Content First, Promotion Second: The Golden Rule of Newsletter Success

There's a moment every newsletter operator faces—the temptation to turn your carefully built audience into a promotional megaphone.

It happens to everyone, especially if you're a business owner running a newsletter. You've put in weeks or months of work, built a subscriber base, and achieved decent open rates. The urge to leverage that audience for direct sales becomes nearly irresistible.

Fight that urge with everything you've got.

"Every business person I ever met, especially in those professional services, they can't help but fight the urge to be overly promotional," Kyle Scott shares from his experience running multiple successful newsletters. "The minute you start doing that, people don't view you as content. They view you as spam."

The Fundamental Misunderstanding

The problem stems from a fundamental misunderstanding about what makes newsletters valuable in the first place. Many business owners see newsletters primarily as a marketing channel—a digital version of a direct mail flyer.

This mindset inevitably leads to content that screams "buy from me!" in every paragraph. The results are predictable: plummeting open rates, rising unsubscribes, and the slow death of what could have been a valuable asset.

"You need to treat it like a genuine content-based newsletter and not your email list," Kyle emphasizes. "I've seen this at our local company. A lot of times people look at a list of emails and treat it like an email list. And I say a newsletter list is way different than your old email list."

The 90-10 Rule

So what's the right approach? Kyle recommends what we might call the 90-10 rule: "You really got to do 90-95% content and just the exclusive sponsor of your newsletter is you."

This means treating your newsletter primarily as a content service, where your business just happens to be the sponsor—not the main feature.

TJ Larkin agrees: "If your end goal is still to sell your product, you just do it in an indirect way instead of a direct way. You provide value first, then you happen to be selling something so that they're aware of it."

Why This Approach Works Better

The indirect, value-first approach creates multiple advantages over direct promotion:

1. Sustainable Readership

When subscribers find genuine value in each edition, they keep opening. When they expect yet another sales pitch, they tune out.

"The minute you start doing that, now people don't view you as content. They view you as spam," Kyle warns.

2. Trust Building

Regular, helpful content positions you as a trusted resource rather than just another business pushing products.

"A local newsletter builds that recognition in a way traditional advertising simply can't match," Kyle observes.

3. Long-Term Relationship

Value-first content creates a relationship that transcends immediate sales opportunities. You're building a connection that can pay dividends for years.

"I didn't need a mortgage broker for the first two years of reading your newsletter. Now I do in town and I don't know one. Am I going to go with the guy who's provided me value for two years in this newsletter who seems like a cool dude? Probably gonna go to the guy that they know," TJ explains.

Examples That Work

So what does this value-first approach actually look like in practice? Here are content approaches that deliver genuine value while still positioning your business favorably:

For Real Estate Professionals:

• Market analysis that helps both buyers and sellers understand trends

• Spotlight features on different neighborhoods or property types

• Explanations of complex processes (mortgages, inspections, closing)

• Community development news affecting property values

For Financial Services:

• Simplified explanations of financial concepts

• Updates on relevant regulatory changes

• Case studies (anonymized) showing successful outcomes

• Seasonal financial planning reminders

For Local Retail:

• Community events and happenings

• Behind-the-scenes looks at how products are sourced/made

• Profiles of staff members and their expertise

• Creative ways to use products beyond the obvious

The Soft-Sell Approach

Notice what's missing from these examples: direct calls to action, limited-time offers, and pushy sales language. Instead, your business presence is felt through:

• A simple, consistent sponsorship message

• Author attribution that includes your role and business

• Occasional mentions where directly relevant to the content

• Subtle ways your expertise solves the problems discussed

"You don't push it super hard, but the more trust you build, the more likely somebody is going to want to buy it from you," TJ notes.

The Insurance Example

Kyle uses insurance as a perfect example of this principle at work:

"There's a reason Geico and State Farm—that's why everybody knows Jake from State Farm, right? There's a reason why these companies have avatars and mascots because at the end of the day, none of us want to think about insurance."

Most people only think about insurance, financial services, real estate, or many professional services when they absolutely need them. The rest of the time, these topics hold little interest.

Your newsletter's job isn't to constantly remind people to buy when they're not in the market. It's to be the trusted resource they remember when they are ready.

How Long Before It Works?

The value-first approach requires patience. You won't see immediate sales from your first few newsletters. The real benefits emerge over time as trust accumulates.

"There's very few businesses that can get away with just kind of just selling you stuff because they have great products," Kyle observes.

For services with infrequent purchase cycles (insurance, real estate, financial services, legal services), the timeline might be months or even years before a subscriber converts. The key metric isn't immediate sales but sustained engagement.

Blending Content and Commerce

The ideal approach maintains the right balance between being helpful and being available. Your promotional presence should be:

1. Consistent - Same position, format and tone in each edition

2. Relevant - Connected to the content when possible

3. Brief - Short and to the point

4. Invitational - Not demanding action but making it available

5. Professional - Reflecting the quality of your business

I've noticed that the most effective newsletters make the sponsorship feel like a natural extension of the content—not an interruption.

The Long Game

This approach requires adjusting expectations about how newsletters function in your marketing mix. They aren't direct response vehicles like ads but relationship-building tools that deliver different value.

"It opens every door that most other business owners, service providers are just not going to be able to open," Kyle explains.

When a subscriber finally needs your service, they don't just know your name—they've developed a relationship with you through dozens of valuable interactions. That relationship creates a preference that advertising simply can't match.

As TJ summarizes: "That's how you do it. You don't throw it in their face over and over. So I think you're spot on there and it's amazing how many people don't recognize that."

Start With Value, End With Trust

The path to newsletter success is clear: lead with genuine value, maintain consistent quality, and let your business benefit from the trust you build rather than the promotions you push.

When you find yourself tempted to make the next edition "just a bit more promotional," remember Kyle's warning: "It'll work for three months and then over time it'll just kill your long-term value."

The newsletters that thrive for years aren't the ones that sell hardest—they're the ones that help most consistently.

How I Can Help You Succeed

Before we dive into this week's insights, I want to make sure you know about all the resources available to support your local newsletter journey:

🎙️ The Podcast - Deep-dive conversations with successful newsletter operators sharing their playbooks and lessons learned | Link

📧 This Weekly Newsletter - Quick, actionable tips delivered straight to your inbox every week | Link

🧠 1:1 Consulting - Personalized guidance tailored to your specific newsletter challenges Link

🚀 Launch Accelerator - A structured program to help you go from idea to profitable newsletter in record time | Link

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