Newsletter Creation & Curation Skill

PLAYBOOK.md

Quick Decision Tree (5 Dimensions)

1) Goal

• Lead Generation

  : newsletter should drive pipeline and SQLs.

• Thought Leadership

  : newsletter should build trust and category authority.

• Personal Brand

  : newsletter should establish individual POV and visibility.

• Category Ownership

  : newsletter should define market narrative at scale.

2) Industry

• Sales Tech

  : tactical, data-heavy, ROI-forward.

• HR Tech

  : research-led, professional, trust-first.

• Fintech

  : compliance-aware, conservative claims.

• Operations Tech

  : domain-specific, practical playbooks.

3) Company Stage

• Series A

  : founder-led, lean, weekly or bi-weekly.

• Series B

  : team-led, stronger editorial process, analytics discipline.

• Series C+

  : media-grade quality, original research, category narrative.

4) Role

• Founder

  : highest autonomy, fastest execution.

• VP/Director

  : medium autonomy, stakeholder review expected.

• PMM/Content

  : structured approvals, brand constraints.

• Enterprise employee

  : PR/legal gatekeeping likely required.

5) Geography

• India-first

  : IST timing, local examples/channels.

• US-first

  : EST/PST timing, US benchmarks/channels.

Template Selector

• Sales Tech:

  templates/sales-tech-template.md

• HR Tech:

  templates/hr-tech-template.md

• Fintech:

  templates/fintech-template.md

• Operations Tech:

  templates/ops-tech-template.md

Execution Workflow (Do This Every Time)

Step 1: Assess Context

• Product category and ICP.
• Primary goal for the next 90 days.
• Stage, role, approval constraints.
• Geography and timezone.
• Available production bandwidth (hours/week, team, budget).

• One-line strategy statement:

  For [ICP], we publish [cadence] to achieve [goal] with [format].

Step 2: Select and Adapt Template

• Load one industry template from

  templates/

  .
• Set cadence:
  • Series A: weekly/bi-weekly (execution simplicity).
  • Series B: weekly or bi-weekly (team process).
  • Series C+: weekly with recurring pillars (media-quality).
• Apply role constraints:
  • Founder: direct POV is allowed.
  • Employee: insert approval checkpoint before final draft.
• Apply geography settings:
  • India-first: schedule in IST and local references.
  • US-first: schedule in EST/PST and US references.

• Final issue blueprint with section headings + target word count per section.

Step 3: Generate Content

• Subject line options (3)
• Hook (problem + stakes)
• Core insight (data, framework, or pattern)
• Actionable playbook (steps/checklist)
• CTA (reply, share, demo, resource)

• Prefer specific numbers, examples, and named scenarios.
• Remove generic filler.
• Keep one primary takeaway per issue.
• Keep CTA singular and measurable.

• Draft issue in publish-ready markdown.

Step 4: Refine and Ship

• Clarity

  : can a busy reader extract value in 60 seconds?

• Specificity

  : does each section include concrete guidance or evidence?

• Relevance

  : does tone match industry and role constraints?

• Compliance

  : for fintech/employee-led, ensure legal/manager review step exists.

• Consistency

  : voice aligns with prior issues.

• Choose one subject line.
• Add final send time.
• Add amplification plan (LinkedIn + one secondary channel).

• Final issue + distribution notes + KPI targets.

Role-Based Approval Workflow

• Founder-led:
  • No formal approval required.
  • Optional peer review for quality.
• VP/Director-led:
  • Manager or leadership review required.
  • High-impact claims should be validated.
• PMM/Content-led:
  • Brand + stakeholder review required.
  • Keep documented source notes for claims.
• Enterprise employee:
  • PR/legal review required before distribution.

KPI Defaults by Goal

• Lead Generation:
  • Open rate, CTR, demo requests, SQL mentions in CRM.
• Thought Leadership:
  • Open rate trend, replies, shares, speaking invites, inbound references.
• Personal Brand:
  • Subscriber growth, profile visits, inbound opportunities.
• Category Ownership:
  • Share of voice, citations, partnerships, executive visibility.

Playbook Map (Deep Dives)

PLAYBOOK.md

• Sales Tech strategy:

  SECTION A

• HR Tech strategy:

  SECTION B

• Fintech strategy:

  SECTION C

• Operations Tech strategy:

  SECTION D

• Role approvals and geography tactics:

  CROSS-CUTTING: UNIVERSAL FRAMEWORKS

• Mistakes, prompts, tool matrix, quick-reference matrix: bottom sections of

  PLAYBOOK.md

Why This vs Generic ChatGPT Prompting?

• Matches content to

  industry + stage + role + geography

  before drafting.
• Forces approval logic for employee-led and fintech scenarios.
• Uses proven templates tied to B2B newsletter outcomes.
• Produces repeatable workflows, not one-off writing outputs.
• Keeps strategic depth in

  PLAYBOOK.md

  for escalation without bloating execution steps.

Fictional Case Study (Realistic)

Context

• Company:

  SignalPilot

  (Sales Tech)
• Stage: Series A, $4M ARR
• Role: Founder-led
• Market: US-first
• Goal: 12 SQLs/month from newsletter in 6 months
• Bandwidth: 4 hours/week, no designer

What They Did

• Selected

  templates/sales-tech-template.md

  .
• Published weekly on Tuesday 9 AM EST.
• Issue mix:
  • 50% data-backed sales observations
  • 30% tactical playbooks
  • 20% contrarian POV
• Reused each issue for one LinkedIn post + one short thread.

Outcome (6 Months)

• 1,350 subscribers.
• Average 42% open rate, 8.1% CTR.
• 14 monthly SQLs tagged as newsletter-influenced.
• Sales team started using issues as pre-demo credibility assets.

Usage Examples

Example A: Founder, Sales Tech, Series A

Use newsletter-creation-curation.
Context: Sales tech founder, Series A, US market, lead generation goal.
Create next week's issue using the sales-tech template, with 3 subject lines,
700-900 words, and a Tuesday 9 AM EST send plan.

Example B: VP Marketing, HR Tech, Series B

Use newsletter-creation-curation.
Context: HR tech VP Marketing, Series B, US-first, thought-leadership goal.
Create a bi-weekly issue outline and full draft with approval checkpoints and
source-backed claims only.

Example C: PMM, Fintech, Series B, India

Use newsletter-creation-curation.
Context: Fintech PMM, Series B, India-first, trust-building goal.
Build issue draft with compliance-safe language, IST send timing, and
manager/legal review checklist.

Fast Start (Agent Checklist)

1. Ask 5 decision-tree questions.
2. Select one industry template from

   templates/

   .
3. Produce issue blueprint (sections + word counts).
4. Draft issue using the workflow.
5. Apply role/compliance review.
6. Finalize send-time, amplification, and KPI targets.
7. If deeper strategy is needed, consult

   PLAYBOOK.md

   .