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Meet Jake.

It's getting cold here on the West Coast. I have a pepper plant in my garden that I absolutely adore.

So much so that I named him.

Meet Jake.
And Jake's going to die. 💀

Or at least he was going to die.
Canadian winters are undefeated as pepper killers.

So I dug Jake up and brought him indoors.

I stuck him under some grow lights in my office. I was feeling super proud of myself. Because Jakey (yes he's got a nickname now) was so happy that...

He started growing some new lil pepper pups!

Now you gotta understand something: I have never "wintered" a veggie plant indoors before.

So at this point, my pride was shining brighter than those damn grow lights!​
​
​Damn I'm such a natural. Look how happy Jakey is. He's pushing out all these lil peppers. I should start a newsletter about wintering veggies man I'm sooo good at this—

wait, what's that on Jake's leaf?

*zoooming in*

Aphids. Frickin' aphids.

Also as deadly as Canadian winters. They'll eat Jakey alive. They'll even destroy entire crops. Pests like aphids suck. They put the pest in pesticides.

I thought I was doing everything right. It was so easy growing veggies indoors. It was a breeze.

This quote sums up how I was feeling:

It's happened to me before.

5 years ago I was in great shape and found myself boldly & rapidly hiking a mountain in sneakers because I thought I was invincible. Halfway up, I slipped on a root—and broke my foot. (I'll spare you those pics)

My point to all this..

Momentum is powerful. It builds confidence. But at some point we'll face an obstacle.

Aphids.
A broken foot.
Writer's block.
A negative comment.
A failed product launch.

But don't let your pride be your ruin.
Don't let it crush your momentum.
​Do let it humble you. Learn from it.
And keep pressing forward.

So how's Jake the Pepper Plant doing? After finding the aphids, I gave him a shower. Then sprayed him down with insecticidal soap. And will repeat every few days for however long ChatGPT tells me to.

Now Jakey's in quarantine in my garage. I'll give you an update next week. Fingers crossed.

Okay on with the newsletter...

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The Most Important Metric
​You're Probably Ignoring

It's not subscriber count.
Or open rate.
Or click rate.

I won't bury the lede.

It's replies.

Last week, Chenell and I dove into why replies matter so much for newsletter creators like you and me.

Fact is, replies do a lot of jobs. They:

✅ Improve deliverability
✅ Provide feedback
✅ Signal subscribers are engaging
✅ Support mental health (didn't see that one coming, didja?)

🐘 But there's a big ol' elephant in the room...

→ Getting replies is HARD.

So in this episode, we share a number of ways you can get MORE REPLIES—including some examples we've seen the pros using 👀

And that's what you're here for, right?
→ Tips to help you crush the newsletter game.

Well that's what this newsletter—and our podcast—is striving for.
​So please, hit reply if we aren't delivering.

​Watch now → ​
​Listen here →​

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode.
Hit 'Reply' or let me know on LinkedIn 🙏
(this post ↓)

Newsletter Hits
Of The Week

⚡ These are the best-to-worst rated revenue streams for creators (from a massive creator who's tried them all)

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⚡ Have you tried the Soap Opera email sequence?

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⚡ Avoid these 9 things if you're just starting your newsletter.

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⚡ The "Big 3" platforms that everything you do should point to—and why.

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PS - I put together a Fall Mixtape. I made it for me, but thought I'd share. Check it out here. (Can you guess how many of these artists are Canadian?)

Peace and platonic love,

Dylan

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