Dan Oshinsky’s Post

I’ve had a funny thing happen a few times recently: People who only know me from Zoom have met me IRL for the first time and asked, “Have you always been this tall?” (I'm 6‘4’‘.) My comment’s been: How can you tell how tall someone is on Zoom? I don’t think it’s possible to do so (and the fact that several people thought I was a foot shorter than I am seems to prove that out). But I’ve talked with a few friends who are convinced that it’s possible to determine height just from seeing someone on Zoom. I really want to know if this is a common belief. So people of LinkedIn, here’s your question: Can you tell how tall someone is just by meeting them on Zoom?

Too many newsletters write alt text all wrong. And alt text is really important. Many of your readers use a screen reader (or have images turned off), and alt text is designed to explain what a reader would see if they could see those images. If you’re using alt text incorrectly, those readers aren’t reading your newsletter the way you meant for it to be read. So let me try to explain how to write alt text the right way. Every night, I read my son a bedtime story. He’s not even a year old, so reading a story isn’t just about reading the written text. On every page, I also have to describe what’s happening. Take one of my son’s favorite books, “The Watermelon Seed,” by Greg Pizzoli. It’s the story of a crocodile who swallows a seed and thinks a watermelon is growing inside of him. On one page, the crocodile says, “It’s growing in my guts!” But after I read that, I have to explain what else is happening on the page: “The crocodile imagines being inside his own stomach, and in there, he imagines looking at an X-ray of his belly. The X-ray shows a big, green watermelon rapidly growing inside him and stretching out his stomach!” That’s alt text. The next time you have to write alt text, imagine yourself describing the image, in colorful detail, to a toddler. Do that, and you’ll write great alt text for your readers — and make your newsletter more accessible to all in the process. ——— 📷 With bedtime approaching, my son and I read along to a copy of “The Watermelon Seed,” by Greg Pizzoli. As I explain the basic concept of the book — a scared crocodile believes that he’s swallowed a watermelon seed and that that seed will grow into a whole watermelon inside his belly — my son points towards the book in his blue, striped pajamas and gives his father false hope that he’s fully understanding the lesson of the story. (He does not; he just likes pointing at things.)

A tip for converting readers to supporters: If readers see the same message in every email, they’ll tire of it. A new message may convert well at first, but as readers see it more frequently, they’ll start to tune it out. It’s so important to keep trying new asks within your email. I love how Crikey, an Australian newsroom supported by paying members, always rotates through different CTAs in their newsletter: → One week, they’ll have a straightforward discount on their membership. → The next week, they’ll lean into a message about how each reader can make a difference by becoming a member, with no price point or offer listed. → The next week, they might rotate in a limited-time offer, like a 50% off sale for Boxing Day. → And the next week, readers might get an unexpected message that makes them stop and read: “Don’t agree with everything we publish? Good.” Maybe a reader will convert the first time they see one of these CTAs. More likely, they’ll need to see a few messages over the course of a few days or weeks before they decide to pay. But by rotating through different messages, Crikey can give that reader several reasons to become a member — they’re not relying on one pitch or one offer to convert. Smart teams don’t get stuck with one approach or let a CTA get stale. The best organizations and newsletter operators always mix in new approaches. Over time, those teams and writers will be able to identify which tactics work and which don’t, and then lean into the most effective strategies to maximize revenue.

A few years ago, I read the autobiography of Katharine Graham, the longtime Washington Post publisher, and there’s this wonderful anecdote that’s stuck with me. In the book, she talks about her father, Eugene Meyer. He started out as a businessman. Then he transitioned to a life in government — he served as the chairman of the Fed, and later the first president of the World Bank. Then he bought the Post. Then he got into community service. And finally, towards retirement, he pushed himself into family life. Graham writes about these stages as the arcs of Meyer’s life. He had the arc as a private businessman, and the arc as public servant. He had arcs as a champion of certain causes, and an arc devoted to family. Some arcs lasted a decade. Some lasted longer. But his life wasn’t one continuous thread — just a series of strands that he wove together into something impressive. Anytime I get caught up thinking about the future, I come back to those arcs. I love what I’m working on right now, and I’ve got no intention to end it anytime soon. But one day, something else will come along. I’m not sure what it is yet — but I’ll try to make it an arc as worthwhile as the one that came before.

OK, storytime... After my little brother, Sam, graduated from college, he got a job managing a restaurant in the midwest. It was a pretty small restaurant, and a few times a week, he had to stop by the bank to make a deposit for work. He started seeing the same employees every week, and to build a relationship with them, he decided to do a very smart thing: Every time he came into the bank, he brought a new joke to tell. Over the course of a year, Sam built a reputation as “That Guy Who Always Has a Joke of the Day.” It wasn’t a big thing, but it meant that Sam made a personal connection with the bank’s staff. They knew him, and warmly greeted him whenever he walked in the door. A year or so later, he left to manage a different restaurant, and he didn’t need to go back to the bank much. But one day, someone from the bank came into his new restaurant to buy lunch, and Sam recognized them. “Aren’t you from the bank?” he asked. “Hey, it’s the Joke of the Day guy!” the bank teller said. “We’ve missed you!” The employee told Sam that when he left, everyone at the bank was a little upset. They actually missed all those corny jokes! They even made Sam’s replacement start coming in with a fact of the day — but they said it wasn’t quite the same. There are so many wonderful, simple ways ways to start building a relationship like that: → When someone you know does something great, congratulate them! Send them an email or shoot them a text and tell them how much you loved their work. → Send someone a birthday card, or give them a birthday call, and tell them what they mean to you. → Forward someone a link to a story or a video, and tell them that it made you think of them. Those actions are so simple — and yet, they can be deeply meaningful. They make people feel appreciated, loved, and respected. And if you don’t get to see those people very often, a small action like that can be a simple way to stay in touch. It never hurts to have a lot of friends in a lot of places — you never know when you might be able to open a door for friend, or vice versa. That could all start with something as simple as a joke of the day. Well done, Sam.

I'm still not over the first-ever edition of The Newsletter Conference. A lot of thank yous are in order! To Ryan Sager, Jesse Watkins, and Isabella Alzate for putting together such an incredible lineup of speakers and sponsors, and most of all, for trusting me to keynote and emcee the day. To all the panelists who joined us on stage to share everything they've learned (I’ve got a few pages of notes!), and to those who joined me on stage for my two panels: Louis Nicholls, Chenell Basilio, Stephanie Talmadge, S. Mitra Kalita, Ashley Hoffman, and Ryan Heafy. To The Times Center for being such a perfect place for a conference. And of course, to all the attendees who took a chance to come to a first-time conference. The overwhelming majority of attendees traveled from outside New York to be there. Dozens of you traveled from abroad to attend — an amazing testament to how hungry the newsletter community is for events like this! What a day. Can’t wait to do it again in 2025! p.s. thanks to Anders Rantzau Rasmussen and the WSS guys for the photos!

SO excited for The Newsletter Conference on Friday. It’s an absolute all-star line-up of speakers that Ryan Sager and Jesse Watkins have put together. If you’re going to be there on Friday, drop a note in the comment — would love to say hi!

A big shout-out to Stephanie Griffith, whose Email Preview tool (https://emailpreview.io/) is absolutely indispensable when it comes to saving emails. I can't tell you how many times I've used it this month, and how many times clients go, "Wait, there's a magic tool that can take my newsletter and turn it into a .pdf???" Bookmark it, use it (and maybe buy her a coffee too as a thank you for such a great free tool!). p.s. if you do want to buy her a coffee → https://lnkd.in/eXbeu78i

If you deliver your email at the wrong time, you’re significantly less likely to get a response or the action you’ve requested. And that’s an issue. It’s why I use the 7-to-7 Rule — I try to send emails only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Why? Some clients check email before 7 a.m., and some do it after 7 p.m. But for most of my clients, they’re not going to act on something if it’s sent outside that window. My goal is to send email during that window where they’re most likely to be on their work email and ready to take action on whatever I’m asking. Does it mean I don’t check email after 7 p.m.? Actually, no! I usually do a quick scan of my email first thing in the morning, and I’ll hop onto email in the hour before bed. The only catch is: I won’t send the email until 7 a.m. the next day. When it comes to the 7-to-7 Rule, Gmail’s scheduling feature has been an absolute gift. If I realize on Saturday morning that I have something to ask a client, I’ll write the email immediately but schedule it for Monday at 7 a.m. The result? More of my emails get answered at a time that’s convenient for both of us — and when we can move quickly to get the work done.

A well-built landing page can help you grow your newsletter faster. Let’s look at a few of my favorites, including those from: Tom Alder’s Strategy Breakdowns The Atlantic Chenell Basilio’s Growth in Reverse The Wolf of Franchises Dense Discovery Boktugg AB I think you’ll find a lot you can learn from these seven pages — and hopefully a few things you can bring back to your newsletter’s landing page!