QUICK POLL

THE MAIN THING

 📈 3 Fresh Ways to Grow Your Newsletter

Newsletter cross-promotions work.

The trouble is you see the same types of cross promos everywhere. But the right cross promotion can bring hundreds of new subscribers to your newsletter every month. 

Why most newsletter creators skip cross promotions

I know that cross promotions feel like extra work when you're already juggling content creation, audience engagement, and everything else. 

Finding the right partners takes time, and coordinating your content ideas and schedules is a little effort. 

But that's exactly why the creators who lean into cross promos see such great results (most won't put in the work).

Realistically, you only need about 6 people to collaborate with over a year. You simply schedule two promos with each person twice a year.

Want some new ideas?

3 cross promotion ideas worth trying

Cross-commentary series: Instead of one-off swaps, create an ongoing conversation. Respond to each other's newsletter topics in your own issues. It's like a tennis match that keeps readers engaged across both publications.

Resource mashups: Bundle your best templates, checklists, or guides into one co-branded download. Both partners promote it to drive sign-ups for their lists. It's a win-win that provides real value upfront.

Host a themed AMA: Team up to run a joint Ask Me Anything session. Promote it across both your lists and social channels, requiring email opt-in to attend live or get the recap. You can run it on Zoom, LinkedIn, YouTube Live, or even as a two-part email Q&A published across both newsletters.

The best thing about these approaches is that they feel organic, not salesy. 

Your audience gets value, your partner's audience discovers you naturally, and everyone benefits.

Bonus tip: Shared subscriber surveys. Run joint audience research projects, offering exclusive results to subscribers of both newsletters.

Do you like these ideas?

Reply and tell me which one you're going to try first.

Don’t know where to start?

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THINGS IN BRIEF

1. 6 ½ ways to write faster

It's a great blog title, right?

Ever feel like writing your newsletter takes way longer than it should? Ann Handley has a great piece on how to speed things up without sacrificing quality. 

You might be surprised at what she suggests you do first, but there is science behind her recommendation.

What I love most is how simple these tweaks are. 

If writing faster sounds like a skill you want in your toolkit, Ann’s full article is worth the read.

2. When you publish a daily newsletter

Funny, but true. h/t to Tyler Morin for this observation

3. What's YOUR yellow lightbulb?

Tom Orbach takes a bunch of yellow lightbulb stress balls with him to meetups, roundtables, dinners, and conferences.

They're a talking point and a clever way to get people to remember you.

Check out how he uses them in this LinkedIn post.

What could you use as your yellow lightbulb?

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ONE LAST THING

☝️ Just checking in

Something interesting happened in my inbox. 

I got two emails from two different people with exactly the same three-word subject line: "Just checking in."

These emails came on the same day, too, and it wasn't the authors' usual publishing schedule. Just a coincidence, I guess.

But, it made me think about interrupting patterns. 

What would happen if you sent a random email on a different day/time from your usual newsletter?

Chenell Basilio posted that she received more replies than ever—over 185. 

But the unsubscribe rate was high! 

That's not necessarily a bad thing, because there's no point having unengaged subscribers on your list.

I don't know the results of Joe Pulizzi's 'checking in' email, but I'll try to find out and report back.

This is either a genius way to get feedback from your readers or a dumb way to annoy them on a Friday night.

If you've tried this tactic before, hit reply and tell me what happened.