Role: Newsletter Lead, Content Strategist

Arweave is a decentralized protocol that provides permanent data storage for a one-time payment. This is made possible through a clever endowment fund that covers the cost of storage for a minimum of 200 years. Since the network’s launch in 2018, an ever-increasing number of projects and services make use of Arweave storage, both for enterprise and personal use cases.

The ecosystem is bustling with developer activity, and through my work supporting the community with over 300 daily updates, I was granted the opportunity to lead the in-depth Arweave Weekly newsletter, a highly-respected industry newsletter catering to a niche audience of founders, developers, and investors focused on the bleeding edge of decentralized tech and AI.

Reporting on an ecosystem of decentralized projects, with a team spanning multiple time zones, brings inherent workflow challenges. But decentralized does not mean disorganized!

From the get-go I established a procedure to avoid publication-day setbacks and keep a smooth operation:

Each issue starts life as a rough outline that's agreed upon several days ahead of publication.

Drafting is done in a collaborative document so that feedback and edits can be taken care of in a timely manner. This can involve collaboration with adjacent ecosystem projects, so behind-the-scenes networking is key to the process.

As for creative tools, I use Strapi for website publishing, SendGrid for emails, Typefully for X broadcasts, and Figma for graphics. I find that writing the content directly in markdown speeds up the transition between platforms.

The goal is to have everything wrapped and approved by Friday, so that on Monday morning it's simply a matter of controlling the format and testing links before stress-free scheduling.

I make use of templates wherever possible, while leaning into AI tools for more efficient workflows. The most engaging and authentic writing is best left to human writers, but I’m leveraging an increasing number of ways to use AI to support me.

Here are a few recent examples of where I used AI in this project:

Grok is helpful for scraping X content and finding under-the-radar signals that can be pre-formatted for the draft outline. Dedicated weekly workflows can be scheduled as Grok Tasks. 

NotebookLM is useful for dissecting lengthy content, such as detailed reports and podcast interviews. I recently used it to extract key insights from over 4 hours of video content in just a fraction of the time.

aoDevBot is an Arweave-specific tool I’ve been helping out with. It’s a powerful learning assistant that can even build mini-apps to complement individual content pieces.

Despite these advances, it’s important to remember that AI is a tool, and should not be overly relied upon for human-human communication. This distinction is key to the trust we’ve built with our readers.

If another human being lets you into their inbox, you want to make sure you stand out from the slop.

Since taking the lead at Arweave Weekly 3 months ago, the list has grown by 17%, while unique open rates are averaging 37%, close to double the average for a crypto industry newsletter. We achieve high rates by pairing massive value with an authentic voice that speaks to the ideal reader we know so well.

Like clockwork, Arweave Weekly hits inboxes around the globe every Monday with the same level of professionalism readers have come to expect. From complex topics, to under-the-radar insights, and down-to-earth vibes, Arweave Weekly is the go-to newsletter for ecosystem updates and expert analysis.

Whether you're starting a newsletter from scratch or scaling an existing email list, I offer two services on Contra that can fast-track your launch and bring order to the chaos:

An email newsletter is one of the highest ROI moves you can make for your brand. It bypasses algorithms, builds trust, and offers a direct line between your products and your audience. 

Yet it takes time and effort to set up templates, workspaces, and maintain a consistent voice across your public communications. And that's before you begin sending emails on a regular basis...

Here's how I can help with my Newsletter Launch Pack:

Writing an email is a great way to get your brand in front of your reader, but what about the other parts that go into a successful campaign? 

Ever thought about segmenting your list, auditing deliverability, fine-tuning your opt-ins, or treating new readers to a well-crafted welcome sequence? If that sounds like something you’d like to implement, I have a full-stack service designed for exactly that.

Learn more about my Email List Management service here: