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    newsletter-creation-curation

    Industry-specific newsletter

    By @shashwatgtm
    View on GitHub
    SKILL.md
    ---
    name: newsletter-creation-curation
    description: Industry-specific newsletter creation with cadence recommendations and automation workflows
    metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"šŸ“§","homepage":"https://github.com/shashwatgtm","always":true}}
    ---
    ## **šŸŽÆ Multi-Dimensional Navigator**
    
    **Newsletters serve different purposes depending on your context. Find your path:**
    
    ### **STEP 1: What's Your Goal?**
    
    Your primary goal determines everything about your newsletter strategy:
    
    ```
    → LEAD GENERATION - Generate inbound leads for sales team
    → THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - Build authority in your category
    → PERSONAL BRAND - Build your individual reputation
    → CATEGORY OWNERSHIP - Own the conversation in your space
    ```
    
    ### **STEP 2: What's Your Industry Vertical?**
    
    Your industry determines:
    - Content topics and angle
    - Competitive positioning
    - Tone and risk tolerance
    - What's considered "valuable content"
    
    ```
    → Sales Tech - Tactical sales tips, conversation intelligence insights
    → HR Tech - People operations, employee engagement, compliance
    → Fintech - Financial regulations, payment trends, compliance updates
    → Operations Tech - Retail execution, supply chain, distribution
    ```
    
    ### **STEP 3: What's Your Company Stage?**
    
    Your stage determines:
    - Newsletter goals (lead gen vs thought leadership)
    - Resources available (time, budget)
    - Publishing frequency
    - Content depth
    
    ```
    → Series A ($1M-10M ARR) - Lead gen focus, founder-led
    → Series B ($10M-50M ARR) - Thought leadership, team-led
    → Series C+ ($50M+ ARR) - Category ownership, dedicated team
    ```
    
    ### **STEP 4: Are You Founder or Employee?**
    
    Your role determines:
    - Editorial autonomy
    - Approval workflows
    - Personal vs company brand
    - What you can/cannot say
    
    ```
    → Founder - Full autonomy, personal = company brand
    → VP/Director - Partial autonomy, manager approval
    → PMM/Content Lead - Team collaboration, brand guidelines
    → Employee (Non-Leadership) - Significant constraints
    ```
    
    ### **STEP 5: What's Your Primary Market?**
    
    Your geography determines:
    - Publishing times (IST vs EST)
    - Content examples (Indian vs US companies)
    - Distribution channels (WhatsApp vs LinkedIn)
    
    ```
    → India-first - IST times, local examples, price-conscious
    → US-first - EST/PST times, US examples, premium positioning
    ```
    
    ---
    
    ## **Quick Navigation by Common Scenarios**
    
    **Most Common Use Cases:**
    
    1. **"I'm a Sales Tech founder, want to generate leads via newsletter"**
       → Go to: **Section A1** (Sales Tech, Series A, Lead Gen Focus)
    
    2. **"I'm VP Marketing at Series B HR Tech, want thought leadership newsletter"**
       → Go to: **Section B2** (HR Tech, Series B, Thought Leadership)
    
    3. **"I'm at Series C fintech, want to own the category conversation"**
       → Go to: **Section C3** (Fintech, Series C+, Category Ownership)
    
    4. **"I'm PMM at ops tech, my VP wants me to start a newsletter"**
       → Go to: **Section D2** (Operations Tech, Employee-Led, Approval Workflows)
    
    ---
    
    # šŸ“Š SECTION A: SALES TECH NEWSLETTERS
    
    **When To Use This Section:**
    - Your product: Sales engagement, conversation intelligence, sales enablement
    - Your audience: Sales leaders, CROs, SDR managers, AEs
    - Your angle: Tactical sales tips, revenue growth, deal execution
    - Tone: Aggressive, data-driven, ROI-focused
    
    ---
    
    ## **A1: Sales Tech @ Series A (Founder-Led Lead Generation)**
    
    ### **Your Reality Check:**
    
    ```
    COMPANY PROFILE:
    - Size: $1M-10M ARR, 10-100 employees
    - Stage: Series A, need inbound leads
    - You: Founder (or early marketing hire)
    - Newsletter goal: Generate 10-20 SQLs per month
    - Time available: 3-5 hours/week
    - Budget: $0-200/month
    ```
    
    ### **The Sales Tech Newsletter Formula:**
    
    **Why Sales Leaders Read Newsletters:**
    
    ```
    SALES LEADERS DON'T READ:
    āŒ Generic sales tips ("7 ways to close more deals")
    āŒ Long-form essays (no time)
    āŒ Theory without tactics
    āŒ Anything that doesn't help THIS QUARTER
    
    SALES LEADERS READ:
    āœ… Data-driven insights ("Gong analyzed 1M calls, here's what top reps do")
    āœ… Tactical playbooks (copy-paste into next call)
    āœ… Competitive intelligence (what competitors are doing)
    āœ… Quick wins (implement in <30 minutes)
    ```
    
    ### **Series A Sales Tech Newsletter Strategy:**
    
    **GOAL: 10-20 SQLs per month from newsletter**
    
    **Week-by-Week Startup Plan:**
    
    ```
    WEEK 1: POSITIONING & SETUP (4 hours)
    
    Day 1-2: Choose Your Angle (2 hours)
    
    SALES TECH NEWSLETTER ANGLES:
    Option 1: "Conversation Intelligence Insights"
    - Example: Analyze sales calls, share patterns
    - Audience: Sales leaders at B2B SaaS (50-500 employees)
    - Frequency: Weekly
    - Differentiator: Data-driven (use your product's data)
    
    Option 2: "SMB Sales Playbook"
    - Example: Tactical plays for small sales teams
    - Audience: Founders, sales managers at startups
    - Frequency: Weekly
    - Differentiator: Practical, not theoretical
    
    Option 3: "AI Sales Coaching"
    - Example: How AI changes sales coaching
    - Audience: Sales enablement leaders
    - Frequency: Bi-weekly
    - Differentiator: Future-focused, contrarian takes
    
    YOUR DECISION:
    Pick ONE angle. Stick to it for 12 weeks minimum.
    Example: "AI Sales Coaching for SMB Teams"
    
    Day 3: Setup Publishing (2 hours)
    
    SALES TECH PUBLISHING OPTIONS:
    
    FREE OPTIONS:
    ā–” LinkedIn Newsletter (RECOMMENDED for Sales Tech)
      - Why: Your audience is already on LinkedIn
      - Setup: 15 minutes
      - Reach: Notifies your connections
      - Downside: LinkedIn owns the list
    
    ā–” Substack (RECOMMENDED if building owned list)
      - Why: Own your subscribers, email delivery
      - Setup: 30 minutes
      - Cost: Free (5% fee on paid subscriptions)
      - Downside: Cold start (need to drive traffic)
    
    ā–” Medium (NOT RECOMMENDED)
      - Why: Audience is too broad, not B2B sales-focused
      - Skip this for Sales Tech
    
    HYBRID APPROACH (BEST):
    - Publish on Substack (own the list)
    - Cross-post to LinkedIn (distribution)
    - Repurpose on Twitter threads (amplification)
    
    SETUP CHECKLIST:
    ā–” Substack account created
    ā–” Newsletter name: [Your Angle] Newsletter
      Example: "The AI Sales Coach" or "SMB Sales Playbook"
    ā–” About section: 2-3 sentences on who it's for
    ā–” First post published: "Issue #0: What to expect"
    ```
    
    **WEEK 2: WRITE & PUBLISH ISSUE #1 (4 hours)**
    
    ```
    Monday: Research & Outline (1 hour)
    
    SALES TECH CONTENT SOURCES:
    
    PRIMARY (Use These):
    ā–” Gong blog (conversation intelligence leader)
    ā–” Sales Hacker (community content)
    ā–” r/sales on Reddit (real sales rep pain points)
    ā–” Your own sales calls (if you have product data)
    ā–” Customer interviews (ask: "What's your biggest sales challenge?")
    
    SECONDARY (Reference):
    ā–” Pavilion community (CRO insights)
    ā–” SaaStr blog (B2B SaaS sales)
    ā–” LinkedIn posts from sales leaders (Jason Lemkin, Jacco van der Kooij)
    
    WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
    - Data-driven insights (numbers, stats, research)
    - Contrarian takes (what everyone gets wrong)
    - Tactical playbooks (step-by-step processes)
    
    Tuesday-Wednesday: Write Issue #1 (2 hours)
    
    SALES TECH NEWSLETTER STRUCTURE:
    
    ā”Œā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”
    │ SUBJECT LINE (Critical for Sales Tech) │
    ā”œā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”¤
    │ āŒ BAD: "Issue #1: Sales Tips"          │
    │ āœ… GOOD: "Why 73% of SDRs fail [data]"  │
    │ āœ… GOOD: "The 2-minute discovery hack"  │
    │ āœ… GOOD: "Gong is wrong about cold calls"│
    ā””ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”€ā”˜
    
    FORMAT (600-900 words):
    
    **OPENING HOOK (50-100 words)**
    Start with: Data point, contrarian take, or bold claim
    Example:
    "Gong analyzed 1 million sales calls and found the average 
    discovery call is 38 minutes. But the top 10% of reps? 
    They keep it under 25 minutes. Here's why..."
    
    **THE INSIGHT (200-300 words)**
    Explain the data or framework
    Use: Numbers, quotes, examples
    Avoid: Fluff, generic advice
    
    **THE TACTICAL PLAYBOOK (250-400 words)**
    Step-by-step: How to apply this
    Format:
    1. Preparation: What to do before
    2. Execution: How to do it
    3. Follow-up: What happens after
    
    **THE CALL TO ACTION (50-100 words)**
    Next step for reader:
    - Try this technique
    - Reply with your experience
    - Book a demo (if relevant - sparingly)
    
    Thursday: Edit & Polish (30 minutes)
    
    SALES TECH EDITING CHECKLIST:
    ā–” Cut 30% of words (sales leaders are busy)
    ā–” Check: Every paragraph has data or tactics
    ā–” Remove: Theory, fluff, obvious advice
    ā–” Add: Specific numbers, examples, names
    ā–” Verify: All claims have sources
    
    Friday: Publish (30 minutes)
    
    TIMING (CRITICAL FOR SALES TECH):
    āŒ Monday morning (busy, planning week)
    āŒ Friday afternoon (checking out for weekend)
    āœ… Tuesday 9 AM EST (best open rates for sales)
    āœ… Wednesday 10 AM EST (second best)
    āœ… Thursday 9 AM EST (third best)
    
    If India-focused:
    āœ… Tuesday 9 AM IST
    āœ… Wednesday 2 PM IST (after lunch)
    
    POST-PUBLISH AMPLIFICATION:
    ā–” Share on LinkedIn (tag relevant people)
    ā–” Post Twitter thread (key points)
    ā–” Share in Sales Hacker Slack
    ā–” Email to 10 sales leaders: "Would love your take on this"
    ```
    
    **WEEKS 3-12: WEEKLY RHYTHM (3-4 hours/week)**
    
    ```
    MONDAY (1 hour):
    ā–” Review last week's open rate, clicks
    ā–” Brainstorm this week's topic
    ā–” Collect 2-3 data sources
    
    TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY (2 hours):
    ā–” Write 600-900 words
    ā–” Edit ruthlessly
    ā–” Get feedback from sales team (if you have one)
    
    THURSDAY (30 minutes):
    ā–” Final edit
    ā–” Create subject line (test 3 options, pick best)
    ā–” Schedule for Friday 9 AM EST
    
    FRIDAY (30 minutes):
    ā–” Newsletter goes out automatically
    ā–” Amplify on social media
    ā–” Respond to replies (engagement signal)
    ```
    
    ### **Sales Tech Newsletter: Content Ideas (First 12 Issues)**
    
    **Tactical > Theory**
    
    ```
    ISSUE 1: "Why 73% of SDRs fail [Gong data analysis]"
    ISSUE 2: "The 2-minute discovery question framework"
    ISSUE 3: "Gong is wrong about cold calls [contrarian take]"
    ISSUE 4: "How top AEs use silence in demos [behavioral science]"
    ISSUE 5: "The 'negative close' technique [with script]"
    ISSUE 6: "Why your CRM is killing your close rate [data]"
    ISSUE 7: "The 3 questions top closers always ask [Chorus analysis]"
    ISSUE 8: "How to compete against Gong/Outreach [battle card]"
    ISSUE 9: "The follow-up cadence that actually works [A/B test results]"
    ISSUE 10: "Why most sales coaching fails [research + fix]"
    ISSUE 11: "The pricing objecti
    
    ... (truncated)