How To Add Stories Into Value-First Newsletters

People are done with fluff.

They are done being immediately sold to.

And with AI flooding the internet, value-driven content that goes the extra mile is what it takes to build authority online.

In his newsletter titled "Basic content is dying (and that's good news)", Justin Welsh said:

"AI has killed the age of easy content marketing...."

"Just scroll through any platform, and you'll find tons of accounts sharing identical "wisdom" — all generated (or inspired) by AI. Content has always been regurgitated. Of course that’s nothing new. It’s the scale at which this is happening that caught my attention."...

Instead of starting wide with basic content and narrowing down, you need to lead with your deepest expertise right from the start. Your "top of funnel" content should be as valuable as your former middle-of-funnel material.

Luckily, as newsletter creators, we already take the deep approach; using newsletters as our authority-building engine before repurposing content to social media.

So while we consistently discuss creating deeper, higher value content, in today's deep dive I want to show how we can build more than just authority in our newsletter content.

Justin has also said:

[A newsletter] is one of the most powerful ways to build trust, expertise and authority.

It's the value-first content we discuss consistently in our deep dives that allows us to go above and beyond with our content and build that authority with our audience.

It's also how our newsletter content is capable of being the engine of our entire business.

This is something we've seen consistently from the top creators we've analyzed.

For example, Dan Koe is in agreement with Justin:

“I didn’t start taking my newsletter seriously until I realized that short form content gets you nowhere (alone). No depth, no authority.”

And even Katelyn Bourgoin talking about how all the email list she subscribed to sent her "long meandering stories" that all led to a sales pitch, which is why she decided to "almost primarily, exclusively, just to educate, inform and delight people."

But you know what else our newsletter does for us...?

And I'm not talking about the fact that it's the thing that will drive 99% of our revenue.

Our newsletter is also where we build a relationship with our audience.

Here's my favorite quote from Pat Flynn:

"That less visible but more important element of email marketing? Relationships."

❓ But here's the big question we are answering today:

If we're leading with value instead of the old-school 'long meandering story' playbook from copywriter-style email marketing, how do we still build deep relationships with our audience?

📬 Telling Personal Stories In Your Value-First Newsletter

Obviously there are a lot of different ways to tell a story, and you can and should inject storytelling in your newsletter regardless...

BUT, for the sake of this deep dive, we're going to specifically look at how newsletter operators inject their personal stories into value-first newsletters.

Timeout ⏸️ By "Value-First" I mean: Newsletter creators who primarily write newsletters around deeper lessons and expertise.

We'll be taking a look at different styles like:

• Story Weaving
• Core Content Story/Lessons
• Introduction Storytelling (Most Popular)

Introduction Storytelling is by far the most popular, but there are some creators who can easily weave in stories throughout their content being that they're writing from an archetype that allows for it.

For example: If you're writing from The Thought Leader archetype it's easier to weave stories into your core content than if you're writing from The Deep Diver archetype.

📬 Dan Koe - Story Weaving

Dan Koe is a great example of a newsletter creator who is constantly weaving stories into his newsletters.

He writes from The Thought Leader perspective but rather than just starting his newsletter with a quick story each time and then moving into a lesson, he weaves in and out of stories depending on the lesson.

For example, the images above are from his newsletter "how to attack your big goals".

The left image is right at the start of his newsletter (after a bit about his next cohort) and the right image comes in the follow up section where he expands on his lesson a bit more.

The next 3,000 words or so of Dan's newsletter gives deeper, actionable lessons for us to attack our big goals — but those initial stories strengthen the relationship he is building with us, while also strengthening his overall point.

📬 Justin Welsh (Saturday Solopreneur) - Hybrid Weaving & Intro Style

Another great example of a Thought Leader style newsletter that does Story Weaving is Justin Welsh's Saturday Solopreneur.

As we saw in our newsletter teardown on Wednesday, Justin almost always starts his newsletter with a story that leads us into a core lesson, and then actionable tips.

In the images above, I'm showing two different newsletters from Justin:

1. Left: Basic content is dying (and that's good news)
2. Right: I'm a therapist, not a realist.

Both images are showing his introduction section, where he tells us a story and leads into the core content.

But here's what's different:

1. Left: In the first newsletter, Justin moves from a story into a deeper lesson. There are a couple of lines in the newsletter where he gives an example from personal experience (which is smart for a Thought Leader-style newsletter), but for the most part, he goes deeper into the lesson with actionable tips and examples.
2. Right: In the second newsletter, Justin still moves into different sections (like we see from his normal style) but the entire newsletter is built around his personal experience; sharing HIS story to teach the core lesson.

This is a great example of not only Story Weaving, but also knowing that it's okay to sometimes switch up the way you teach your lessons [when you're writing a Thought Leader style newsletter].

In the next example we'll see how another Thought Leader uses storytelling as the core content in EVERY email — while still sharing actionable tips and deep lessons every week.

📬 Pat Flynn (Unstuck) - Core Content Story Lessons

In our teardown of Pat Flynn's newsletter Unstuck we saw that his CORE content is actually a Story Of The Week.

Pat has made millions of dollars online running his business Smart Passive Income, and the lessons he can teach from his own personal experience AND the experience of his network are invaluable.

Transparency Note: Pat's newsletter teardown is actually the one that made me decide I need to lean into storytelling a bit more in my own newsletter. It came quite naturally for me to tell stories in Superhero Jacked's newsletter the past 10 years, but I had a hard time adjusting to storytelling in this space.

Pat is also the creator who I quoted at the start of this deep dive that said: "That less visible but more important element of email marketing? Relationships."

And he knows these stories with deep impactful lessons are the best way for him to do that.

📬 Chenell Basilio (Growth In Reverse) - Introduction Storytelling

Okay, but what if we're NOT writing a Thought Leader style newsletter?

Maybe we have enough authority to be thought leaders, maybe we don't, but we are building a different type of newsletter....

My first example of this is Chenell Basilio in her newsletter Growth In Reverse.

Chenell does 3000-5000 word deep dives on how the world's top creators grew their newsletters and sends them out similar to how I do (she sends a link to the longer article on her site).

But before you scroll to the main deep dive of the week, Chenell shares a short story in her introduction.

Sometimes it's short and sweet and she's just giving you an update, but other times she injects some of her personal life, or even gives a deeper insight into her business like we see above.

Let's break it down a bit:

1. Left: Chenell shares a bit about her personal life and how her and her wife adopted a 3 year old German Shepherd mix that caused her to barely have time for her deep dive that week (this newsletter specifically stood out to me and was very memorable because of this story and picture).
2. Right: Chenell shares a bit of behind-the-scenes of her business, being transparent about a newsletter she tried something different with that had her highest number of unsubscribes.

This is typically my preferred style in the newsletters I read the most.

But let's take one more quick look at how you can do this even if you're VERY niche in what you write about...

📬 Ben Collins (Google Sheets Tips) - Introduction Storytelling

Ben Collins writes a short and sweet newsletter that typically runs about 500-800 words (not including introduction and sponsorship slot) with a handful of images to teach a specific lesson on Google Sheets.

This is obviously VERY niche and specific.

And while it's not necessarily a "deep dive" newsletter, it is centered around teaching a hyper specific lesson in a niche that doesn't necessarily give an easy path to telling a story.

But, as you can see from the image above, Ben still injects personal stories into the introduction of his newsletter, adding that personal touch and building his personal brand.

Ben says:

My family and I spent the weekend at Fairmont University in West Virginia, where my eldest son was competing in a Lego robotics competition. With his teammates, they built an autonomous robot that navigated a table-top world to retrieve items, knock things over, lift things, etc. Teams were scored on how many missions they completed.

Just like we've discussed the Pratfall Effect in the past (which would actually be more relevant to Chenell's example above), this small touch builds a deeper connection with Ben's audience.

It builds the relationship, more than just showing his expertise and building his authority.

📬 How Can YOU Add Personal Stories?

I'll be extremely honest with you: If you're not a Thought-Leader that can tell me stories from the perspective of leveling up my business (or some aspect of my life that I'm looking to level up), there's a strong chance I don't want to read a massive story from you as the core content/lesson and value of the newsletter.

That said, if you're like Chenell or Ben and add an introduction that gives a personal touch or behind-the-scenes look at your business: the stories do an incredible job building on the relationship with your readers.

💡Key Takeaway: You need to find what works for you, your style, and your audience.

Either way you should be injecting personal stories into your newsletter, on top of leading with problem solving value that goes above and beyond what other creators are doing.

THIS is what is going to help build your authority and help you stand out, WHILE building a relationship with your audience.

🤔 Bonus Observation:

• I know Jay Clouse just had his first child.
• I know Pat Flynn is obsessed with Back To The Future.
• I know Chenell's dog's name is Bucky.
• I know Dan Koe used to play World Of Warcraft.
• I know Ben's son does Lego robotics.

This is the power of personal branding.

They still deliver immense value in their specific niche, but they also inject themselves into their brand with stories and personality.

🧠 Additional Learning:

This lesson also pairs well with these deep dives:

1. How To Niche Down But Brand Wide For Growth
2. How To Own A Brand Identity And Scale With Sub-Niches
3. How To Build Authority In Any Niche (Even With No Experience)