Field notes from a newsletter operator

Lessons from sending 600 million+ emails.

For eight years my team and I have built and run newsletters for online publishers: more than 20 brands, all profitable, together driving millions of dollars in revenue.

This is where I write down what actually works. No theory, no vendor spin, just the lessons, written for people who run newsletters for a living.

emails sent
600M+
profitable newsletters built
20+
working with online publishers
8 yrs
in newsletter revenue
$M+
All 37 articles
  1. CTOR calculator (click-to-open rate)

    Work out your click-to-open rate from unique opens and clicks. Formula, worked examples, and why Apple MPP inflates opens and drags CTOR down.

  2. How to Stop Repurposed Newsletter Content Being Flagged as Duplicate Content

    Learn how to effectively repurpose newsletter content for your blog without facing SEO issues due to duplicate content

  3. How Nathan Barry Uses ConvertKit

    How ConvertKit CEO Nathan Barry uses his own product: the automations behind his $149 paid newsletter, ConvertKit Commerce, and a 15,000-subscriber local side project.

  4. Top Newsletter Directories to Grow Your List (2024)

    Get your newsletter discovered — and build inbound links for SEO — by adding it to the top newsletter directories. Includes the info to prepare before you start.

  5. Email Marketing Benchmarks For Online Publishers (2024)

    Here are the email marketing benchmarks for online publishers vs. all other industries (and what to do if yours are falling short)

  6. Why Your ESP Might Not Provide an SPF TXT Record

    Discover how Email Service Providers (ESPs) are evolving SPF record configurations, moving from traditional TXT DNS records to more streamlined approaches. L…

  7. A Dive into Bot Eat Brain's Newsletter Success (Podcast Notes)

    Dive into the incredible journey of Bot Eat Brain with Anthony Castrio on SparkLoop's podcast! Discover how a simple newsletter idea transformed into a $50K …

  8. Is Email Marketing an Inbound or an Outbound Strategy?

    Explore the dual nature of email marketing as both an inbound and outbound strategy, and understand how to leverage it effectively for your business growth.

  9. 10+ Proven Email Marketing Best Practices to Boost Success

    Follow these email marketing best practices to keep deliverability high, and engagement through the roof.

  10. Choosing the Right Email Newsletter Software: 9 Questions to Ask

    Choosing the right email newsletter software is an important decision. Be sure to consider these 9 vital questions in advance.