Afleveringen

  • In this episode, Louis shares how to effectively monetize and scale your newsletter business. He also talks about diversifying revenue streams beyond ads and subscriptions, calculating lifetime subscriber value, and aggressive paid acquisition tactics used by the largest newsletters.


    Key timestamps:

    00:27 - Intro to Louis Nicholls and Spark Loop


    02:45 - Louis talks about the payback period and subscriber lifetime value and how they interplay.


    06:51 - What are some common ways to decrease the payback period?


    11:44 - The 2x2 matrix for revenue streams


    13:12 - How do huge subscriber lists under-monetize?


    16:30 - Would you encourage having both donations and subscriptions?


    19:57 - How do you categorize different revenue streams?


    23:08 - The difference between donations and tips vs subscriptions?


    25:14 - Intermission questions


    28:41 - What are some products or services newsletter operators sell that you've seen really take off?


    37:04 - Do you think publishers should diversify into more products/services?


    41:41 - How would you monetize the top 1% of a publisher's audience?


    45:50 - How is newsletter advertising different from website advertising?


    47:18 - Best practices for optimizing and getting more revenue


    Show Notes

    SparkLoop

    Upscribe

    Chiz Media

    James Clear

    Techcrunch

    Vox

    Clearbit

    Why We Buy

    Substack


    Guest

    Louis Nicholls - Twitter

    SparkLoop

    Host

    Lesley Sim Twitter

    Lesley Sim Website

    Stay in touch

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • In this episode, Naomi provides insights into Invoice2go's efforts to grow their newsletter program. She shares learnings from experiments with segmenting their audience and testing different approaches, as well as the real-world limitations and challenges in executing tests and getting buy-in.


    Key timestamps:


    00:53 - Naomi discusses her role at Invoice2go and the goals of using email to drive activation and monetization


    02:15 - Inheriting an existing email program and getting a "blank slate" for an overhaul with the rebrand


    09:17 - Three pillars of the customer life cycle


    15:18 - Starting a segmented newsletter strategy for different audiences


    17:40 - Testing content performance but unable to find statistical significance


    20:32 - Changing no-reply to actual email for a two-way communication channel


    24:55 - Intermission questions


    29:33 - The three newsletters Naomi picked for Invoice2go


    35:07 - Successful testing of personalized outreach from faux personas


    38:46 - Call to action versus call to value test.


    43:35 - Doing list hygiene for the Later newsletter


    45:00 - Steps taken to turn engaged subscribers into paying customers


    47:13 - Key learning from the time at Later


    Show Notes

    Parcel

    Invoice2Go

    Braze

    Cordial

    Amplitude

    Customer.io

    Later

    Bridget Casey

    EcoSend


    Guest

    Naomi West - Twitter

    Naomi West - Instagram

    Naomi West - Website 

    Host

    Lesley Sim Twitter

    Lesley Sim Website

    Stay in touch

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


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  • In this episode, Carin Slater provides behind the scenes at Litmus as she and her team plan, design, develop, test, and analyze the company's 4 newsletters. She outlines their Agile Marketing process, creative freedom, and focus on engagement and accessibility in each newsletter they produce. Carin also discusses the extensive research and work that went into fully redesigning their flagship newsletter, Litmus News.


    Key Timestamp


    00:42 - Overview of the 4 newsletters Carin produces at Litmus

    01:11 - Carin's role in building Litmus' newsletters

    02:08 - Process for planning the Litmus News newsletter

    03:08 - How the team collaborates on newsletter copy and content

    10:35 - Using Jira for project management and tasks

    11:03 - The Litmus team's agile marketing process

    16:24 - Process of building the Litmus weekly email

    25:04 - Adding UTM codes for tracking

    26:23 - Using the Litmus and Marketo tracking pixel

    27:53 - Using checklist for auditing

    30:35 - Optimizing QA testing for top email clients

    35:14 - Tracking and analyzing link click rates

    40:17 - Having fun with newsletter production

    43:24 - Intermission questions

    49:34 - Reason for redesigning the Litmus newsletter

    53:18 - Incorporating user feedback into design

    57:45 - Challenges with personalization

    1:05:28 - What determines if the redesign was a success?

    1:13:16 - Where to find Carin and subscribe to her newsletter


    Show Notes

    Litmus

    JIRA

    Agile Marketing

    Slack

    Asana

    Google Doc

    Figma

    Marketo

    UTM Codes

    Apple MPP- Apple Mail Privacy Protection

    Litmus Scope

    Linktree


    Guest

    Carin Slater/@carinslater

    Carin Slater Linktree

    Host

    Lesley Sim Twitter

    Lesley Sim Website

    Stay in touch

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • In this episode, Dan Oshinsky shares his insights on proven growth tactics for publishers and content creators. He breaks down strategies that work at different stages, from just starting out to having over 1 million subscribers. Dan provides tips on optimizing signup forms, using lead magnets, referral programs, contests, earned media, paid acquisition, and more.


    Key Timestamps


    01:41 - Dan's epic guide of 52 ways to grow your email list

    02:09 - What are some foundational principles of growth?

    05:46 - Creating a compelling "why subscribe" message.

    06:37 - Create a newsletter landing page.

    07:30 - Publishers need signup forms in multiple places

    11:41 - Adding signup form at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% for long articles

    15:24 - What are some of the best growth tips for a list with 10K people?

    17:47 - Contests and giveaways to get signups and engagement from readers.

    23:42 - Lead magnets work well for publishers of any size.

    28:04 - Referral programs work best above 10-25k subscribers.

    39:25 - Are there growth tactics that you’d like to share for publishers in the 10K to 100K range?

    41:44 - How does using brackets work to grow your list?

    48:39 - Let's go to one million subscribers. What tactics work at this stage?

    55:53 - What's one uncommon growth tip you like that you wish you'd see more often?

    58:15 - What's your favorite ESP and why?

    01:01:20 - What's your favorite must-read newsletter?

    01:02:09 - What's your favorite piece of advice for a new set of publishers?


    Show Notes


    Inbox Collective

    The New Yorker

    BuzzFeed

    52 Ways to Grow Your Email List

    Nathan Barry

    Beehiiv 

    Substack

    Carrd

    OptinMonster

    Poptin

    WPForms

    Spark Loops

    Upscribe

    Madison Minutes

    Tone Madison

    Charlotte Ledger

    Berkshire Eagle

    AWeber

    ConvertKit

    Second Street

    Google Forms

    Typeform


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  • Saeedreza Abbaspour discusses proven strategies for optimizing landing pages, maximizing conversions, and safeguarding subscriber integrity when building a high-traffic media publishing platform. 


    Key timestamps


    00:25 - Who is Saeedreza Abbaspour?

    01:24 - Discussion on optimizing the customer acquisition funnel for a site with 100k subscribers with a goal of reaching 1 million.

    03:19 - What typically happens after a user lands on the landing page from an ad click?

    04:14 - What do you do to optimize that landing page?

    10:23 - How customizable are the landing pages you build?

    14:35 - With the free subscriber journey, how long do the campaigns typically last?

    18:51 - What should be on an optimized checkout page?

    22:51 - Intermission questions

    26:40 - Transition to scalability and security of a high-traffic platform.

    28:06 - Using WordPress for flexibility, and developer availability.

    37:10  - Do you use plugins that are available or build your own?

    38:08 - What form plugins do you use?

    41:57 - What hosting do you recommend?

    42:55 - How do you deal with bot attacks?

    46:43 - Double opt-in vs. reCAPTCHA?

    53:52 - Using ChatGPT to detect spam subscribers

    57:13 - How long of email inactivity triggers subscriber removal?

    59:06 - What key mistake do rookies make in building publishing platforms?


    Show Notes

    Refact

    The Hustle 

    The Daily Upsight 

    Workweek

    Advance Custom Field

    reCAPTCHA

    Newsletter Glue

    Gravity Forms

    WPForms

    Cloudflare

    WPEngine

    Beehiiv

    Substack

    WooCommerce

    Cloudflare Turnstyle


    Guest

    Saeedreza Abbaspour/@IAmSaeedreza

    Refact


    Host

    Lesley Sim: Twitter / Website


    Stay in touch

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • In this episode, Tyler Channell reveals how his company Paywall Project helps small town news sites build subscription funnels that convert readers into paying subscribers. With real examples and data, he provides an actionable blueprint to implement key strategies like metered paywalls, free to paid content upgrades, and sponsorships.


    Key timestamps


    1:41 - The problem small local news publishers come to Tyler to solve

    2:10 - Publishers moving from platforms like Pico/Hype which lack flexibility

    5:00 - Migrating off limiting SaaS platforms like Substack

    7:18 -  Services that Paywall Project offers

    9:04 - Example of a client earning $5k/month in a small town of 5,000 people

    10:46 - Public notice revenue at risk, need for a subscription model

    17:45 - Focusing on free signups over paid at first

    21:01 - Typical subscription conversion rates Tyler sees

    22:27 - Intermission questions

    23:00 - Pricing strategy and how to determine subscription cost

    31:45 - Newsletter sponsorships as an additional revenue source

    33:43 - Range of rates that publishers charge for their ads

    39:15 - How much should a publisher charge for a subscription?

    44:50 - Tyler's recommendations for email service providers


    Show notes

    Paywall Project

    Hype

    Substack

    Newsletter Glue

    WordPress

    Stripe

    San Francisco Chronicle

    Sendy

    Amazon SES

    Slack

    Mailchimp

    ChatGPT


    Guest

    Tyler Channell Twitter/@TylerChannell

    Paywall Project Twitter/@paywallproject

    Paywall Project


    Host

    Lesley Sim Twitter

    Lesley Sim Website


    Stay in touch

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • In this episode, Cedric Chin shares how “earned secrets” are at the core of creating viral, thought leadership content. He shares his process for writing long-form articles and stresses how consistently publishing on a schedule can help build readership.


    Key timestamps:


    0:30 – Who is Cedric Chin?

    1:45 – What is Commoncog about?

    9:59 – Definition of “going viral” and thought leadership

    11:07 - Four types of thought leadership according to Ryan Law

    12:25 – Example of a viral “Yes, and” article Cedric wrote  

    15:14 – Example of a viral article challenging a truism

    21:48 – The “ripple effect” of viral content 

    26:27 – Cedric’s most viral articles and how he identifies viral potential

    36:08 – Cedric on why he aims to always share his “earned secrets” 

    39:38 – Intermission questions

    44:30 – Cedric explains his process for writing long-form articles

    52:09 – What beginners get wrong about writing high-quality thought leadership content 

    57:44 – Cedric recommending the Poynter writing tools course


    Show notes

    Commoncog blog

    Animalz blog post on thought leadership

    Hacker News

    Goodhart’s Law article

    Poynter 50 writing tools course

    ConvertKit

    Money Stuff newsletter by Matt Levine


    Guest

    Cedric Chin Twitter/@ejames_c

    Commoncog website


    Host

    Lesley Sim Twitter

    Lesley Sim Website


    Stay in touch

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • In this episode, Alyssa provides valuable insights into various deliverability challenges faced by email senders and offers practical strategies to ensure successful email campaigns and maintain a positive sending reputation.


    Key timestamps

    00:18 - Who is Alyssa Dulin?

    01:38 - How to prevent email deliverability issues after a long break from sending newsletters.

    04:23 - Tips for warming up your email list gradually to maintain a good sending reputation.

    08:02 - Understanding the promotions tab in Gmail and dealing with emails going to spam.

    10:40 - Steps to take if an ESP gets blacklisted.

    18:49 - Intermission questions

    20:58 - Challenges with business email addresses bouncing.

    26:38 - Understanding email spoofing.

    26:55 - DMARCIAN.com is recommended as a resource for information and guidance on setting up DMARC records.

    31:16 - Addressing automatic opens and clicks.

    35:33 - Handling open rate drops and spam issues after switching ESPs.

    43:05 - Kickbox, a helpful email validation tool for checking email health


    Key links

    EmailTooltester

    MxToolbox

    M3AAWG

    Dmarcian

    Kickbox

    Alyssa Dulin Website

    Alyssa Dulin Twitter/@alyssa_dulin

    Alyssa Dulin Podcast - Deliverability Defined


    Host:

    Lesley Sim Twitter

    Lesley Sim Website


    Stay in touch:


    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Twitter

    Sticky.fm Website


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • This is a trailer for the launch of our new podcast called Sticky from Newsletter Glue. Sticky will feature interviews with newsletter experts on topics like growth, paywalls, and deliverability. The goal is to provide actionable advice to help media companies and newsrooms build successful newsletters. New episodes will be released weekly every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.