Prologue

In July of 1715, a fleet of Spanish ships left Havana, Cuba, heavy-laden with New World treasure from Central and South America to transport to Spain. It would be used to repay debts to other nations after The War of Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War). They carried

Gold

Silver

Emeralds

More specifically, words you hear but might not know exactly what to imagine (click the links, if you’re curious):

2, 4, and 8 Escudos

Pieces of Eight

Muzo mine emeralds

But, as we’re reminded today, nature had other plans.

A hurricane wrecked the ships against the reefs along the east coast of Florida, in a 40-ish mile area we know today as the Treasure Coast.

Over time, the remains were buried, the historic level resting on a limestone pan under five to ten feet + of sand.

I’ve worked as a deckhand and diver on modern day salvage operations, searching for these rare bits of history.

It’s a seasonal pursuit, only really viable during summer, when west winds create calm waters close to shore and create good visibility.

We anchor salvage boats in 3 places, lower galvanized aluminum elbows under the inboard motor props, and use the engine to dig holes in the sand, exposing limestone and allowing us to take a metal detector down and locate treasures.

But you’re not here to learn about treasure salvage.

Or history.

You want to know how your content (newsletter, social post, videos, blogs, etc.) can actually impact growth.

Imagine that finding treasure = growth.

If it was easy to do, anyone with a snorkel set could go on a free-for-all and be rich.

But it’s not.

It’s buried.

Under 10 feet of sand.

You have to be willing to go deep to achieve it.

You need insights on where to look and a solid strategy (aka, research and customer interviews that help you truly understand where to find them).

You need tools and funding to dig that deep (investing in subject matter expertise and strategic distribution).

You need the right conditions (what scenarios foster successfully capturing attention and building a strong relationship with your audience?).

And you need to go back day after day to make progress (1-hit content wonders aren’t a thing. Trust-building is. It requires consistent quality.).

Content-led growth relies on going deep on topics that truly matter to your audience, becoming your buyer’s trusted resource, and clearly tying that to what you sell and why they need it.

You won’t hit treasure creating fluff.

Here’s hoping you find some actionable gold in this week’s curated links.

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Newsletter Tips

Growth Takeaways

Billy Oppenheimer has seen The Daily Stoic grow from 50,000 subscribers to 500,000 subscribers, and is sharing 11 of his biggest takeaways, including

1. Simplify
2. Lengthen your timeline
3. Good content wins
4. Solve problems
5. And keep it concise

Check out his Twitter thread for the rest.

Discovered via The Tilt.

Avoid Creator Burnout

Are you on the verge of creator burnout? Many newsletter creators experience it.

Tamilore Oladipo explains how to identify it and offers tips from other creators on what you can do to avoid it.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

Marketing

Why Marketers Should Drive Business Strategy

Who are the best people to help businesses make decisions at a pace that keeps up with digital progress?

Kirsten Allegri Williams says it’s definitely marketers.

She explains why they are uniquely equipped here.

Discovered via UpContent.

Pirate These Ideas

In this refreshingly creative article, Joshua Nite lists five lessons marketers can learn from pirate movies (the gifs are spot-on, too).

He includes:

1. Treasure Island: Be Different to Be Remembered
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Be Entertaining but Useful
3. Muppet Treasure Island: Bring in a Ringer or Two
4. The Princess Bride: Use Storytelling to Build a Lasting Brand
5. Treasure Planet: Keep Exploring New Horizons

In short: if your brand isn’t creative and compelling, it may be time to make some changes.

Discovered via theCLIKK.

Helping Execs Understand How Long Marketing Takes

Sam Kuehnle breaks down how to communicate why your new strategy will take time and which early indicators to report on here.

Writing

Writing In The Waiting

Do you ever feel like the writing process is “labor and wait”?

So did Austin Kleon until he took a deep dive and came up with this new perspective:

“You don’t cease labor and wait, you labor and wait, laboring while you’re waiting.”

It’s less (or more) laborious than you think.

Discovered via Ghost Newsletter.

17 Straightforward Copywriting Tips

Marketing Examples put together these 17 straightforward copywriting tips.

A few of my favorites are “don’t kill your personality,” “find the tension,” and “write scannable copy.”

Curation

Are You Curating For SEO?

This article by Victoria Mortimer goes beyond “what is curation” (though she does include that), to explain why and how curation is important for SEO.

Money Matters

ROI Junkie?

Obsessed with proving ROI?

Charlotte Rogers warns of the tunnel vision brands succumb to and encourages marketers to expand their perspective.

Discovered via Raisin Bread.

The Cost Of A Writer

How much is a good writer worth?

In her LinkedIn post, Erin Balsa explains why there’s not a “one size fits all” answer and offers some examples of which factors (like expertise and content goals) drive the price up.

Opt In Challenge

Procrastinate Better

Struggling with prioritization?

This week your Opt In Challenge is to decide what not to do so you procrastinate the right things. This article by Ashley Janssen might help.

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),