Sticky

In this episode, Louis shares how to effectively monetize and scale your newsletter business. He also talks about diversifying revenue streams beyond ads and subscriptions, calculating lifetime subscriber value, and aggressive paid acquisition tactics used by the largest newsletters. Key timestamps: 00:27 - Intro to Louis Nicholls and Spark Loop 02:45 - Louis talks about the payback period and subscriber lifetime value and how they interplay. 06:51 - What are some common ways to decrease the payback period? 11:44 - The 2x2 matrix for revenue streams 13:12 - How do huge subscriber lists under-monetize? 16:30 - Would you encourage having both donations and subscriptions? 19:57 - How do you categorize different revenue streams? 23:08 - The difference between donations and tips vs subscriptions? 25:14 - Intermission questions 28:41 - What are some products or services newsletter operators sell that you've seen really take off? 37:04 - Do you think publishers should diversify into more products/services? 41:41 - How would you monetize the top 1% of a publisher's audience? 45:50 - How is newsletter advertising different from website advertising? 47:18 - Best practices for optimizing and getting more revenue Show Notes SparkLoop [https://sparkloop.app/] Upscribe [https://sparkloop.app/upscribe] Chiz Media [https://chizsix.com/] James Clear [https://jamesclear.com/] Techcrunch [https://techcrunch.com/] Vox [https://voxcinemas.com/] Clearbit [https://clearbit.com/] Why We Buy [https://customercamp.co/news/] Substack [https://substack.com/] Guest Louis Nicholls - Twitter [https://twitter.com/louisnicholls_] SparkLoop [https://sparkloop.app/] Host Lesley Sim Twitter [https://twitter.com/lesley_pizza] Lesley Sim Website [https://lesley.pizza/] Stay in touch Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sticky/id1700636228] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3VhNEglrRu2q6Q0XsNpWBy] Twitter [https://twitter.com/newsletterglue] Sticky.fm Website [https://sticky.fm/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

In this episode, Naomi provides insights into Invoice2go's efforts to grow their newsletter program. She shares learnings from experiments with segmenting their audience and testing different approaches, as well as the real-world limitations and challenges in executing tests and getting buy-in. Key timestamps: 00:53 - Naomi discusses her role at Invoice2go and the goals of using email to drive activation and monetization 02:15 - Inheriting an existing email program and getting a "blank slate" for an overhaul with the rebrand 09:17 - Three pillars of the customer life cycle 15:18 - Starting a segmented newsletter strategy for different audiences 17:40 - Testing content performance but unable to find statistical significance 20:32 - Changing no-reply to actual email for a two-way communication channel 24:55 - Intermission questions 29:33 - The three newsletters Naomi picked for Invoice2go 35:07 - Successful testing of personalized outreach from faux personas 38:46 - Call to action versus call to value test. 43:35 - Doing list hygiene for the Later newsletter 45:00 - Steps taken to turn engaged subscribers into paying customers 47:13 - Key learning from the time at Later Show Notes Parcel [https://parcel.io/] Invoice2Go [https://invoice.2go.com/] Braze [https://www.braze.com/] Cordial [https://cordial.com/] Amplitude [https://amplitude.com/] Customer.io [https://customer.io/] Later [https://later.com/] Bridget Casey [https://bridgetcasey.com/] EcoSend [https://ecosend.io/] Guest Naomi West - Twitter [https://twitter.com/emailfromnaomi] Naomi West - Instagram [https://instagram.com/emailfromnaomi] Naomi West - Website [https://www.naomiwest.ca/]  Host Lesley Sim Twitter [https://twitter.com/lesley_pizza] Lesley Sim Website [https://lesley.pizza/] Stay in touch Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sticky/id1700636228] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3VhNEglrRu2q6Q0XsNpWBy] Twitter [https://twitter.com/newsletterglue] Sticky.fm Website [https://sticky.fm/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

In this episode, Carin Slater provides behind the scenes at Litmus as she and her team plan, design, develop, test, and analyze the company's 4 newsletters. She outlines their Agile Marketing process, creative freedom, and focus on engagement and accessibility in each newsletter they produce. Carin also discusses the extensive research and work that went into fully redesigning their flagship newsletter, Litmus News. Key Timestamp 00:42 - Overview of the 4 newsletters Carin produces at Litmus 01:11 - Carin's role in building Litmus' newsletters 02:08 - Process for planning the Litmus News newsletter 03:08 - How the team collaborates on newsletter copy and content 10:35 - Using Jira for project management and tasks 11:03 - The Litmus team's agile marketing process 16:24 - Process of building the Litmus weekly email 25:04 - Adding UTM codes for tracking 26:23 - Using the Litmus and Marketo tracking pixel 27:53 - Using checklist for auditing 30:35 - Optimizing QA testing for top email clients 35:14 - Tracking and analyzing link click rates 40:17 - Having fun with newsletter production 43:24 - Intermission questions 49:34 - Reason for redesigning the Litmus newsletter 53:18 - Incorporating user feedback into design 57:45 - Challenges with personalization 1:05:28 - What determines if the redesign was a success? 1:13:16 - Where to find Carin and subscribe to her newsletter Show Notes Litmus [https://www.litmus.com/] JIRA [https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira] Agile Marketing [https://www.atlassian.com/agile/agile-marketing/what-is-agile-marketing] Slack [https://slack.com/] Asana [https://asana.com/] Google Doc [https://docs.google.com/] Figma [https://www.figma.com/] Marketo [https://business.adobe.com/products/marketo/adobe-marketo.html#] UTM Codes [https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-are-utm-tracking-codes-ht] Apple MPP- Apple Mail Privacy Protection [https://support.apple.com/en-ae/guide/iphone/iphf084865c7/ios] Litmus Scope [https://litmus.com/scope/] Linktree [https://linktr.ee/] Guest Carin Slater/@carinslater [https://twitter.com/carinslater] Carin Slater Linktree [https://linktr.ee/carinslater] Host Lesley Sim Twitter [https://twitter.com/lesley_pizza] Lesley Sim Website [https://lesley.pizza/] Stay in touch Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sticky/id1700636228] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3VhNEglrRu2q6Q0XsNpWBy] Twitter [https://twitter.com/newsletterglue] Sticky.fm Website [https://sticky.fm/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

In this episode, Dan Oshinsky shares his insights on proven growth tactics for publishers and content creators. He breaks down strategies that work at different stages, from just starting out to having over 1 million subscribers. Dan provides tips on optimizing signup forms, using lead magnets, referral programs, contests, earned media, paid acquisition, and more. Key Timestamps 01:41 - Dan's epic guide of 52 ways to grow your email list 02:09 - What are some foundational principles of growth? 05:46 - Creating a compelling "why subscribe" message. 06:37 - Create a newsletter landing page. 07:30 - Publishers need signup forms in multiple places 11:41 - Adding signup form at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% for long articles 15:24 - What are some of the best growth tips for a list with 10K people? 17:47 - Contests and giveaways to get signups and engagement from readers. 23:42 - Lead magnets work well for publishers of any size. 28:04 - Referral programs work best above 10-25k subscribers. 39:25 - Are there growth tactics that you’d like to share for publishers in the 10K to 100K range? 41:44 - How does using brackets work to grow your list? 48:39 - Let's go to one million subscribers. What tactics work at this stage? 55:53 - What's one uncommon growth tip you like that you wish you'd see more often? 58:15 - What's your favorite ESP and why? 01:01:20 - What's your favorite must-read newsletter? 01:02:09 - What's your favorite piece of advice for a new set of publishers? Show Notes Inbox Collective [https://inboxcollective.com/] The New Yorker [https://www.newyorker.com/] BuzzFeed [https://www.buzzfeed.com/in] 52 Ways to Grow Your Email List [https://inboxcollective.com/ways-to-grow-your-newsletter-list/] Nathan Barry [https://nathanbarry.com/] Beehiiv  [https://www.beehiiv.com/] Substack [https://substack.com/] Carrd [https://carrd.co/] OptinMonster [https://optinmonster.com/] Poptin [https://www.poptin.com/] WPForms [https://wpforms.com/] Spark Loops [https://sparkloop.app/] Upscribe [https://www.upscribe.io/] Madison Minutes [https://www.madisonminutes.com/] Tone Madison [https://tonemadison.com/] Charlotte Ledger [https://charlotteledger.substack.com/] Berkshire Eagle [https://www.berkshireeagle.com/] AWeber [https://www.aweber.com/] ConvertKit [https://convertkit.com/] Second Street [https://uplandsoftware.com/secondstreet/] Google Forms [https://www.google.com/forms/about/] Typeform [https://www.typeform.com/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Saeedreza Abbaspour discusses proven strategies for optimizing landing pages, maximizing conversions, and safeguarding subscriber integrity when building a high-traffic media publishing platform.  Key timestamps 00:25 - Who is Saeedreza Abbaspour? 01:24 - Discussion on optimizing the customer acquisition funnel for a site with 100k subscribers with a goal of reaching 1 million. 03:19 - What typically happens after a user lands on the landing page from an ad click? 04:14 - What do you do to optimize that landing page? 10:23 - How customizable are the landing pages you build? 14:35 - With the free subscriber journey, how long do the campaigns typically last? 18:51 - What should be on an optimized checkout page? 22:51 - Intermission questions 26:40 - Transition to scalability and security of a high-traffic platform. 28:06 - Using WordPress for flexibility, and developer availability. 37:10  - Do you use plugins that are available or build your own? 38:08 - What form plugins do you use? 41:57 - What hosting do you recommend? 42:55 - How do you deal with bot attacks? 46:43 - Double opt-in vs. reCAPTCHA? 53:52 - Using ChatGPT to detect spam subscribers 57:13 - How long of email inactivity triggers subscriber removal? 59:06 - What key mistake do rookies make in building publishing platforms? Show Notes Refact [http://refact.co/] The Hustle [https://thehustle.co/]  The Daily Upsight [https://www.thedailyupside.com/]  Workweek [https://workweek.com/] Advance Custom Field [https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/] reCAPTCHA [https://www.google.com/recaptcha/about/] Newsletter Glue [https://newsletterglue.com/] Gravity Forms [https://www.gravityforms.com/] WPForms [https://wpforms.com/] Cloudflare [https://www.cloudflare.com/] WPEngine [https://wpengine.com/] Beehiiv [http://beehiiv.com/] Substack [https://substack.com/] WooCommerce [https://woocommerce.com/] Cloudflare Turnstyle [https://www.cloudflare.com/products/turnstile/] Guest Saeedreza Abbaspour/@IAmSaeedreza [https://twitter.com/IAmSaeedreza] Refact [http://refact.co/] Host Lesley Sim: Twitter [https://twitter.com/lesley_pizza] / Website [https://lesley.pizza/] Stay in touch Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sticky/id1700636228] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3VhNEglrRu2q6Q0XsNpWBy] Twitter [https://twitter.com/newsletterglue] Sticky.fm Website [https://sticky.fm/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.