How I often make decisions

You've probably started to notice my go-to ad format in newsletters by now. They look like this: --------------------------------------------------------------- -PAID AD- =​ Looking to unlock valuable SEO data for your website for FREE? Look no further than [Ahrefs Webmaster Tools](=). With its completely free service, Ahrefs provides access to a wealth of valuable data for every website you own. Why is this so important? The insights you gain enable you to make informed decisions that can drive your search traffic to new heights. [Sign Up for Free Today](=) -END PAID AD- --------------------------------------------------------------- That's the format I came up with for this newsletter 2.5 years ago. The question is how did I choose that format? Why that format? Here's how it happened. Someone asked me if they could pay for an ad in my newsletter. That's usually how these things get started... someone asks. I was game but I had to figure out how much to charge and what they got for the money. I wanted to charge a decent amount so I knew the ad had to be worth it. It takes me as much time to negotiate and deal with an ad that's 5 words with a link as it does an ad with an image, 100 words of copy and two links. I might as well offer a potentially high engagement ad format and charge more for it. I thought about it for 30 seconds and came up with $300 USD per email (rates have gone up substantially since then). 5 minutes later I had decided on the format which I use to this day. The $300 figure I pulled out of thin air. Basically that was the amount that made replying to the email worth it. As for the format, I chose the format that I use by putting myself in the shoes of the advertiser. I didn't look at other newsletters I didn't know of any at the time running sponsored ads so didn't brother trying. Instead, I asked myself "if I were the advertiser, what would be the ideal ad in a newsletter short of sponsoring the entire email?" As an advertiser I would want the following: => Be able to include one image, => Provide enough text to write enticing sales copy, => Be able to pepper in at least two or three links, and => Ensure that everyone who opens the email will see it (i.e. be placed toward the top of the email). When I put that wish list into effect, the ad format you see to this day is what emerged. It works. It's not quite as good as paying for the entire newsletter, but it's good. That said, it's not as if there are thousands of ad formatting options in an email. The potential number of variables are small. From a publisher's perspective, having a happy readership is paramount. I didn't want the ad to be too intrusive. I also wanted to make sure readers knew immediately it was an ad and not a personal endorsement. Hence the "Paid Ad" heading. It's been a successful feature for this email newsletter. I don't get too fixated on selling ads but it's a been good because I decided to offer something that met my ideal wish list if I were the advertiser. Putting yourself into the shoes of your audience is often a really great way to make decisions. I do it often. If in doubt about how to go about something, ask yourself what you'd like. Often that's the right thing to do. ​ Speaking of other newsletters in our industry, here's a handful I like (in no particular order): ​[Yeys.com]() (published by Anne Moss) ​[Niche Pursuits]( (Spencer Haws) ​[Niche Site Lady](​ ​[Niche Twins]()​ ​[Indexsy](​ ​[Shawn's Newsletter]()​ ​[Keith Mint (Minted Empire)](=)​ ​[Miles Beckler]()​ ​[Niall Doherty](=)​ ​[Scott Delong]()​ ​[Chris Rempel](​ Seems like a lot of reading but it's not. Most send one to three emails per week. Some not even that often. I wasn't paid by these folks. Those aren't affiliate links. I'm just sharing with ya newsletters I like. You're probably familiar with some. Beehiiv Email Service Provider Update While I'm on the topic of email newsletters, here's an update about my niche site move to the [Beehiiv email platform](=) (from [Convertkit](=)). Those are affiliate links BTW. I moved my niche sites to Beehiiv to save money and to make money. Saving money I am. Making money... a little. Beehiiv offers sponsorship ads to publishers. I suspect the opportunities are better for B2B newsletter. My niche sites are B2C so the options aren't quite as good. I've had several sponsorships so far. The key for me is that Beehiiv is way cheaper than Convertkit. The ads pay $1 per click. I ain't gettin' rich off that. Here's how much I'm making from Beehiiv sponsored ads from recent emails: $60 $63 $74 $78 $127 (wow) That's with 75,000 subscribers averaging 30% open rate. I hate to say it but getting 60 to 127 clicks on an ad from 22,000+/- opens is pretty bad. BUT, and there's always a but, if I'm sending emails anyway, the extra money isn't exactly a bad thing. To date, I save about as much money using Beehiiv than I'm making. I'm saving money because Beehiiv is way less expensive than Convertkit. Beehiiv vs Convertkit It's pretty simple for me. If you segment your list quite a bit, [Convertkit](=) is the way to go. I still use Convertkit for Fat Stacks because segmenting, tagging, etc. is important. If you're just blastin' out emails with links to your articles, [Beehiiv](=) is perfect. One Beehiiv feature I use in every email that Convertkit doesn't offer is the ability to paste a URL in the embed widget and it'll auto-populate the post title with featured image from the URL. This is a huge timesaver for me. I set up a full newsletters in a couple of minutes with this feature. That sums up the differences for me so far. Should you even bother with an email newsletter? Yeah, I think so. I'm still not lighting the world on fire with my niche site newsletters but I don't regret having built it up as I have. I believe, perhaps naively, that one day it will be a real revenue driver. For now it sends diversified traffic to posts which doesn't hurt and spits out a few bucks from ads. Jon Fatstacksblog.com DISCLAIMER: The links to Beehiiv and Convertkit are affiliate links. I use both ESPs across my sites. ​ ​ [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 2016 Hill Drive, North Vancouver, British Columbia V7H 2N5