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Hey! Today's article below could save you from losing 20-40% of your subscribers.

I've personally lost over 2000 subscribers to this "best practice." I don't want you to make the same mistake.

But first...

Chenell and I just dropped our second podcast episode. And wouldn't you know it?

→ It's full of other mistakes we see newsletter operators (including us both!) making all the time.

We share 12 of the most common newsletter mistakes—and how to avoid or fix them.

​

Let's normalize mistake-making!

I'd love to hear which of these mistakes you've made or are making—maybe we can help you fix them:

I've lost 1000s of subscribers to this newsletter “best practice”

I want you to learn from my mistakes.

Don’t make this common mistake with your newsletter…

I turned this setting “ON” in my ESP and wound up with hundreds upon hundreds of subscribers I couldn’t actually email.

They were in newsletter list purgatory.

I couldn't even touch 'em.

There was no way for me to get them out despite the fact they signed up for my newsletter.

So what was the setting that had them stuck?

The good ol' “Double Opt-In” setting.

WTF is “Double Opt-In?”

Double opt-in forces a new subscriber to “confirm” their subscription to your newsletter before they can receive other emails from you.

You’ve 100% received one of these annoying emails from a newsletter you just subscribed to. They look like this:

Some countries (like Germany) have mandated double opt-in when collecting email addresses.

Many others recommend it as a best practice.

And yes, while it has the potential to protect your email list from a spam bot attack, it’s most likely hurting you rather than helping you.

Here’s why.

How Double Opt-In Is Killing Your Newsletter

Double opt-in gives you ONE CHANCE to get your new subscriber’s attention.

If your email lands in their spam/junk folder, you’re sh*t out of luck 💩

Same thing if it lands in their Promotions tab or gets buried in their inbox.

Experts believe you’ll lose 20–40% of potential newsletter subscribers to double opt-in purgatory.

And look, I get it. I don’t want spammy bot accounts subscribing to my newsletter.

Especially if I’m paying for those subscribers.

After all, the whole point of double opt-in is to ensure real humans (not bots) are intentionally joining your newsletter.

Having heaps of “fake” accounts on your email list can negatively impact your open rate, click rate, and even worse, your sender reputation.

But turning the double opt-in setting to “ON” in your ESP’s is the wrong solution. At least, it is for me.

So instead, take back control and create your own double opt-in.

How To Build Your Own Double Opt-In

There are 3 steps to building your own double opt-in.

1. Tagging (or segmenting) new subscribers
2. Creating a custom Welcome email for each tag
3. Building a basic ‘double opt-in’ automation

And I run through each step in the full article here >>​

Cool Newsletter I'm Digging

VeryGoodCopy by Eddie Shleyner Join some 75K email subscribers Enjoy unique, addictive, and meticulously crafted "micro" lessons about copywriting, creativity, and storytelling. Subscribe​

Cool Tool I'm Using

Spiral.app (by Every.to)

It's one of the most useful AI tools I've found when it comes to creating subject lines, hooks, threads, and social posts.

The best part?

You train it on your existing content. So it generates results that are in your voice.

(Or at least as close as most AI tools come to it.)

​Check out Spiral →​

Newsletter Growth Sesh

Remove blindspots and get a fresh perspective on your newsletter strategy—with me!

The thing I found the most helpful with my newsletter business was getting a fresh & objective perspective on my newsletter.

It helped me pivot my newsletter, focus my messaging & targeting, and increase revenue.

And all it took was a 30-minute Zoom call.

Well...

I found it so helpful that I want to offer the same fresh set of eyes to help you scale growth and improve revenue.

So let's go over your newsletter together.

We can cover your...
→ landing page, welcome email & new subscriber onboarding
→ newsletter content & design/formatting
→ growth strategy
→ revenue strategy
→ engagement & retention

...or we can cover all of it in a 60-min session!

⚡ 30-min Lightning Sesh →​
🗺️ 60-min Journey Sesh →​

Let me peep your newsletter to improve your onboarding, retention, growth, or monetization strategy!

Other resources to help you:

→ The 1KS Roadmap: A Free Course To Your First 1,000 Subscribers
​→ Start a newsletter for FREE with Kit (formerly ConvertKit)*​
→ Advertise in this newsletter​
​

Peace and platonic love,

Dylan

​Twitter | LinkedIn | Threads | Bluesky​

* indicates affiliate links. I get paid a small commission if you use these links to purchase a product or service.