Hi Friend,
We’re in our short series of sharing the team’s personal favourite newsletters. You can find the previous weeks’ shares (along with the archive of Email Edge) here.
For this series there was only one rule for the team: the newsletter must be one that you engage with regularly / consistently. (Aside from our own newsletter of course)
You know me – newsletter nerd and founder of Cantaloupe Digital. I’m always deepening my expertise in newsletter marketing.
In this edition, I’m sharing insights from David C. Baker’s newsletter, which is one of my weekly reads. David advises creative firms on selling expertise, and his newsletter has been running for 30 years. While his audience of 13,000 may seem small, it’s highly targeted for his 2‑person consultancy, Punctuation, that brings in $1.7 million / year. Proof that niche newsletters can thrive.
Aside from David’s content, what’s fascinating is his approach to topics and strategy. The newsletter lands in inboxes every Sunday/Monday – defying the “Tuesday to Thursday is best” rule. A custom illustration accompanies each edition, and the full content appears in both the email and online, prioritising reader experience. While some marketers drive traffic to their site, David preferred to give his audience the convenience of reading in their inbox. Both approaches work – it depends on your goals.
How does he measure success since clicks aren’t a metric in this strategy?
👉 List size: He ensures unsubscribes stay below 0.25% per send, with steady growth.
👉 Spam complaints: Virtually none – just one every six months!
His process?
David keeps topic folders, adding research continuously. Illustrations are prepped in advance, making newsletter production smoother.
I love that folders to dump research and other assets work for the messy way one can gather content around ideas.
Custom illustrations at the top of each edition amplify the brand
Inbox strategy
Over to you.
Are you tasked with producing your company or personal brand newsletter, friend?
If you’re responsible for your company or brand’s newsletter. I’d love to chat about your process for content planning, promotion, and producing your newsletter. We’re creating a playbook to help with newsletter creation, and your insights would be invaluable. Interested? Sign up here – just 30 minutes, and I promise it’ll be insightful for both of us!
Stay curious,
