Welcome to Press This, the WordPress neighborhood podcast from WMR. Every episode options visitors from across the neighborhood and discussions of the most important problems going through WordPress builders. The next is a transcription of the authentic recording.
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Document Pop: You’re taking note of Press This, a WordPress Neighborhood Podcast on WMR. Every week we highlight individuals of the WordPress neighborhood. I’m your host, Document Pop. I beef up the WordPress neighborhood thru my function at WP Engine, and my contributions over on TorqueMag.Io the place I am getting to do podcasts and draw cartoons and educational movies. Test that out.
You’ll subscribe to Press This on Purple Circle, iTunes, Spotify, your favourite podcasting app or you’ll obtain episodes without delay at wmr.fm.
I’m going to let you know a snappy secret. I really like signing up for newsletters. I feel I’m a little bit of an anomaly right here, but when we aren’t shut non-public pals, I’m almost certainly now not going to observe you on Mastodon or Instagram or Fb, however I gained’t consider carefully sooner than I join your publication.
When you’ve got a cafe, right here’s my electronic mail. You were given recommendation for sport design? Signal me up. Weekly WordPress information roundups in my inbox? Don’t thoughts if I do. So I’m already offered on some great benefits of speaking for your consumers without delay thru electronic mail. However I assumed a few of you listeners may want some encouragement to discover the publication area.
So I’m satisfied to mention that these days’s visitor is Lesley Sim. The co-founder of E-newsletter Glue, a plugin that turns your WordPress web page into a formidable publication CMS. And we’re going to discuss why you will have to be coming into newsletters.
Lesley, let’s kick issues off with simply telling us how you were given into WordPress.
Lesley Sim: Hello, Document. Thank you such a lot for having me on. I all the time love approaching those podcasts and are living streams. My WordPress starting place tale, wow. I feel my first publicity with WordPress was once in 2016. I used to be looking to construct a web page for a craft beer industry that I had simply began and given the place I’m now, you’ll inform that that didn’t figure out.
Because it seems, craft beer breweries are arduous to run. so we have been on the lookout for an affordable option to construct our web page and that’s more or less the primary time I stumbled upon WordPress. And craft beer didn’t figure out and I finished up going deeper down the WordPress hollow, beginning a virtual company the place I did advertising and construct websites for shoppers.
After which simply sooner than the pandemic hit, I more or less were given unwell of that. I’d been doing it for a couple of years at that time and coping with shoppers. Occasionally it’s actually a laugh and pleasant and every so often it may be actually irritating. And I used to be like, K, I’ve given this products and services factor a just right cross, possibly it’s time to take a look at my hand at merchandise.
And because I’ve been operating in WordPress for some time now, I used to be like, ok, possibly I’ll take a look at construction a WordPress plugin. And that’s very, very in brief more or less how I were given began and the way E-newsletter Glue got here to be since the WordPress plugin that when some trial and mistake, I determined to construct was once E-newsletter Glue.
Document Pop: I don’t know if I knew that you simply have been a craft brewery industry proprietor sooner than this. That’s actually cool. I all the time love listening to those additional little tales at the start of the display. So, is the craft brewery, how you were given into, I want to make a publication plugin, or was once that, after you already more or less dived into WordPress, you noticed this want for that?
Lesley Sim: Once I’d already more or less dived into WordPress, so I’ve been doing WordPress for some time and newsletters began getting increasingly widespread. I feel as RSS more or less pale into the background a bit of bit, which I’m individually actually unhappy about as a result of I all the time beloved RSS, I feel other people wanted a option to keep up to date and newsletters have been it.
So I feel round 2019, 2020 was once when Substack began changing into actually widespread. And yeah, so I more or less sought after to do my very own publication after which that’s more or less how I were given the speculation for E-newsletter Glue.
Document Pop: Yeah, undoubtedly pouring out some craft beer for RSS and I used to be a heavy RSS person, in order that may provide an explanation for why switching to newsletters the place it was once principally my electronic mail now could be the RSS aggregator. Proper. That’s more or less the way it almost certainly works. It’s like one thing like that.
I imply, I’m sharing my non-public data the place with RSS I didn’t have to do this, however that’s possibly what you and I’ve in not unusual with why we were given into newsletters. Are you able to let us know about what’s E-newsletter Glue and what hole does it fill out there?
Lesley Sim: E-newsletter Glue works with publishers, media firms, and newsrooms, and we lend a hand them attach their electronic mail provider supplier, like MailChimp, Marketing campaign Track, ActiveCampaign to WordPress. That allows them to construct their newsletters inside WordPress, the best way they’re already writing their articles. So the best way I consider it’s, when you have a staff of editors and writers who’re already spending all their time in WordPress writing their articles it’s more or less a ache for them to then transfer brains.
To log into MailChimp, as an example, and mess around round with that editor and write their emails in there, and traditionally that’s all the time taken a very long time and it’s much less intuitive as a result of it’s a must to write in a separate pane than what you’re seeing. So we do a little bit of all of that. Writers can as a substitute simply log into WordPress or they’re almost certainly already logged into WordPress and simply spin up a brand new submit or a brand new publication inside WordPress and get started writing. And that have is so much sooner. There’s no onboarding wanted when you have new writers, as a result of everyone, {most professional} writers, freelance writers already understand how to make use of WordPress.
And the opposite facet good thing about this is that now all your newsletters are actually deeply built-in into your WordPress web page, in order that approach if you wish to do paywall stuff or search engine optimization stuff along with your newsletters, you currently can. While prior to now, all your publication archives have been inside MailChimp and it’s a special URL and also you don’t actually have a lot keep watch over over that.
You’re now not ready to have subscription bureaucracy to your publication archives as a result of they’re sitting in MailChimp and on and on and on. So simply having that deep integration is actually massive for expansion and branding and all of that stuff.
Document Pop: Yeah, I feel there’s so much to be mentioned concerning the integration for your web page. You’re speaking about the usage of the search engine optimization from the newsletters as a get advantages for your web page, and that’s fascinating. However you in brief touched on something I simply more or less wish to deal with here’s MailChimp and Substack. In the event that they cross away, which we’ve noticed very an identical products and services cross away just lately, in the event that they cross away, you then’re possibly at a hard place, proper?
As a result of Substack hosts your publication and MailChimp has hosted variations after which the model within the electronic mail field, however there’s now not going to be that archived model the place if you happen to’re the usage of one thing like E-newsletter Glue, you’ll, relying, I suppose, at the privateness settings, the general public settings that you simply’ve allocated to every submit, you’ll more or less stay the ones hosted and other people can nonetheless to find them later, proper?
Lesley Sim: Yeah, that’s precisely it. And if you happen to wanna migrate electronic mail provider suppliers, alternatively, identical factor, proper? You don’t must manually migrate ’motive the whole lot’s already to your WordPress web page.
Document Pop: You’re speaking about electronic mail provider suppliers. I believe like we’re close to the top of the primary segment right here, however let’s attempt to get into that. If I’m the usage of E-newsletter Glue and I’m going to must have a bunch for my web page, which I must have anyway, am I additionally going to must pay giant cash for an electronic mail server of a few kind?
I don’t understand how that works.
Lesley Sim: Yeah. So, the entire consumers that we paintings with have already got MailChimp accounts or ActiveCampaign accounts, and on the measurement that they’re at, it’s generally actually, actually arduous for them to transport off it. They may have an entire bunch of segments, tags, automation arrange in there already.
However on the identical time, they don’t just like the day after day paintings, doing the day after day paintings inside the ones platforms as a result of they’re now not actually constructed for simple writing. And in order that’s type the place we are available in and lend a hand with that day after day publication operations.
Document Pop: So, if I’ve a web page, a WordPress web page, once more, you don’t must pay internet hosting for that, however I might even have one thing like a MailChimp simply to take care of the publication serving. And what’s the mixing like for that?
Lesley Sim: On our finish, it’s tremendous simple. So they simply want an API key and key that during, after which we attach the whole lot for them at the back of the scenes.
Document Pop: K. And you most likely do this like within the dashboard, within the WordPress dashboard, proper?
Lesley Sim: Sure.
Document Pop: Yeah, I adore it. K, that absolutely is smart. I haven’t used E-newsletter Glue but, however I will completely more or less consider what it’s like there, as a result of I’ve used a number of different WordPress plugins. After we come again, we’re gonna take a snappy smash, but if we come again, I’m gonna proceed speaking to Lesley Sim, the co-founder of E-newsletter Glue.
We’re gonna discuss why you wish to have a publication within the age of social media. And we’re going to speak additionally a bit of extra deeply about how that is going to combine along with your WordPress web page and more or less questions on new options which might be coming to E-newsletter Glue. So keep tuned for extra after the fast smash.
Document Pop: Welcome again to Press This, a WordPress Neighborhood Podcast. I’m your host, Document Pop. These days, I’m speaking to Lesley Sim, the co-founder of E-newsletter Glue, a phenomenal publication plugin that turns your WordPress web site into principally, I don’t know, Lesley, what do you name it? A publication CMS?
Lesley Sim: Yeah, I might say it’s a publication builder, however publication CMS sounds just right too.
Document Pop: We mentioned my love for newsletters, and I undoubtedly suppose there’s a spot for newsletters. I’m hoping possibly, Lesley, you must attempt to inform a few of our listeners who may well be placing a large number of power into Instagram posts or TikTok movies, and so they’re placing all their power into there.
And possibly they suspect newsletters and electronic mail are more or less useless. What would you inform them? What statistics do you have got pronouncing, pronouncing, if truth be told, those are nonetheless actually not unusual? Or, you recognize, what would you attempt to inform any person to more or less persuade them that they want to be within the publication industry?
Lesley Sim: Wow, that’s arduous. They’re simply rather other advertising channels. With social media platforms, that has a tendency to be more or less the place you cross if you happen to don’t have your individual target market. So that you’re happening a special platform to take a look at to get discovered within the first position, however whenever you’ve grown an target market for your self, you actually wish to convey them into your global, your universe, your Surprise cinematic universe. And that’s more or less the place newsletters are available in.
As a result of once more, while you’re on a social media platform and also you’re looking to get found out, you’re on the mercy of the algorithms. As soon as your subscribers or your unswerving consumers or unswerving fans find out about you, they do wish to find out about if you happen to’re a donut store your Friday, you recognize, donut particular. Or if you happen to’re a hairdresser, there are per thirty days reductions. In case you are available in each and every month, you get a 20 % bargain or one thing like that.
They don’t wish to have overlooked it since the set of rules didn’t display it to them. And in order that’s the place newsletters are available in actually at hand. So that you usher in, let’s say, one thing like 10 % of your social media following into your newsletters and so they’re your maximum avid enthusiasts. You’ll be sure that each time you have got a promotion or a bargain and even only a tale or an replace to proportion, the ones persons are going to get it. And that’s more or less one of the best ways to construct rapport with them, construct a deeper courting in some way that you simply can’t on social media.
And also you personal the ones relationships, proper? As a result of other people have opted in, they’ve actively given you your electronic mail deal with. They wish to pay attention from you, which is an excessively other vibe from social media the place they more or less are scrolling randomly occur upon you and observe you after which put out of your mind about you 5 mins later.
So I might say that’s now not an both or more or less factor. It’s now not such as you both do Instagram otherwise you do newsletters. It’s extra like a funnel the place, Instagram and TikTok and social media usually is more or less on the most sensible of the funnel the place you’re going from your universe into any person else’s universe to search out subscribers and fans and you then’re drawing them in deeper into your funnel by means of the newsletters after which you recognize on the finish of the day for your store whether or not that’s on-line or in individual.
Document Pop: I really like that. It’s now not both or I feel that’s just right. I’ve been declaring issues as though they’re binary, however like, yeah, Instagram is superb for giving taste to your online business and speaking along with your consumers, possibly having a from side to side and giving them at the back of the scenes. But when I’m following an artist, I don’t wish to learn about their Monday evening artwork display on Tuesday morning. Since the set of rules messed issues up.
And in a similar fashion, if I’m following an artist and they’ve a brand new album popping out, I will’t click on on a hyperlink from Instagram, now not tremendous simple, however in an electronic mail, completely may just. So I really like that concept that possibly do each. It’s now not one or the opposite, however it appears like newsletters have a bit of bit extra of an actionable more or less like, right here’s a time dependent factor, or right here’s a hyperlink we wish you to click on.
And that possibly is their get advantages. Does that sound just right?
Lesley Sim: Yeah and I feel as your advertising operations develop then clearly you’ll do extra. We’ve were given loads of publications the usage of us that submit more than one day by day newsletters. And in order that’s one thing that you’ll aspire to. So it’s now not simply remaining minute reductions and stuff like that.
Document Pop: That is every other factor too, I’m considering very particularly about newsletters so that you could be in contact for your consumers, however there’s an entire era of newsletters, submit Substack, as you discussed, there’s an entire era of publication writers which might be turning that possibly into source of revenue, like writing the newsletters isn’t a option to power industry, it’s the industry, and does E-newsletter Glue beef up options like that?
Lesley Sim: Indirectly, we do paintings neatly with an entire bunch of various paywall plugins and device. LeakyPaywall is one in every of them that we paintings actually intently with, Memberful is every other one who loads of our consumers use, and so forth.
Document Pop: What about Patreon integration? Is there any more or less integration there?
Lesley Sim: Now not presently, however that’s actually fascinating and I’ll have to take a look at it.
Document Pop: Yeah, I’m a Patreon person so I’d love to speak to you about that afterwards.
So let’s discuss one of the vital options that any person can get from E-newsletter Glue that may well be lacking from different issues. Like I’m assuming you have got Gutenberg integration in E-newsletter Glue?
Lesley Sim: Yep. In order that’s if truth be told one of the crucial giant issues about us. We use the block editor. So if you happen to’re nonetheless the usage of the vintage editor, you’ll to find that while you use us, you’re confronted with one thing a bit of bit new, which is the block editor. And one in every of our core options is that we’ve got an entire bunch of various blocks that actually dramatically accelerate your workflow.
So consumers, on reasonable, say that they save one to 2 hours consistent with publication the usage of us, or you must additionally say that we reduce your publishing time in part. And that’s simply because a large number of them, once they’re construction electronic mail digests, as an example, they’re sharing hyperlinks to their web site or to different internet sites. If that they had to do this in an electronic mail provider supplier, they might have needed to manually add the picture, kind out the heading, kind out the excerpt, flip it right into a hyperlink, and do this 5 occasions or ten occasions, relying on what number of hyperlinks they’re sharing of their publication.
With us, you simply want to paste within the URL or you’ll set a number of options and filters and it mechanically pulls out the articles out of your web page. And in order that takes seconds as a substitute of 20 mins or part an hour, relying on what you’re making an attempt to reach. Yeah, in order that’s more or less one in every of our major options.
After which additionally, whenever you’ve were given your publication all arrange, it’s actually simple to hit submit and ship the publication out from WordPress as a substitute of getting to enter Mailchimp to do it.
Document Pop: Is that the way you additionally organize your subscribers and issues too, is throughout the WordPress dashboard? Or is that one thing you’d be the usage of the MailChimp facet of items to do?
Lesley Sim: That might be at the Mailchimp facet of items. So we focal point actually closely at the construction phase, like that more or less the day by day paintings that it’s a must to do to ship out the publication. So we’ve additionally were given actually robust automation options, so it’s more or less like RSS emails, which if other people aren’t aware of, principally you’ll set an RSS feed to ship out as electronic mail notifications each and every time a brand new article is printed.
Whilst that function has existed for a very long time, it’s more or less all the time given me nervousness since you don’t have any keep watch over over what that ultimate publication looks as if. And so we constructed an electronic mail automation function the place, whilst you’ll additionally ship it out mechanically in accordance with a definite time that you simply’ve set, you’ll additionally set it to simply save as a draft.
And so this permits you to automate 90 % of the paintings or 99 % of the paintings, after which cross in that 1 %, test that draft, ship your self a check electronic mail, replace the topic line, and if you happen to’re proud of it, then ship it out. It saves a large number of time, but additionally prevents you from being scared that you simply’ve by chance despatched out one thing that you simply didn’t wish to ship out.
Document Pop: I suppose only one extra query on that while you’re filling out this submit or this text shape, is there additionally more or less like Yoast search engine optimization integration when you have Yoast search engine optimization in order that it really works in a while down the road or is that more or less a separate factor?
Lesley Sim: Yeah, so as it’s simply within the block editor, you’ll additionally use Yoast and do the entire key phrase stuff and make it seek engine optimized.
Document Pop: Smartly, that’s a great place for us to take a snappy smash. And once we come again, we’re going to wrap up our dialog with Leslie Sim about E-newsletter Glue, and I suppose we’ll simply communicate concerning the state of the business, so keep tuned for extra after this quick smash.
Document Pop: Welcome again to Press This, a WordPress neighborhood podcast. I’m your host and E mail E-newsletter Addict, Document Pop, I’m speaking to Lesley Sim, the co-founder of E-newsletter Glue. And I feel one of the crucial issues I wish to discuss, more or less like converting gears a bit of bit, we mentioned social media and internet sites, search engine optimization, electronic mail newsletters.
We haven’t mentioned podcasting, which is a factor that Lesley, I don’t know if you recognize I’m into, and also you had simply began a brand new podcast referred to as Sticky. Are you able to let us know a bit of bit about that?
Lesley Sim: Yeah, we just lately moved to concentrate on media firms and newsrooms, like I discussed previous. Earlier than that, we have been more or less concentrated on any individual with a publication, which is more or less a vintage industry mistake. And so when we moved to concentrate on media firms and newsrooms, I temporarily learned, oh, we want a brand new approach of promoting to them.
And I sought after to supply actually top quality content material that might lend a hand people who find themselves already pros within the industry and now not simply more or less, me as an example, in my room finding out my very own publication for the primary time. If I used to be like an beginner publication creator, I would want very other content material from any person who has been writing a publication for 10 years for a big newsletter, as an example.
And so, I temporarily learned, ok, I will’t interview myself or we will be able to’t depend on actually fundamental revel in once we write publication kind articles anymore. And that was once when the speculation for the podcast happened as a result of I noticed that the most efficient other people to interview to get actually top quality professional degree content material have been professional business operators.
And so, I’ve been fortunate sufficient to have an entire bunch of shoppers and pals who’ve been within the business for some time, and I were given in contact with them and arrange an entire bunch of various interviews. The podcast introduced this week, the primary episode drops subsequent week, and I’m actually excited.
The standard is actually prime, and I believe like even supposing you’ve been within the publication publishing industry for the previous 10 to fifteen years, you’re nonetheless going to be told precious perception and recommendation from the episodes, so I’m actually interested by it.
Document Pop: Who’s your first visitor?
Lesley Sim: My first visitor is Alyssa Doin. She was head of deliverability at ConvertKit. I feel now she’s head of target market expansion, nonetheless at ConvertKit. She’s been operating in deliverability for a few years now and has dug into some narrowly deliverability problems. And so we more or less lined that within the podcast.
And I attempted to stay it actually, actually actionable. So that you actually pay attention what you will have to do on this case? What will have to you do if that’s the case? And I feel I’ve already shared it with some people who find themselves within the information business and so they’ve already discovered it actually useful.
Document Pop: And talking of actionable, in case you are a marketer having a look to get complex recommendation to your electronic mail publication wishes, you’ll cross to sticky.fm to determine extra or simply search for Sticky to your podcasting app. Did I nail that?
Lesley Sim: Sure, that’s easiest.
Document Pop: nailed it, And likewise, whilst we’re speaking about name outs, you’ll observe Lesley on Twitter @lesley_pizza, or you’ll observe E-newsletter Glue on Twitter as neatly. And I feel on that, Lesley, I’m going to thanks such a lot for becoming a member of us these days. It’s been nice having you on. Is there anyplace else that you wish to have to inform other people to talk over with sooner than we wrap up right here?
Lesley Sim: Nope, that’s about it. NewsletterGlue.com is the place you’ll to find extra about us.
Document Pop: Proper on. Smartly, thanks such a lot for becoming a member of us these days, Lesley. It’s been actually nice talking to you. That is Press This, a WordPress Neighborhood Podcast. Every week now we have conversations with other people in WordPress. Subsequent week we’re going to be speaking to Jeff Paul from 10Up a few new open supply detector that he’s constructed so you’ll scan WordPress plugins and ensure they’re compliant in your wishes. I’ll let him let you know extra about it subsequent week, however it’s gonna be a a laugh episode with regards to open supply and industry, and possibly what 10 Up is as much as in this day and age.
I’m additionally gonna be at WordCamp US, which will probably be already completed by the point you pay attention this podcast, however with a bit of luck, if you happen to have been there, I were given a possibility to mention hello to you.
Document Pop: Thank you for taking note of Press This, a WordPress neighborhood podcast on WMR. As soon as once more, my title’s Document and you’ll observe my adventures with Torque mag over on Twitter @thetorquemag or you’ll cross to torquemag.io the place we give a contribution tutorials and movies and interviews like this each day. So test out torquemag.io or observe us on Twitter. You’ll subscribe to Press This on Purple Circle, iTunes, Spotify, or you’ll obtain it without delay at wmr.fm every week. I’m your host Physician Widespread I beef up the WordPress neighborhood thru my function at WP Engine. And I really like to highlight individuals of the neighborhood every week on Press This.
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