ProloguePrologue

I think my husband is having a midlife crisis.

Why?

Because he’s got our whole family creating vision boards.

Like, poster boards we are supposed to decorate with things we want in life.

Not only are we creating these boards, he had us watch The Secret: Dare to Dream last weekend to inspire us to focus on what we most want.

This is not within the realm of anything he’s ever done before.

He’s usually very anti anything hokey or “feel good.”

But here I am staring at a blank vision board in my office because he heard about the movie and the vision board concept in a podcast.

Since when does he listen to podcasts?

The concept is that you have to know what you want to get what you want.

And maybe that’s what paralyzes me.

Because what I want tends to change.

I have some solid desires: our family’s health, financial stability, etc.

And then I have some materialistic ones: a new SUV, magazine photo-worthy home decor, and a luxurious European vacation.

My youngest daughter quickly filled hers up with birthday present ideas: a drone, a teacup pomeranian, hair dyed like a rainbow that shows only on the underside.

But something in me feels embarrassed to create that type of wish list.

What I really want is moments.

Experiences that happen when you do things.

That feeling when you climb a mountain (literally).

Or go somewhere new together for the first time and explore.

I want adventures and the unfolding of narratives that can’t be manufactured or even predicted.

It took drafting this prologue to figure that out.

Life’s key moments are those of realization, I suppose.

That’s what sitting down and writing does for me.

It sharpens my vision.

Does forcing yourself to write to your readers do that for you?

Is your newsletter the type that takes them on a little mental journey?

If it is, I suggest starting with this prompt:

What’s troubling me and might also be troubling my subscribers?

For me it was the blank board and my husband’s unnerving positive-thinking kick.

Chances are, whatever is troubling you could turn into a way to connect and further the sender/recipient relationship a newsletter so fittingly supports.

Plus, you could figure out what you want.

This issue is brimming with inspiration, from newsletters you might want to turn to for inspiration, to conversational copywriting, to how influential the genre is becoming.

I hope you like it.

Let me know if you do.

Ashley Guttuso  

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Curated News Curated News

Less Than 1,500 Subscribers? Use Curated For Free

It’s not official yet, but it’s official enough to let the cat out of the bag.

Curated is launching a free tier!

Sometime over the next week (probably Monday because Caitlin prefers not to launch new features on Fridays because she’s SMART), this will go into effect.

What’s the nitty gritty?

Accounts with subscriber lists of 1,500 or below will be free. If you’re a current customer who qualifies, this will be reflected in your account next week.

And if you haven’t tested Curated as a possible newsletter solution, now’s a great time.

Why are we making this change?

We want to offer the opportunity to launch and grow your lists and support you as you do that.

We’d love for you to start that journey with us and benefit from our full suite of features like

  • link collecting with the Chrome extension
  • curating or writing original content issues
  • choosing to publish an optional web version with searchable archives
  • using our summary report to see which topics readers engage with most and help shape your content strategy
  • getting your first sponsor through your optional sponsorship landing page
  • and maybe even publishing a paid newsletter without anyone taking a commission (because we don’t)

We’re confident you’ll like Curated so much you’ll stick around when your list grows.

Who’s excited? I’m excited!

 

ICYMI: You can always check our Curated Public Product Roadmap to catch up on recent releases and find out what’s up next.

 

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Like this newsletter?

Let me know. Reply, email me at Ashley[at]optinweekly.com, or find me on LinkedIn to hit me with some feedback. I’d love to know what you think.

Also, I’d appreciate it if you shared it with fellow email newsletter creators. All archived issues will be available on OptInWeekly.com, so you can send them the link to check it out.

Have a great week sending, y’all.

Ashley Guttuso