Harry Dry

Hey. I'm Harry Dry, founder of Marketing Examples. AMA 👇

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Two and a half years ago, I started Marketing Examples. People liked the case studies. So I left my job and went full-time. Since then, they've been read by more than one million people. Which... still blows my mind. Ask me anything about growing the site and newsletter to 90,000 subscribers. Or share what you're working on and get a few quick marketing and copywriting tips. Cheers. Update #001 — Replying atm. Update #002 — All done. Thanks. Молитви за Україну
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Ryan Gilbert
Q: What are some of your main growth tactics for the newsletter specifically?
Harry Dry
@ryangilbert Hey Ryan — Quick checklist • A format people like. Not just I write a newsletter sometimes... • My newsletter is my content marketing. • I share it natively on other platforms. Then say subscribe to the newsletter. It's a loop. • Website popup that converts well • Newsletter issues live as blogs on my website. That's the honeypot that attracts people • Cross Promos. Encouraging subscribers to share
Daniel Kyne
Hey Harry — your content has been super influential in shaping our marketing approach at OpinionX, so thank you for the work that you do! Question: Do you feel like the Community Distribution approach (ie. www.marketingexamples.com/conten...) to getting new content out there is still as relevant as when you wrote it 2 years ago? Does it still reflect your strategy for distributing new content? Daniel, Co-Founder & CEO of OpinionX (https://opinionx.co)
Harry Dry
@daniel_kyne Hey Daniel — So the answer is contextual. My approach worked *for me* at *the time*. I didn't have a big startup budget to spend on ads. The articles weren't geared for SEO. And I had no existing audience to help promote.So I had to do all the heavy lifting. But things have evolved... For example when I launched Copywriting Examples my promotion was different. I had 90,000 on an email list so I ran a really big giveaway asking everyone on the list to share my launch posts on LinkedIn and Twitter... That was the easiest way to get the word out there... But you can only do that when you have the audience. One thing I still believe is that you should focus on taking the time to make great stuff and repurposing across all platforms. For example right now I'll share a short example for the website. Then that example goes on the newsletter, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on Instagram. 4 birds. 1 stone. But even this is a little contextual. Because a lot of content written for SEO has no real place on Twitter etc... Anyhow. Hope this helped :)
Kat Fergerson
Hey, Harry! Thanks for this. What's been your most surprising and best performing content strategy for growth?
Harry Dry
@kat_fergerson Hey Kat. My pleasure. Boring answer. But the answer is having a website that does *one thing very well*. 3000 people go to the website every day. 200 of those join the newsletter... My organic traffic is 300 / day. So that's 2700 people who just magically visit the website every day. Most content marketing is SEO or social media focused. The majority of my traffic is direct. People just telling their friends and people typing it into the search bar... So i think just trying to build the best resource in a very tight niche “Marketing Examples” and not doing much else has served me well. No jobs boards, no community, no SEO focused content. Just short, sweet examples. It's easy to sum up. It doesn't do much. But it's the best at what it does on the internet. And because of that you have days where you're featured no TikTok or The Hustle or whatever and it blows up... Hope that helps a little :)
Kat Fergerson
@harrydry Utility > gimmick. Thanks for taking the time to respond! Молитви за Україну
Harry Dry
@kat_fergerson My pleasure. Exactly. Function > Form.
Xan
Ah man. I love your stuff. Do you have a community related to your website?
Harry Dry
@xansurnamehere Thank you. Not yet. But possibly soon. Shall see. And appreciate it :)
Xan
@harrydry Awesome :) I would recommend using Discord because of all it's versatility and ease of use.
Bora
Harry, I've been following you through the years, getting inspired, and learning a lot, not only for marketing/copywriting but also for making projects and consistency. Thanks for that. Currently, I'm working on transforming my design/development agency into a learning resources platform. After 15+ years, I really do not enjoy working directly with people for their businesses and their goals. It would be great to have a second look: https://1984.design 👀
Harry Dry
Hey @boraoztunc — Thank you. Appreciate the kind words. The design is very nice. Some thoughts: • The copy generally is too vague. You need to get specific. For example “Be part of a global creative community”... “Get feedback from 75 designers...” Try and rewrite every paragraph and make it more specific. • There's no social proof. This is the lowest hanging fruit to fix. Go onto Copywriting Examples. Filter “Social Proof”. Find an example you like. Fill up the page with real faces and short quotes. • The pricing section is confusing. I think the free studying plan might negatively impact conversions to the Working Plan. I'd cut the “studying plan” out completely. And then just add a section or a line that you're supporting students and they can get it for free. Free for students is cool. But putting them side by side like that it just makes the paid plan look bad. • Not a huge fan of the general offer. I'd repackage as “the place for a [specific group of designers]. Tools and resources is a bit vague and fluffy. Sorry haven't got a better alternative off the top of my head. • Got no idea who Don Norman is • Put yourself into it. Who are you. What have you done. Why should I want to join your community. Good luck.
Bora
@harrydry Thank you. I'll work on them. 👋
Pratik Sharma
Hey I am building https://subask.in for slack. How do you go with marketing an app for a niche audience?
Harry Dry
@pratiksharm Hey Pratik I'd start by defining what your niche is. I go on your website and I don't see **who it's for**. E.g. — You could go after developers. “The Slack extension that boosts dev teams productivity” type thing... Then I'd start cold emailing developers. Take a leaf out of how Nathan Barry did direct sales in the early days of Convert Kit. When you get replies get feedback on the product. And see if you're building something people actually want... I'd try and validate the idea before going all out with the marketing...
Tim Soulo
So when are you joining Ahrefs team? :)
Harry Dry
@timsoulo Hey Tim. My thoughts are with you and your loved ones right now. I saw Ahrefs matching any donations. And if/when Ahrefs buy Marketing Examples.
Wiktoria Jaszcza
Hi Harry, thank you for your great work. Does moving to "the middle of nowhere" help you get inspired?
Harry Dry
@w_j Hey WJ — Thank you. Appreciate it. Not so much get inspired. More remove all distractions and focus. Let's say I move to Scotland for three months. Then I can zone in. I have one purpose. One goal. Like a heavyweight boxer with a fight date. Without it they're just floating in the wind.
Wiktoria Jaszcza
@harrydry Thanks Harry. So: create effectively!
Roman Vorozhtsov
Hi Harry. Thank you for the chance to get feedback on the project. I made a project where you can download the software https://install.download. I plan to add paid consultations and software courses. I will be glad to hear your opinion about the idea.
Harry Dry
@roman_vorozhtsov Hey Roman — Pleasure. So... Am I missing something. Currently there's no title just a search bar. Coming to your website for the first time and seeing that is pretty confusing. So I'd add a simple line explaining exactly what the hell is happening. I'm not sure how much traffic you're getting atm... But yes. Broadly speaking a useful free app like this to fuel an agency / courses is a model I can definitely see work. Good luck. And my apologies to give not my best answer. Just it's very late in the UK and I need to go to bed. Good luck!
Roman Vorozhtsov
@harrydry Thank you for your opinion.
Roman Vorozhtsov
@harrydry Harry maybe you know the answer to this question about Facebook?https://www.producthunt.com/disc...
Shivi Jalota
Harry I subscribed to your newsletter and can I saw what a saviour that newsletter is. Perfectly written curated and adds so much value.
Harry Dry
@shivi_jalota Oh thanks so much Shivi. Lovely message. Appreciate it :)
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