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HELP MY NEWSLETTER

Triage for sick newsletters that should be printing money

Deliverability ICU

Growth Ops

Recovery Plans

🦃 Thanksgiving Edition

Here's what actually matters this week

Most newsletter operators are asking: "What gratitude email should I send on Thanksgiving?"

That's the wrong question.

The right sequence:

1. Decide if you should send at all (timing math says skip beats noise)
2. If you do send, make it actually about them (not a sale with "thanks" sprinkled on top)
3. Let the dead weight leave (holiday churn is free list cleaning)
4. Build the bridge to January now (or watch 30% ghost in 8 weeks)

This edition shows you which move makes sense for your list—and how to execute it before your inbox gets buried in recipe spam.

Part 1

Are you thanking them—or yourself?

Let's get honest about most "gratitude" emails:

They lead with YOUR story
Three paragraphs about "your journey" and "what this year taught me"

They thank readers for "supporting the journey"
Translation: Thanks for giving me money

They include a Black Friday link "as a gift"
The gift is... letting them buy something?

What real gratitude emails do

Real appreciation is specific. It names what the reader got, not what you learned.

✅ Reference past opens or clicks if you can track them
✅ Ask what they want more or less of
✅ Give them something (template, tool, early access) with zero strings
✅ End with: "That's it. Happy Thanksgiving."

The metric

Genuine appreciation emails the week before Thanksgiving get 40%+ higher opens and 3x the replies compared to "thanks + CTA" hybrids.

Part 2

Should you even send Thanksgiving week?

Inbox volume spikes 60% Wednesday through Friday. Your "stay top of mind" email gets buried under recipe spam and Black Friday chaos.

The timing ladder

✅ Best

Send TODAY (Wed Nov 27)

Day before travel madness. Inboxes are still clear.

⚠️ Decent

Skip entirely, send Dec 2

Come back strong after the noise settles.

❌ Worst

Send Thu/Fri into the void

99% of readers won't even see it.

If you're B2B or productivity-focused, silence beats noise. Your January reactivation campaign starts with not being part of the holiday pile-on.

Part 3

Your unsubscribes are about to spike—here's why that's good

November/December churn is inevitable:

• Inbox detox mode
• End-of-year priorities shift
• New subscriptions crowd out old ones

The gift nobody talks about

These people were leaving anyway. Holiday volume just accelerates the exit.

Instead of panicking:

✅ Let zombies self-select out (saves you $4-12/month per dead subscriber)
✅ Watch who leaves (if engaged readers bail, your content has a Q4 problem)
✅ Use the purge as free list cleaning you didn't have to pay for

The math

Losing 200 dead subscribers costs nothing. Keeping them costs money and tanks engagement rates that hurt deliverability.

Part 4

The gratitude gap—why January drop-off starts now

30% of engaged readers ghost between Dec 15 and Jan 31.

Why:

• Q4 inbox fatigue compounds
• New Year "fresh start" = subscription purge
• You trained them that December = promotional noise

The retention play (build it this week)

1. Send the real gratitude email NOW
Builds equity before the chaos

2. Go quiet or go valuable-only Dec 1-26
Stand out by not showing up

3. Tease January content in your Dec 27 comeback
Give them a reason to stay

4. Run a "still here?" reactivation Jan 6
Give them an easy yes/no

The operators who survive January didn't start fighting churn in January. They built the bridge in November.

Your move

Pick one action for today

Don't overthink this. Pick the option that feels most urgent for your list:

☐ Send a real gratitude email today (template below)

☐ Skip Thanksgiving week entirely, mark Dec 2 for comeback

☐ Plan your January reactivation sequence this week (while competitors scramble)

Simple gratitude email template

Subject: Thank you (that's it)

---

Hi [Name],

This is the shortest email I'll send all year.

You opened [X editions] in the past month. You clicked [Y times]. That tells me you're getting something useful from this newsletter.

So thank you for reading. Thank you for engaging. And thank you for helping me get better at this by showing up.

If there's something you wish I'd cover more (or less), hit reply and tell me in one sentence. I read every response.

That's it. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Your name]

🧰 Tools for your recovery

Interactive diagnostics (free to use)

Need help diagnosing what's actually wrong with your newsletter? These interactive tools walk you through the process:

5-Minute Newsletter Health Audit

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The free-growth playbook →

Newsletter Ad Rate Card Generator

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The Newsletter Operator's Dark Secret

Why your best subscribers are leaving (and what to do about it) →

💡 Want something new?

Hit reply and tell me what tool or diagnostic would help most right now. If it's useful, I'll build it.

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I'll diagnose what's broken and give you one clear fix to ship this week. No pitch, no upsell, just triage.

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Closing orders

You don't need more tactics. You need one decision.

Most newsletter operators will spend this week second-guessing themselves:

"Should I send? What should I say? Will people unsubscribe?"

Here's the truth: The people who leave were already gone. The people who stay want to hear from you—but only if you're actually saying something worth reading.

The most encouraging metric you'll ever see isn't total subscribers. It's the quiet rise in people who open, click, and stay because they finally understand what your newsletter is for.

Make today count. Pick your move. Ship it.

Help My Newsletter · Inbox triage for people who would rather keep the list than burn it

Should you even be sending this week?