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HELP MY NEWSLETTER
Triage for sick newsletters that should be printing money
Deliverability
Automation
Scale
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Inbox Reality Check
Most newsletters are not newsletters. They are weekly deliverability stress tests.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: blasts are a tax. They spike complaints, create uneven engagement, and keep dead weight on your list.
Then you blame your subject lines. The inbox does not care about your subject lines. It cares if the reader feels trapped.
The anti-newsletter approach flips the whole game. You stop “sending a newsletter” and start running a distribution engine:
lead magnets as doors,
journeys as the product,
and blasts only when it is actually worth lighting the fuse.
This edition covers: the “Netflix preference center,” why journeys can lift deliverability, the content math that makes this hands-off, and a 7-day build plan you can actually finish.
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Part 1
The inbox hates blasts (and it is not personal)
Deliverability is basically reputation. Reputation is built from behavior: opens, clicks, deletes-without-reading, spam complaints, and inactivity.
Blasts amplify your weakest segments, because they go to everyone, including people who forgot why they signed up.
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Blasts tend to create:
Complaint spikes, engagement whiplash, and a slow accumulation of “meh” readers who poison the well.
Journeys tend to create:
Consistent opens and clicks from people who chose the topic, plus natural list hygiene because uninterested readers do not keep enrolling.
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The core mental flip
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Automation is not “cold.” Irrelevance is cold.
Relevance feels personal even when it is automated.
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Part 2
The model: doors, journeys, and a Netflix preference center
Replace one “big newsletter” with a menu of small, specific products.
Each product is a timed journey that solves one problem for one kind of reader.
Your newsletter becomes a routing system, not a weekly performance.
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The core stack:
1) Lead magnets as doors (one desire each).
2) Journeys as the product (5 to 14 emails, one promise).
3) The preference center as the “choose your lane” control panel.
4) Blasts only as special occasions (launches, major news, monthly state-of-the-union).
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Non-negotiable rule:
Every magnet must map to one journey. If it does not, it is content cosplay.
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This is how you get personalization without a personalization team.
Readers tell you what to send by what they pick.
Your job is to build doors and keep the paths clean.
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Quick gut check
What would break first in your current setup?
Tap your answer. You’ll land on a quick “thanks” page. Next issue: I fix the top vote.
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No context needed. Your click is the signal.
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Part 3
Why this becomes hands-off (the content math)
The magic is not automation. The magic is repetition.
You do the hard work once, then it runs daily without you waking up to “what am I sending today?”
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The “one per week” operating rhythm
Use this until you earn the right to get fancy:
- Add one new journey
- Improve one existing journey
- Ship one new lead magnet that feeds a proven journey
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This is not “more content.” This is smarter plumbing.
You are building pathways, not performing weekly.
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The result is boring in the best way.
Boring means stable. Stable means deliverability. Stable means revenue is predictable.
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TOOL DROP
The Journey Builder (dark mode PDF)
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This is the one-page worksheet that turns “I should build journeys” into a real 5 to 14 email series with an actual finish line.
No wandering. No overlap. No mystery meat CTAs.
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What you’ll lock in:
The promise, the exact reader, the before/after outcome, the email-by-email wins, and the next step that matches intent.
Plus a quick Beehiiv wiring box so it runs without you.
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Participation challenge: reply with 3 journey titles you would build first.
I’ll tighten the promises so they convert and do not cannibalize each other.
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Doors first. Journeys second. Blasts last.
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Part 4
The “there there” test (how this model fails)
This approach is not a cheat code. It is a multiplier.
If your magnets are clickbait or your journeys are weak, automation just spreads the weakness faster.
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Common failure modes
- Your niche is too broad, so every magnet is vague
- Your journeys overlap and confuse readers
- Your preference center is messy, so people feel trapped
- You never do any human presence, so the brand feels invisible
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The correct framing is simple:
most blasts die.
a few flagship broadcasts still matter.
Use them as special occasions, not as your main engine.
The deliverability cheat code is not a subject line. It is a system.
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