taking articles SparkToro published in the past and putting together quick presentations that can be consumed right in the feed (aka zero click content). Way more strategic than simply dropping links to recently published blogs.

As a bonus I’m tossing in this 44-minute episode of the Marketing Revisited podcast with Liam Moroney, where Rand offered insights into ICP research, including how to “do audience research properly”.

Taking A Podcast / Conversation First Approach To Content Marketing

Justin Simon encourages creators to “get off the content creation hamster wheel” (creating content for the sake of creating content) and offers a 5-step process for creating a content repurposing engine.

Want to see how this could play out in real life? Over on TikTok, I shared a new approach to content creating that starts with real conversations (first, show guest experts, then social media audience members who react to what we are posting) and turning those insights into long-form articles.

Here are 2 SEO tips you can add to your strategy:

1. Don’t overlook low search volume keywords:

MJ Peters encourages marketers to take a chance creating SEO articles with low-volume terms that are relevant to your business. The payoff might be more than you expect (even if it’s a couple of months down the road).

2. Be patient:

Si Quan Ong asks the question, “How long does SEO take to show results?” According to LinkedIn and Twitter polls: Between 3-6 months. This Ahrefs article explains why.

Writing

Radically Rethink The Way You Write: Use Smart Brevity

Is your writing actually keeping people’s attention? Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei shares how to say more with fewer words in this Ted Talk.

Discovered via For the Interested.

Should You Create Unique Brand Language?

“Crafting a unique language around your brand, community, and content can help your offering stand out, increase customer loyalty, and add an element of playfulness to your work.”

This Ghost article explains how to use unique language and offers examples from different industries.

Discovered via Ghost Newsletter.

Curation

Up Your Content Curation Game

We’ve shared a lot of “what is curation” links over our past 92 issues, and while this one isn’t anything revolutionary, it does serve as a good reminder of what to curate and why. If you’re a newer subscriber looking for curation tips, Cait Carter has you covered.

Also, if you’d like to dive down a rabbit hole of this SEO topic: we’ve included a few in the past.

Money Matters

What Type Of Newsletter Business Model Do You Need?

After talking with teams at hundreds of indie newsletters, Dan Oshinsky determined there are 5 categories, each needing a different business plan.

1. The Analyst
2. The Curator
3. The Expert
4. The Reporter
5. The Writer

Figure out what’s best for you.

Determine Your Subscribers’ Lifetime Value

How do you determine how much a newsletter subscriber is worth? Find out how to calculate your newsletter subscribers’ lifetime value with this calculator by Louis Nicholls at Sparkloop.

Discovered via Inbox Reads.

Curated News

Curated Archives

As we transition this newsletter from a primarily newsletter-focused newsletter, we’ll be phasing out Curated News. But, you can check out all past segments here to learn more about features and tips for using Curated.

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

Invest In Relationships

Josh Spector’s offering a secret to audience growth and this week your Opt In Challenge is to try it out. Here it is in a nutshell: “Spend less time creating content and more time building relationships.”

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 content marketing (and newslettering),