2 builders who never spoke to each other

Give the list something the public feed never gets

A newsletter that is published on the web first and pushed out afterwards is not worth subscribing to, because nothing in it is yours to receive. Early access, behind-the-scenes material and reader replies added back into the piece under their own name make the inbox version the real one.

The method

1. 01

   Give the email list a reason to exist alongside the public feed: early access to new episodes plus material that does not go out publicly.

2. 02

   Keep a newsletter exclusive to the inbox instead of publishing it on the web first and pushing it out socially, because nothing feels special once anyone can read it.

3. 03

   When a reader answers your emailed post with a better version of your own story, add their reply to the published piece under its own heading and credit them by name.

What it returned

• Alongside the iTunes and Stitcher links, Hillman offered email subscribers future episodes ahead of the feed plus behind the scenes extras.

• Arch Daily is given as the website-first pattern and Dru Riley's Trends.vc as the inbox-only one. Nine in ten Email Love submissions were Substack publications looking for distribution.

• After mailing the commute post to his list, Hillman appended a reader note from Marion and an embedded tweet from Amanda Renzulli about running into him in a coffee queue.

Sources

• Listen to The Coworking Weekly Show! Here are the first 3 episodes.Alex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · Subscribe to get new episodes · 2014-11-01
• How my commute changed my relationship with my communityAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · Different Hats · 2019-09-01
• Discontinuing Email Newsletter Discovery - Rob HopeRob Hope · robhope.com · 1. Blogs and Newsletters are merging and it’s confusing · 2021-09-20