My 10 Favorite Newsletters of 2017, Ranked

Despite the constant story that email is dead, it’s alive and kicking.  It is still the one medium where you build an audience and reach them free from an algorithm (*cough* Facebook).

These are all newsletters that provide me with tremendous value both personally and professionally in 2017.

Here are what my favorites have in common

• Sent weekly. This seems to be the magic cadence. It’s not too much or too little.
• Curated with external links and custom copy. Not an RSS feed.
• Provide value to me as a reader, which means not hawking a product.
• The content included favors big ideas rather than clickbait listicles.
• Few visuals. A little surprising, but holds true when looking through.
• Consistent format to train the reader
• Usually long. Readers will invest the time if you give them something worth investing in.

I have subscribed to tons of newsletters in 2017 and unsubscribed from almost as many. My trigger is short if they waste my time or do not provide value. My rule: Be a generous subscriber and a ruthless unsubscriber.

My stack rank of newsletters

1. Unthinkable

Jay Acunzo is on a mission to challenge best practices in marketing. His weekly newsletter and podcast of the same name encourages marketers to follow their intuition, not the ‘gurus’ and ‘experts.’ The newsletter explores a big idea and includes a few links of ‘email antipasto.’ I have a pretty large content man crush on Jay’s work.

[Subscribe to Unthinkable]

2. The Full Monty

This one takes the most time to read with 70+ links. However, it might be the most important to stay on top of our quickly changing world. The newsletter is assembled into nine sections with links to news that is impacting the world of business, tech, and life as robots take over (or something like that).

[Subscribe to The Full Monty]

3. For the Interested

Labeled as “ideas to help you learn, do, and become,” this has become one of my favorite newsletters. It talks about creating good habits, finding the space to do your best work, and building a loyal audience. The weekly newsletter has 10 links each accompanied by a short excerpt and explanation for why it’s included.

[Subscribe to For the Interested]

4. This Week in Content Marketing from Content Marketing Institute

This weekly email from Content Marketing Institute includes a roundup of content published on their blog plus a big idea from Chief Content Strategist Robert Rose. Sure to help you think deeper about the way you approach your marketing.

[Subscribe to This Week in Content Marketing]

5. Brain Food from Farnam Street

A newsletter about “mastering the best of what other people have already figured out.” It contains around 10 links about living your life better and thinking more clearly. Guaranteed to include a big idea that challenges the way you think about some aspect of your life. In their words, this is not “mental fast food.”

[Subscribe to Brain Food]

6. ON from Convince & Convert

An engaging weekly read with a dose of marketing trends and insights from Jay Baer and the team at Convince & Convert.

[Subscribe to ON]

7. HBR Weekly Hotlist

These are the top 10 weekly articles published on Harvard Business Review. Helpful for business strategy and leadership. Note that you can only view five articles per month without a subscription so choose your clicks/taps wisly.

[Subscribe to the HBR Weekly Hotlist]

8. CMX Weekly

Loneliness and disconnect in our digital world is a bubbling problem. Community, both online and offline, may just be the solution. The team at CMX has built the community for community people and always deliver valuable content.

[Subscribe to CMX Weekly]

9. Marketoonist

The Marketoonist is hilarious. Combining a unique knowledge of marketing and amazing illustrations, Tom Fishburne delivers a hilarious cartoon poking fun of us as marketers every week. Too good not to include on this list.

[Subscribe to Marketoonist]

10. The Ringer

The Ringer, from Bill Simmons and team, is rooted in sports along with culture, lifestyle, and tech. It’s an entertaining read and helps you be more informed for the inevitable sports small talk.

[Subscribe to The Ringer]

What are some of your favorite newsletters?

Speaking of newsletters, I'm getting ready to launch a weekly newsletter for my friends in the alumni relations space. Stay tuned for that coming in early January!