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independence3 unconnected · 2 more authors in those circles
applies to

b2b and consumer, needs an existing audience

confidence

high

evidence

6 claims · 6 articles · 4 receipts

window

2013-08-15 → 2024-04-20

3 builders who never spoke to each other

Turn the promo list into something worth opening

A list that only hears from you when you are selling degrades until nobody opens it, whereas a genuine issue built around a problem readers named keeps the same audience warm between launches. Two operators report subscribers and engagement rising sharply after the switch, and one treats reply volume as the leading indicator of whether the issue will sell anything.

The method

  1. 01

    Convert a promotional email list into a newsletter that carries useful content and invites replies, instead of only mailing when you have something to launch or sell.

  2. 02

    Keep the weekly send going after the product ships rather than dropping to update-only mail, and widen the topics past the product itself.

  3. 03

    Give the two weekly sends different jobs: one carries a single topic with steps the reader can act on, the other carries member wins and what you are working on.

  4. 04

    Run a recurring news section, but attach your own reading of what each item means for the reader, since relaying the same headlines everyone else has signals nothing about your expertise.

  5. 05

    Build one recurring edition where readers vote on an outcome, so the format itself becomes appointment reading and every vote is a click you can enter into a prize draw.

What it returned

  • 70%

    Tiffany Uman moved Peak Performers from years of email marketing to a newsletter content approach and saw subscribers grow 70% within a few months, with engagement rates up too.

  • 7,000

    Roughly a thousand words every Tuesday turned a buyer list into a newsletter that non-buyers were asking to join, reaching close to 7,000 subscribers from a single one in twelve months.

  • 50%

    Tiffany Uman sends Peak Performers on Mondays and Inner Circle on Fridays. Since the switch her open rate is close to 50% and subscribers are up more than 70%.

  • Jon Elder's weekly Amazon seller news section pairs each story with his interpretation of the impact on sellers, which he treats as the differentiator over restating the news.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in email

all email plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.