My dad owes me.

Or maybe I owe him?

One role he has always played in our family is roller coaster / thrill ride companion to children who need the mental security a ride-along adult provides.

He brings out the courage in all of us.

I can remember him convincing me to ride this SkyCoaster with him once on a summer vacation to Destin.

He delights in getting people to agree to ride something they probably wouldn’t have tried without some extra prompting. And, afterwards, he earns a space in their memories as being right by their side during the adventure.

He’s done the same thing for my oldest daughter, who thrives on his encouragement and has built up a collection of special moments with him over the years.

But, this year he’d had knee surgery and was unable to join us for a day at Dollywood during our sometimes annual family mountain vacation.

So while he hung out at the cabin, I became my bravest daughter’s new ride partner.

His presence was missed.

I couldn’t convince her to go on several rides she’d done in the past. How does he do that?

But she did want to go on the Drop Line. And she’d only ever done it with him.

So there I was, forcing myself to join her because I didn’t want his not being there to mean she didn’t do a brave thing she knew she could do.

The premise is you’re lifted 230 feet fairly slowly on a tower, facing outward. The seats spin around as you go up so you see the park and surrounding mountain scenery. Then, at the top, you pause for an uncomfortable amount of time, begin to lift a bit more, then free fall until you’re maybe 20 feet from the ground.

It’s pretty terrifying.

The drop part feels like it lasts way longer than it looks.

We held hands and I crossed my legs the way my veteran daughter instructed me to.

My thoughts wavered between “it’s going to be fine” and “you’re doing this for her, so she embraces adventure and isn’t scared of things.”

It was an intense moment in time, free falling with my daughter.

Letting her bravery inspire my own.

The feeling is not too far from that of sending an email to thousands of recipients.

Even hundreds.

If you’re a newsletter creator, you know this moment.

The one at the top of the tower where you’re pretty sure it’s all going to be fine but you hesitate before hitting send and experiencing the emotional thrill of risking ridicule.

Just remember, “it’s going to be fine” and “you’re doing this for YOU, so keep embracing the adventure.”

And it gets a little easier each time.

Now, let’s see who’s been creating newsletter news that could inspire your own.

Ashley Guttuso  

Fresh Newsletter Insights From Dan Oshinsky

Dan Oshinky released his November (not issue?) of Not a Newsletter, and, as usual, it delivers. Here’s a sampling of the content:

• Yanna-Torry Aspraki’s tips on using “spammy words” in your emails (it’s not what you think)
• Insights into subscriber-only emails (read: The Atlantic)
• Practical ideas from sources like Litmus and the Associated Press on winning back readers
• A thought-provoking Emily Atkin quote about growth for the sake of growth
• Beaucoup curated links on newsletter news, growth, and strategy

Set aside some time to dive into this Google Doc.

inboxcollective.com  

Advice From Ann Handley: Here’s What You Should And Shouldn’t Do

This free resource from Ann Handley will teach you How to Newsletter.

annhandley.com  

Paid Newsletters, Platforms, And Who’s Really Profiting

“Who owns the customer?” Benedict Evans examines the implications that paying for content may hold.

Discovered via Inbox Reads.

ben-evans.com  

Is Your Newsletter So Unique It Can’t Be Ignored?

Josh Spector offers 4 ways to create something unique in this article.

fortheinterested.com  

What Should You Be Measuring?

Clickthrough rates? Open rates? Is there a better measure? This Iterable article breaks it down.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

iterable.com  

Can Curation Improve SEO?

Publish or perish. Sound familiar? Chris Barnhart with Search Engine Codex offers content curation tactics, tools, and more designed to improve your SEO.

searchenginecodex.com  

Content Marketing Misconceptions

In this post from The Drum, Tom Welbourne examines common content marketing misconceptions, starting with “selective gearing.”

Discovered via theCLIKK.

thedrum.com  

Is There A “Right” Distribution Strategy?

Anastasia Dyakovskaya thinks you should unite niche and brand targeting. Learn more in this studioID post.

Discovered via Social Media Today.

studioid.com  

How To Add User-Generated Content To Your Email Marketing

There’s been a lot of talk about user-generated content, but just how are you supposed to use it in email marketing? Jimmy Kim gives some instructions here.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

insense.pro  

Do People Actually Want To Read What You Write?

In this #SpilltheMarketingBeans YouTube video, Corey Haines, founder of Swipe Files, shares his insights into writing emails and blogs people actually want to read.

youtube.com  

Are You Writing With Accessibility In Mind?

Where exactly is “here” in the “click here” button? Accessibility advocate Eric Bailey shares a better way to write your CTAs in this Stark article.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

getstark.co  

Prioritizing Growth Over... Everything?

Just how desperate are publishers to grow? This week’s insights focus on 2 things: retaining subscribers and thinking outside the box.

• Why do news publishers make it so hard to cancel subscriptions online? Laura Hazard Owen with Nieman Lab takes a look.
• Brian Morrissey looks at publishers’ unhealthy pattern of relying on “sleeper” subscribers in this issue of the Rebooting.
• What if you could identify “at-risk” subscribers before they leave? Mark Jacob shares relevant Medill research here.
• Everyone loves a good poll, quiz, and Q&A, right? So why are publishers failing to tap into this potential interactivity? The Fix takes a look for WNIP in this article.
• Faisal Kalim thinks it’s time for publishers to start experimenting with blockchain. Learn what it is and why it has “industry-changing potential”.
• Are product box programs the next “thing” for publishers? In this Digiday article, Sara Guaglione looks at publishers who are introducing and growing this tactic.

Subscriber Or Not? It’s Time To Clarify

Do your “subscribers” know who they are? Joshua Benton calls out the ambiguity of the term and advocates for a need to communicate with clarity in this Nieman Lab article.

Discovered via The Media Roundup.

niemanlab.org  

Did You Know Curated Has An API

Hey everyone, Seth from Curated Success here.

Did you know that you can use Curated’s API to further customize your newsletter workflow? If you know your way around APIs, you can do a lot with ours. Here are a few examples

• Build new issues
• Retrieve data for a specific issue
• Collect and manage links
• Manage your subscribers

That’s just a few. Check out this help doc to learn what’s possible with our API.

If you’re already using our API in a unique way, let us know!

curated.co  

Back For One Week Only: It's Curated Crash Course At 4 PM Central!

We took last week off of Curated Crash Course for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and next week I (Seth) will be out on PTO. So be sure to catch today's Curated Crash Course at 4 PM Central.

The first 30 minutes include a tutorial on getting started with Curated followed by a Q&A session that begins at 4:30.

If you have any questions about Curated or newsletters, we created a Google Form where you can easily ask them.

I will answer them live at Curated Crash Course during the Q&A segment of the session, but if you can't make it, I’ll send you a recording so you can see your questions answered.

zoom.us  

ICYMI: You can always check our Curated Public Product Roadmap to catch up on recent releases and find out what’s up next.

Don’t want to click through? Our recent bigger releases include Paid Subscriptions (0% commission!) and a Free Tier.

Re-Evaluate Your Re-Engagement Strategy

No shocker that we are still trying to figure out “open rates” in the midst of MPP. However, this week’s Opt In Challenge is to read this Email Design article by Jen Capstraw and finesse your re-engagement strategy.

Discovered via Really Good Emails.

beefree.io  

Like this newsletter?

Let me know. Reply, email me at Ashley[at]optinweekly.com, or find me on LinkedIn to hit me with some feedback. I’d love to know what you think.

Happy newslettering,

Ashley Guttuso