Boosting Engagement and Revenue with Newsletters: Insights from Dan Oshinsky

Local News Matters

Dan Oshinsky, founder of Inbox Collective, is one of the foremost experts on building, growing and monetizing newsletters. Oshinsky discusses how email newsletters remain a powerful tool for local newsrooms to build an audience and generate revenue, best practices for creating successful newsletters, and the benefits of AI-powered tools for writers. Oshinsky provides examples of successful newsletters and offers advice on how local newsrooms can grow their audience and provide value to paying subscribers.

Episode chapters:

(02:11) - Why should people care about newsletters in 2023?

(07:48) - Accidentally becoming an email power user and newsletter expert

(12:40) - Translating lessons from large national brands to smaller local publications

(14:55) - Local newsroom success stories

(19:56) - Building relationships via different types of newsletters

(24:38) - What is the jobs-to-be-done for your newsletter?

(28:17) - Optimizing your newsletters

(33:13) - Pricing newsletter ads

(37:54) - Paid and subscriber-only newsletters

(43:37) - AI in the newsletter space

(48:12) - Rapid-fire questions

Links

• Dan Oshinsky: web, LinkedIn, Twitter

• Inbox Collective: web, LinkedIn, Twitter

• Not a Newsletter

• Mentioned:

• The Information

• Buzzfeed

• The New Yorker

• Tools for Reporters

• New York Times

• Politico Playbook

• theSkimm

• Quartz

• Searchlight New Mexico

• NewsMatch

• WBUR

• Boulder Reporting Lab

• Colorado Sun

• Punchbowl News

• Clayton Christensen’s Jobs to Be Done framework

• Jax Today

• Rough Draft Atlanta

• Naptown Scoop

• The Post and Courier

• Puck

• Summari

• Recommendations

• The Town podcast

• Amusing Ourselves to Death

• Growth Croissant newsletter

• Local News Matters: web, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Colorado Press Association: web, Twitter, Facebook

• Tim Regan-Porter: bio, Twitter