This week’s newsletter is presented by beehiiv, an all-in-one newsletter suite with built-in growth and monetization tools. Start your journey with beehiiv today, absolutely free — no credit card needed.

I was on a call with a client last week, and they told me they wanted to build the best possible email strategy in 2024.

“That’s great,” I told them. “But I don’t want you to be thinking about what’s best. I want you to be thinking about what’s next.”

Thinking “best” can lead to magical thinking, to dreaming of blue sky situations where you’ve got all the budget and resources you need. It can lead to planning for a day that may not come.

Instead, take a look at what you’re doing right now and ask yourself: What’s the next thing we can do to make our newsletter strategy better?

It might be a small step, and that’s OK. Some of the best newsletters out there were built thanks to a lot of small steps forward.

The next step may not be perfect. It may just be… what’s next.

—Dan (say 👋 via email or LinkedIn)

10 Mistakes Non-Profits Make in Their Newsletters — And How to Fix Them

When I ran a survey of my audience last year, one of the most common requests was for more stories for non-profits.

So I asked my friend Ephraim Gopin, who has more than two decades of experience in the non-profit world, if he’d write something for Inbox Collective.

What he told me was that he sees non-profits make the same mistakes over and over in their newsletters. In this story, he walked through those 10 common mistakes — and outlined specific steps to help you fix them.

Even if you’re not in the non-profit space, I think you’ll find a thing or two you can learn from Ephraim to improve your email strategy. Avoid these 10 no-nos →

All of stories we publish this winter are presented thanks to beehiiv, an all-in-one newsletter suite built by the early Morning Brew team. It’s fully equipped with built-in growth and monetization tools, no code website and newsletter builder, and best-in-class analytics that actually move the needle.

Some of the top newsletters in the world are built on beehiiv. (Ephraim Gopin, who wrote this week’s article, even has a newsletter on beehiiv! It’s called Email 366 — he’s delivering one email tip for non-profits every day in 2024.) You can try beehiiv for free, with no credit card required. Get started with Beehiiv today.

*This content has been promoted by our partners*

In case you missed it...

Starting in February 2024, both Gmail and Yahoo will require anyone who sends 5,000 emails or more per day to have a DMARC policy in place. Even for small newsletters, that’s a low threshold to clear — you’re going to need to turn on DMARC. Here’s how to set it up.

Every good newsletter needs an exit plan. Here are four paths to consider.

Not every newsletter is trying to grow its audience quickly. For some indie newsletters, a focus on content or community — not growth — is the right move.

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📬 Want to work with Inbox Collective? Here’s how I can help you.

🎯 Want to reach an audience of 10,000+ people in the email space? Here’s how to become an advertising partner.

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Not a Newsletter - 📬 No. 17 | Mistakes Non-Profits Make

10 Mistakes Non-Profits Make in Their Newsletters — And How to Fix Them

In case you missed it...

Older messages

📬 No. 16 | Steps for Great Deliverability

📬 No. 15 | Can You Still Trust Click Rates?

📬 No. 14 | Picking the right platform for your newsletter

📬 No. 13 | What I Wish I’d Known

📬 No. 12 | The Hustle + Morning Brew alums shaping the future of newsletters

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