1. INT. BIRCH OFFICE KITCHEN — MORNING

It’s a midweek morning at the Birch’s office. MARIO and SERGEY speak in the kitchen while sipping a hot drink and having croissants. Sergei has three in his hands at once.

MARIO

This has been a busy week, mate. Things have been chaotic, and we got to get the ball rolling on our marketing efforts.

‍

SERGEY

Agreed man. You know, I was thinking about it. Why don’t we start a newsletter? We have social media followers and website and blog visits. We could just start one.

‍

MARIO

Love it, man! How do you believe we should get this started?

Both of them get up and start moving to the meeting room.

2. INT. MEETING ROOM — MORNING

Mario and Sergey are set up in the meeting room, both have their computers open. In the desk there are post-its, pens, and other office supplies. Also on the table are the keys to Iskander's Porsche.

SERGEY

You know what I hate? Those old-school newsletters that look like news from 15 years ago. I refuse to launch a newsletter that looks like those IT service newsletters!

‍

MARIO

Oh, me too! We should give our spin on our favorite newsletters.

‍

SERGEY

I think the ideal approach is a personalized one. People want to know there’s a human behind the screen.

‍

MARIO

Totally man! You know. There's news that I love!

Sergey nods his head agreeing.

MARIO (CONT.)

So, I subscribe to Android Intelligence. They send weekly Android tips on the most geeky subjects, yet they make the newsletter as relatable and personal as possible. Check it out!

Mario types something on his computer and then turns it to show Sergey.

‍

SERGEY

It’s settled, then! Make it personal! 

‍

MARIO

(Excited about the idea)

Alright!

‍

MARIO

Now we should talk about the next point! How big should we make the newsletter? I don’t have a strong opinion on it. To me it depends on the content!

‍

SERGEY

Me too! If the content is good, I don’t mind reading a long text! But there are a few topics that are better to keep it short.

‍

SERGEY (Cont.)

You know, there’s one thing I think might fit well with what we’re planning. We should keep the content skimmable.

‍

MARIO

Skimmable?

‍

SERGEY

Yes! Avoid chunky paragraphs that feel like a wall of text. Break things up with headers, bullet points, one-liner sentences. It doesn’t mean short, but don’t have long boring paragraphs. Here’s an example.

Sergey opens up his computer, searches something and then shows The Smart Nonsense newsletter to Mario.

‍

MARIO

This is a really good and fun read. I love it as well. We should also write as if we’re having a conversation.

‍

SERGEY

Do you mean like this blog post?

‍

MARIO

Hey man! Let’s pretend we’re still in the meeting room! Don’t spoil it.

Mario looks at the camera mockingly with a disapproving face. Then he turns back to Sergey and continues.

MARIO (CONT.)

But think about how we speak! We mix up short sentences with long ones all the time. If we keep every sentence too short or too long, the text becomes boring. We speak organically.

‍

SERGEY

Oh! I see. This is great! You know, there’s a fun fact. A research from a few years back found that people spend just nine seconds, on average, looking at an email. The attention span is going down, and we have to make the newsletter a nice, fun read!

MARIO

True! That also takes me to another good point. We should write about things we love. Things that interest us. 

SERGEY

Mario, I told you not to tell anyone.....

‍

MARIO

True! That also takes me to another good point. We should write about things we love. Things that interest us. 

‍

SERGEY

I’m with you! If we only write technical stuff, and topics that we have no interest in, we won’t be able to grab people’s attention.

‍

MARIO

Totally! You know. We have made progress, but I have a call at five. Do you mind if we pick this up in the afternoon?

‍

SERGEY

Not at all. I’ll see you then!

Sergey picks up his computer and leaves Mario in the Meeting room for his call.

3. EXT. BUILDING ROOFTOP — SUNSET

Mario and Sergey are “beerstorming” ideas after work! They are sitting across from each other on a rooftop in Barcelona, having a cold one and throwing ideas around.

MARIO

So, this morning we talked about writing style, do you think we should now talk about structure?

‍

SERGEY

(Emphatically and excited)

Let’s put this Barcelona, this latin passion in the newsletter. 

‍

MARIO

Awesome! This is a good segue to one point I’ve been mulling over during lunch! We need to grab the readers’ attention right off the bat!

‍

SERGEY

YES!

The opening lines are everything. It could be a bold statement, a surprising stat, a question, or even a quirky playlist suggestion. We have to make it irresistible to the readers.

‍

MARIO

Totally! You know. I have a good example of this. Take a look.

As Mario searches for the example, Iskander walks behind him with a beer in his hand and greets them!

SERGEY

Hey there Iskander. How’s it going? We’re “beerstorming” the newsletter!

‍

ISKANDER

I noticed it this morning. I was on calls, but saw you two at it in the meeting room. Is it coming out good?

‍

SERGEY

YES! We had great ideas! Now we’re discussing structure!

‍

MARIO

Here it is!

He turns the computer to the guys showing The Social Media Marketing World Newsletter.

‍

MARIO (CONT.)

These guys do it perfectly. It starts with a silly joke, then the topics list, and only then, it starts the newsletter’s content sections. So, what do you guys think?

‍

SERGEY

I totally agree! We have to hook’em fast so they don’t close the email.

‍

ISKANDER

I’m with you guys! Maybe we can test a few different things. Why not try an A/B test with different openings, one with jokes, one with a TLDR (Too long, didn’t read) and another with a quote?

‍

SERGEY

Let’s do it! In the meantime, let’s A/B test the beers here. Let's try different brews!

‍

MARIO

Bring it on! I need brain fuel!

‍

ISKANDER

Me too! 

Sergey goes to the fridge and grabs three beers.

ISKANDER (CONT.)

Anyways! I have one point as well! You know those newsletters that have so many links that you either don’t know which to click on, or you end up opening a hundred tabs on your browser, not to read any and close the email? I HATE them!

‍

MARIO

I know, right? We should focus and have one, or maybe two CTAs, at most.

‍

SERGEY

Yes! If we flood our newsletter with too many links or try to redirect readers mid-way, we’ll lose them.

‍

SERGEY

(Emphasizing)

And they need to connect with the content! The person will only click something that is related to what they are reading. 

‍

ISKANDER

If we make it too salesy, with too many links, it becomes too long, unconnected, and boring. Imagine reading a newsletter about the best ads from last year, and the text being frequently broken by “buy this”, “try that”, “book a call”.

‍

MARIO

Sure! I wouldn’t want to subscribe to that. The CTA’s are important. Yes! But we have to be mindful of when, where and which we’ll use for each email we create.

Note taken!

‍

SERGEY

Great! It’s set!

‍

SERGEY (CONT.)

(With a contemplation look)

I was thinking about something during lunch, as well!

What about images?

‍

ISKANDER

Ohhh. That’s a good point! But, honestly? I don’t think there is a right answer. The images, just like the CTA, have to connect to the content. Have you guys ever seen the British Journal of Photography?

Both of them shake their heads as Iskander grabs his phone and opens the newsletter.

ISKANDER

Here it is. They always start it with a different, impactful image. It makes sense for them — they are a photography newsletter, after all.

‍

Iskander scrolls on his phone looking for the second example.

ISKANDER (CONT.)

But look at this other one.

‍

‍

ISKANDER (CONT.)

The Content Marketing Institute sends more opinionated emails about what is happening in the marketing world. So, for them, they don’t exactly need images. They just jump straight to the content. They make it feel like a personal letter. And personal letters don’t have images attached.

‍

SERGEY

I see your point! Images are not mandatory. It depends on the topic of that newsletter.

‍

ISKANDER 

Yes! And the same goes to the frequency! We can have a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly newsletter. The consistency is way more important than the frequency. As long as the readers know when they will get it.

‍

MARIO

Yep! The biggest mistake would be forcing a newsletter to be, let’s say, weekly, if you only have good content to send it monthly. It will feel pushed and dull.

‍

SERGEY

Alright! Great stuff here, guys! I think we have a starting point and can create our first newsletter. What do you think?

‍

MARIO

I’m in!

‍

ISKANDER 

Me too!

‍

4. INT. - BIRCH'S KITCHEN - THE NEXT MORNING

Mario is having his breakfast as Sergey walks in.

SERGEY

Good morning, man! What’s up?

‍

MARIO

You see! I had an idea last night. Why don’t we turn all these ideas into a checklist? Spoiler alert, I already did it and added a few things of my own! Check it out.

Sergey SMIRKS at Mario as if he also has something of his own to share, while Mario looks for the list on his iPad.

MARIO

Here it is.

‍

‍

SERGEY

(Laughing)

Mate! We really are aligned. I thought about this as well and realized this could be the topic of our first newsletter. How about that?

‍

MARIO

Love it.

All of a sudden, Iskander bursts in the kitchen.

ISKANDER

(Looking directly at the camera)

All right guys! Now that this newsletter is finally done, why don’t you subscribe to it below?

‍

FADE TO BLACK

‍

We've also decided to launch our occasional newsletter. In it, we'll share with you the best articles from the blog (like this one, and even better) and product news. It's a good time to check how well we've covered things here!