NEWSLETTERs SUCK - NOT

i am still betting on newsletters, litte preggo update from the hospital and who is "Ubuntu"?

Author

dajana eder
February 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minuten

in this copy i am sharing with you
- turning newsletters into loveletters
- a pregnancy update from the hospital
- the meaning of our baby’s south african name

this is the update you've been waiting for, and i’m not making excuses when it comes to keeping you posted - even if i have to write these lines from the hospital. i’ll share more insights here too, but first, let’s dive into “why i believe in newsletters!” love, d.

TURNING NEWSLETTERs in LOVELETTERs

O M f*ckin G - if there was another word, i swear i’d use it, but in the end, it is what it is. a tool that has been overused in the worst ways, yet still one of the best-selling. day by day, hundreds of spam and phishing emails flood our inboxes. so far, no king’s son has donated me money, i haven’t won the promised lottery, and the lady who said she’s crazy in love never texted back. but brands? they’re selling like crazy through personalized newsletters, special offers, and more. and this is exactly where you can jump in and make it work for you.

WHO’s SETTING THE SOCIAL MEDIA RULES

i’m not on X anymore, and i only use tiktok when necessary. now, we’re facing major changes on an app where i spend most of my time - meta’s instagram. but it’s not just instagram. facebook, whatsapp, and threads all belong to meta, and they will all be affected by mark zuckerberg’s latest move. he just announced plans for “open speech,” meaning less control, fewer fact checks, and, oh yeah, he even paid trump 25 million for blocking him the past years. maybe this bromance is about pleasing the new president, maybe it’s about grabbing some of the fascist money pouring into X. either way, at some point, we’ll have to decide whether we stay on these platforms and how we use them.

new social platforms will rise, but if the users stay the same, the game won’t change. meta isn’t just adapting to a new president; it’s responding to what people are asking for.

since 2017, i’ve kept coming back to newsletters. why? because the people here are truly invested and interested in my content. newsletters land directly in your inbox, and you get to decide when and if you want to read them. for me, every single edition is a blank canvas where i can fully express myself. i put all my effort into it, so the time you spend reading is worth it. AND i have access to the audience - no platform or algorithm decides for me who i can reach. if i have to leave insta like i did with X, i lose the following i've built. but i will not lose the emails i collected - even if i switch platforms.

“but people should pay for the value you deliver with your newsletter!”

sure, i pack a lot of knowledge into this. in the usa, this content would be behind a paywall. but we’re in germany, and let’s be real - germans don’t like paying for things online. for me, it’s different anyway. i see your subscription as an exchange, a way to build trust for everything that’s coming next. never underestimate the power of well-placed “free” content. because it’s not actually free - i already have your email, your trust, and our connection.

less is more

“write newsletters like they’re simple emails,” said steven bartlett.

could be true, but for me, i like to put effort into them. i design them nicely.

then again, there was this marketing campaign where they sent a “special voucher from one worker to another” - aiming it was accidentally sent to everyone. sales went through the roof. best campaign ever. barely any effort.

you can’t send too many

“just keep your audience in the loop.”

i actually think you can send too many. time is limited, and so is attention. the more you send, the more gets deleted. but if you find the right balance between quantity and quality, not only will your open rates increase, but so will your clicks and reading time.

this newsletter has an opening rate of almost 60% within 48 hours - statistic shows in average it is between 17% and 28%.

i don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all blueprint. your audience is different from mine, and so are their needs. build your community carefully. tell people what they’ll get. ask for feedback. but most of all, use this space to express your true point of view.

NOTE2SELF

“you are already so deeply loved, little ubuntu. as your middle name describes in south african xhosa: ‘humanity - i am because we are.’ it reflects a sense of shared humanity, compassion, and interconnectedness - a reminder that our lives are woven together and that kindness toward others shapes who we are.”

especially in times like these, when people try to use events to separate from “the others,” we should come closer together. our existence is already political - because of gender, love, skin color, heritage, ethnicity, social background, education… just name it. and the same will be true for this baby. while writing these lines from the hospital, facing my personal limits with pregnancy and realizing how easily we can lose control over what’s happening inside our own bodies, i started crying when i saw a 12-year-old crying. she was apologizing, saying she is not like “all asylum seekers” in germany. how much she wants to stay. how much she fears germans because of one afghan man killing. for me, this situation is clear: people kill people. unfortunately, that’s the reality. some commit crimes, some suffer from mental illness, some kill because the victim is a woman, and some because of right-wing beliefs. read the numbers for real context.

if we want to change something, if we want to make this country “safer” - and hell, i have never felt unsafe except when walking past a group of men alone at night - then the discussion must be a feminist one. how do we prevent women, children, and queer people from being murdered in their homes and on the streets? maybe not by building more borders and deporting people…

so when it comes to the elections in february, please make sure to talk to people, challenge them, and fact-check everything. so many “news” stories are spread to divide, not to inform. don’t forget to post on whatsapp and have real conversations. it is not okay to vote for right-wing parties. and if you do, ask yourself one question: "how privileged must one be to feel safe in a right-wing extremist movement?"

BITS & NUGGETS

newsletters that just started, started with my help and some that i like:
- “good things” by leonie about simple interior design for your home.
- “founders favorites” by amely, founder ylumi and my fav banana bread.
- jasmin, founder gooden sportswear, on the symbiosis of sports and sustainability.

you need help to get your newsletter started? my suggest is using beehiiv.com or drop a message, i walk you through and set up a strategie.

SUPPORT MY WORK by ordering my book or leaving a review via amazon.

PREVIEW to the next RE:FRAME

let’s deep dive into innovations around AI and chatGPT. what will change in the future, who is writing the rules, and what can each of us do?

you made a powerful decision for yourself by reading RE:FRAME to the end. let’s turn that power into action - add five more in: five forwards to friends, five shares, or simply your five mins of reflections. your next step matters.