Better in 15min
Last week, I got a request for "quick wins" from a short-on-time reader.
Let's say your train is delayed or your kid's nap lasts longer than normal...
What are some genuinely impactful ways you can improve your newsletter in those spare 15min?
Below, I've listed my top five (also available in video, here).
They're all worth trying out... but how many are you already doing?
1️⃣ Auto-Focus For More Conversions
With just one line of code, you can autofocus the email signup-form for visitors when your newsletter landing page loads.
The result?
... an instant ~20% increase in conversion rate 🤯
That means 20% faster subscriber growth (and a 20% decrease in acquisition cost).
Not bad for a few minutes work!
2️⃣ Custom Preview Text
Everyone knows you should optimize your newsletter subject lines to drive more (of the right) opens.
But not enough newsletter operators spend a few seconds to customize the preview text too.
Which is a shame — because nothing screams "don't open this email!" like a "default" preview text.
Give it a go today... and watch your open rates creep up.
3️⃣ Set Up Recommendations
This is probably the only thing you could do in 20 minutes that can actually 2x your newsletter growth (or more).
You can invite other, similar newsletters to partner with you and recommend each other for free (= 2-3x faster growth).
You can add paid recommendations — and earn an extra $0.50-1.50 every time a new subscriber joins your newsletter.
Or you can do a mix of both.
It's up to you... in 2025, the only "wrong" way to use recommendations is not to do them at all.
4️⃣ Send A "Nudge" Email
Everyone knows you should send new subscribers a "welcome" email.
And — hopefully — your welcome email includes a link they should click to get something really cool.
But what about new subscribers who don't open that welcome email? Or don't click the link?
How long do you wait until you email them again?
For most operators, the answer is "24+ hours".
And that sucks — because the longer you wait, the lower the subscriber's momentum (and excitement). Meaning they're less and less likely to bother opening that second email and follow your instructions.
Instead, try sending subscribers who don't open (or click on) your welcome email a second, "nudge" email 2-3 hours after the first one. While they still remember who you are.
I started doing this with a few clients recently and have seen increases in new subscriber activation rates of 5-26% (!)
Oh and yes, sure, you'll see a few extra unsubscribes from that nudge email. But they're from people who were never going to become engaged, active subscribers anyway.
5️⃣ Offer Guest Posts/Features
In a spare 15 minutes, you could reach out to at least 5 creators in your space. And offer them a guest post (or section) in your newsletter.
It's a win-win-win...
- your audience will enjoy a fresh take from someone new
- you get a day off from writing the newsletter
- the creator gets exposure to your audience
But there's an extra bonus "win" in it for you too: More often than not, the creator will share the post they wrote in your newsletter with their audience too. Driving new subscribers to you for free.
Especially if you ask them to share it and make it easy for them to do so.
Not sure where to start? Try emailing your most engaged subscribers.
