On my first day as editor of my high school newspaper, I showed up with a binder full of Adobe InDesign tutorials and a relentless drive to cover our 1,200-student school with our 8-person staff.

 

 

Hi First name / pal,

 

I am still buzzing from the adrenaline and outpouring of love from last week's website launch. I know I've said it hundreds of times, but thank you so so much for all the support and shared excitement.

 

You might have also noticed that alongside this whole website refresh, I also spruced up this newsletter and now it even has a name!

 

*cue the oohs and ahhs*

welcome to the first (official) edition of The Thursday Press!

 

Even though I couldn't tell you the last time I received a physical newspaper in the mail, leisurely reading my monthly Real Simple cover-to-cover fills me with incomparable joy.

 

As a former local journalist (not just my high school expertise), book editor, and English major, I knew that when it came to naming this newsletter, there was no way it couldn't be related to words in some way.

 

Everyone likes to say that print journalism is dead and paper books are dead.

 

But hey, they say that about blogging, Pinterest, email marketing, and even Instagram... and we're all still here.

 

This newsletter combines the best of allll of those worlds. Not much is changing about the email list you know and love, though!

 

We've got a slightly different look, and 2 new sections:

(Some double-action journalism & website lingo for ya – "below the fold" means the content that would be found below the fold in the page or the content on a website that you have to scroll to see)

 

And of course, I'll still be sending out my monthly Friday Favorites email, because I can never resist a lifestyle feature 😉

below the fold

Since we're talking all about emails today, let's talk about the best way to grow your email list – a lead magnet.

 

In fact, there's a pretty good chance you're getting this email because you grabbed my lead magnet!

 

 

A lead magnet, which might also be called an opt-in or freebie, is a marketing tool that promises some kind of resource or value in exchange for a lead’s contact info.

 

Basically, a lead magnet is anything you’re offering to your audience that’s (hopefully) going to be valuable enough for them to be willing to trade their email address to get it.

 

And when it comes to marketing your service-based business, it’s a golden ticket to your dream clients’ inboxes, where you can form a deeper relationship with them that eventually leads to a sale.

 

 

 

Pinterest, duh! (But you probably guessed that.)

 

When you promote your lead magnet on Pinterest, you're opening up your list to a wider, brand-new audience (not the same 100 IG followers who are tired of hearing you say “click the link in my bio!”)

 

aaannd it's the best way to capture your Pinterest audience and nurture those leads.