29 Advanced Digital Newsletters That Help You Learn

Thursday, January 21st, 2016

You Should Read This If

You want to find a more time-efficient way to curate content
You’re an SME struggling with web marketing
You’re a public relations practitioner
You’re bored of reading the same old content and want some new authors
You want to learn more about digital marketing and SEO
You want to learn. Full stop

Why This Post’s Important: 29 Brainy Newsletters

There’s some good advice about two systems you can use to curate content: the painstaking way, and the easy way
It recommends 29 advanced digital newsletters you can subscribe to. Revitalising nuggets for free. Some you will have heard of; most you won’t

But First

I’m going to put it all in context and explain why you should listen to what I have to say.

Over the last two years, I’ve been on a journey…

Stop Right There. I Don’t Want To Know About Your Time-Saving Content Curation System, Or You, For That Matter. Just Take Me to the 29 Newsletters Bit

Phew. I made the cut. Thanks for your time. I’ll continue…I’ve learnt more in this period than I have in half a working lifetime of successful gainful employment.

There are lots of reasons for this.

But the overriding one – and the one that concerns me here in this blog post – is the amount I have read.

When I started my career, the Internet was in its infancy.

I fondly remember sitting in a room with four PR consultant colleagues in 1997.

“Are you off yet?” one of us would say. “Tell me when you’re off, would you?” Came the reply: “I’m just downloading my emails. I’ll only be five minutes.”

PR has changed since then, and the Internet, powered by lightning fast broadband speeds, has been transformative. In ways, we could never have imagined 19 years ago.

And I’ve changed too.

Over the past few years, I’ve had to learn new skills.

Show People I Know What I’m Talking About

Mouth and trousers.

And this against a backdrop where time is money. As all small businesses know, you need to spend your time wisely.

Content Curation

So, back in early 2014, I plunged headlong into content curation.

I already knew where to look; I’d been doggedly increasing my digital knowledge for a few years, getting to know who were the experts. I’d even started a running blog to practice.

And here the Internet was my enabler. Content marketing had been mushrooming and seemed to explode as 2013 turned into 2014.

These authors were blogging all the latest information. Truthfully. Helpfully. Not holding anything back.

All they wanted in return was the odd social share.

It was like being at digital marketing finishing school but my lecturers were world leaders in their field.

Now I wanted to be the best content curator that ever walked the Earth.

When it came to small business marketing, digital marketing, SEO, PR, media relations, crisis management, Glasgow no-one would curate better content than me.

Friends said nice things: “You’re all over social media Dave.”

My Klout score was in the mid-60s (with minimal use of Facebook). I was getting on people’s radars.

Content Curation System One

I even had a system. So proud of it was I that I wrote a blog post detailing my content curation process.

I still haven’t found anything online to beat this system and I’d recommend it if you have time.

But, you see, I don’t have that sort of time.

My company is me. And no matter how much you automate content curation, it still eats into your day.

I’ve no regrets, I learnt a shed load. And lots of people got to read lots of good content for free.

But the more you learn, the more immersed in a field you become, the more your tastes develop.

It Was Time for a Change

The solution that worked for me. Something that’s happened over time. Not by design.

Is email newsletters.

That’s how I get my content now. That’s where I learn stuff from. That’s why I’m constantly tinkering, developing, improving.

And that’s a significant benefit to me. And my clients!

Content Curation System Two

And this is what I do with it all:

Every time I read some top content, I cut and paste the URL into a draft email.
Each Thursday, I issue a newsletter to my list subscribers. It’s called Zude’s Top 4. These are THE four best pieces of content I’ve read that week.
I have a template in Mailchimp into which I place the links, and explain why the content has resonated with me.
Prior to that, I call all the links up in my Chrome browser then press OneTab. It’s much easier to see them there.
Once I’ve done Zude’s Top 4, I schedule all the other links for the week ahead with a one or two line commentary. I’ve already been on Buffer to find out my optimal sharing times on LinkedIn (this is the network I focus on).
I set Hootsuite (I have the Pro version) to share twice a day at those optimum times then schedule the same update to my LinkedIn personal page, company page, my Google+ pages and my company Facebook page.
I don’t bother with Twitter. I’d have to do a separate update if I did. And I don’t have time.

Thanks For Reading This Far: Zude’s Top 29

Here’s my 29-strong email stack, sectioned into my interests. There’ll be links to the newsletter sign up pages. And a short explanation as to why I read them.

Digital Marketing

Postanly

A curated top-10 weekly email. Very difficult to categorise. Covers topics from digital marketing through AI to how poverty changes kids’ brains.

User experience (UX). That’s where it’s at, is it not? For people trying to get their message across online. I subscribed because I wanted to learn more about UX as it applies to websites. And I love well-designed things.

Curated by Kenny Chen. Weekly.

Andy Crestodina

There is no better blogger writing about website strategy. I’ve learnt more from reading and applying the Orbit Media co-founder’s instructional tips than anyone else. He also posts a lot of good information on LinkedIn.

Not just websites either; wider web marketing as well.

Digital PR

Scott Guthrie

Scott really dives into topics. At the moment, he’s focussing on influencer marketing and I am learning a lot from a series of posts he’s writing. Subscribe to his list and he sends the posts to your inbox.

I enjoyed his daily short thoughts blog posts in December too. The Seth Godin of UK PR.

Dan Slee

I look forward to reading Dan’s weekly comms2point0 emails. The tone of voice is lovely and there’s always reading material I’ve never read before.

One of the few emailers I reply to occasionally. Probably because it feels like you’re having a conversation, reading Dan’s stuff.

Paul Sutton

An original voice. A good writer. And a man not afraid of putting the cat among the pigeons. Never anodyne, always thought-provoking. One of my favourite PR bloggers.

PR Resolution Bi-Weekly

Stella Bayles brings you good stuff on new PR, sort of a UK-PR-SEO perspective on things. A well-curated newsletter with content I’ve often not read elsewhere.

Stephen Waddington

Prodigious. Agenda-setting. A must-read for any UK PR. I know two guys who put out quality blog posts every two days. Neil Patel and Stephen Waddington. In and around doing lots of other stuff. Makes me tired even thinking about this bloke’s work ethic.

The blogfather of UK PR.

The Battenhall Monthly

Recommended by fellow Scottish PR Scott Douglas. Because things move so quickly, monthly newsletters seem to have gone out of fashion.

But this one is great. It’s a well-designed round-up of the last 31 days’ digital PR happenings.

Learning

James Altucher

James has no filter. He lets it all hang out. He is brutally honest (about himself) and has lived an amazing existence. Building up successful companies, selling them for millions, losing it all.

There’s a lot everyone can learn from James.

Brain Pickings Weekly

Imagine being able to read all day, go to the gym, live in Brooklyn, and have 230,000 people hanging on your every word each week. The beautifully-designed Brain Pickings Weekly by mid-thirties Bulgarian writer Maria Popova is unique.

“A subjective lens on what matters in the world most and why.”

Benjamin Hardy

My current favourite (perhaps because it’s new year). “Our lives should be designed around our highest ideals.” Hear hear. There are so many gems in his writing.

You may have read him in The Observer too.

This Week on Crew

Crew helps people build websites and the like. It’s more than that, though. What they also do is write very high quality, well-designed blog posts, about working smarter. They’re usually aimed at me: someone working in the digital and creative industries.

They also pass on posts they’ve read and like at the foot of each weekly newsletter.

SEO

Brian Dean

I’ve always been a fan of nicknames with the letter o at the end. Backlinks still drive Google Search. Brian from Backlinko tells you how to get them, ethically.

He also asks questions in his email and responds to answers.

The Moz Top 10

Rumbled! The inspiration for Zude’s Top 4. Quite simply the best occasional curated email I receive in my inbox; from Meredith @ Moz, usually. A woman with taste in all things digital marketing and SEO.

Michael Pozdnev

This is a fella who practised SEO for 15 years (and still does). Then wrote his first blog post a few months ago. The thing is, he clearly wanted to write the world’s best blog on his chosen topic (using Brian Dean’s skyscraper technique I would wager).

I noticed, and his subsequent ones have been impressive too. Kudos.

Rand’s Blog

The man behind Whiteboard Friday, and founder of Moz. Having stepped down as CEO in 2014, he now has more time to share his knowledge.

If you’re interested in SEO, this one’s a must.

Search Engine Land’s Weekly Recap

As it sounds.

Whitespark Local Pulse

Whitespark is a citation-builder. It helps you get business listings online. This is a key element of local SEO, which is of paramount importance to most small businesses’ marketing efforts.

A very handy daily curated email to keep up-to-date with all the latest worldwide happenings in local SEO.

Startups

Hiten’s SaaS Weekly

SaaS is a term which will mean nothing to people NOT working in techy startup land. It stands for Software as a Service. All those new online tools/apps you use to make your life/work easier.

Digital marketing seen through a startup business owner’s eyes. So lots of great information on ROI, a topic dear to every SaaS CEO’s heart.

Remotive Tips

If the first thing you ask after walking into a coffee shop is: “Where’s the router,” this one’s for you. I know so many people now who work in the most weird and wonderful places.

This bi-monthly emailer is chock full of tips on how to make work fit your life, not the other way round.

Writing and Reading

Ryan Holiday

Read my post on rediscovering reading for why you should subscribe to Ryan’s list.

David Kadavy

I signed up to David’s list to get a free email course on design. It is brilliant. He’s a great writer. I don’t want to actually design websites. I just want to appreciate more about the thinking that goes into their design.

He’s now started a reading list email too. David is interested in similar topics to me, and I am grateful for his suggestions.

Glenn Leibowitz

Glenn’s based in Taiwan. For the life of me, I can’t remember how I got to know him (through starting writing on LinkedIn back in mid-2014 I am reliably informed).

I’ve watched with interest his blogging and now his excellent Write with Impact podcast. I’m reading a book by one of his podcast interviewees. A great writer, senior comms person, and, now, mate.

Neville Medhora

This bloke cracks me up. His posts are like nothing I’ve read before. One the other day was on writing a sandwich board! And how small tweaks to signage can have a huge impact on ROI. You gotta read it.

Instructional tips and case studies about writing commercially.

Conclusion

You now have 29 (or 30, if I may be so bold:O) sources of new learning. Which, for the sake of 30 seconds a pop, you can curate straight to your inbox. And read at your leisure. Writing you want to read. You’re in charge.

And if you think passing on content that you recommend is important/worthwhile, you have a streamlined content curation system too.

Codicil

With most of these lists, you sign up to their newsletters and all you get is valuable content. Some use automation to give you lots of valuable content then eventually sell you stuff.

I trust that you are a woman/man of discernment, and can take the smooth with the rough.

I prefer the former approach but have no problem with the latter. I can always unsubscribe.

If you want to get weekly digital brainfood straight to your inbox, sign up to my list.

		dave@zudepr.co.uk

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