Congratulations, you managed to avoid the spam folder and promotions tab.

You didn’t get deprioritized by Gemini or summarized into oblivion by some AI filter my reptilian brain can’t even begin to comprehend.

You crushed the subject line. Your preview text was *chef’s kiss.*

The reader opened your newsletter.

What do they see? A “Read Online” link. A fat logo. And an estimated read time.

You hate to see it. Seriously, they probably hate it.

The top of our email (read: above the fold) is the most valuable real estate we own. But we’re burying the actual reason to read like three scrolls down. Why? Mostly because “that’s the way theSkimm and the Morning Brew did it.”

A few weeks back, we covered why your first 200-ish words matter so much (spoiler: Gmail AI summaries rely heavily on the first few hundred words).

Here's the thing, though: getting everything "above the fold" right has always been important. It just hasn't been wrapped in some big, existential headline-grabbing technology.

Joseph Sugarman (all the classically trained marketers are rolling their eyes right now), a legend of the copywriting game, explained the “slippery slope.” The idea is simple: the only purpose of the first sentence is to get the reader to read the second sentence. The second sentence's job is to get them to read the third, etc.

That slippery slope shouldn’t start in sentence 1. It should start with the first pixel your reader sees. You simply cannot achieve your business outcome (think: getting a reader to click an ad, buy your product, or learn more about your service) if said reader doesn’t make it that far.

Their journey to the promised land starts with the first thing they see. Don’t f*ck it up.

The current above-the-fold formula was handed down by the newsletter gods of the twenty-tens (thank you for your service, Morning Brew, theSkimm, and Hustle).

You know exactly the recipe I'm talking about…

But, hear me out: maybe this model is broken. Maybe your newsletter is dying a slow (painful) death because you're doing exactly what everyone else does.

If your content is truly that valuable, why are you taking so damn long to get to it?

I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not hitting readers with the subject line and preview text again at the top of the newsletter.

For real. Don’t. The subject line and preview text already did their job.

Next up: move the “Read Online” or “Did someone share this email with you?” call to action below the fold. Go check your “Read Online” click stats. The only ones clicking on those are bots.

Keep your wordmark or logo tight. Here’s a little hack: if you have a tall stacked logo, head to this new website called ChatGPT.com and ask it to create an alt logo that’s wider than it is tall, optimized for a newsletter header.

To be clear, I wouldn’t recommend killing your logo or wordmark. Keep it consistent so your email is instantly recognized as soon as it’s opened. But if it’s doing more than that, it’s too much.

Here is quite possibly my most controversial take for all the ad-supported operators out there: get rid of the “Sponsored By” (or whatever your preferred variation is) and the partner logo in your header. No one sees a random logo and buys a product. Bots are the only ones clicking this. And I don’t buy the “brand awareness” argument in most cases.

The only thing this logo does is artificially inflate your click numbers and (potentially) hurt your relationship with a partner.

The best way to approach this? Don’t do it. Let your copy do the work in your native placement. Share a logo there if you like, but 9/10 times I’d opt for an actual image with little to no copy.

There is only one way to justify a partner logo at the top of your newsletter: if it accompanies an ad placement. TLDR does a bang-up job at this…

That said, I hope TLDR (and you) are charging a premium to give up the most valuable space in your newsletter.

Now that we’re past the images…

Listen, I see the point of a salutation. It’s warm, fuzzy, and makes the newsletter feel more like a traditional email you’d send to someone. The problem with that logic? It’s preceded by a bunch of other stuff that screams “this is a newsletter, not an email.”

The fix? Put the salutation in-line. Good example from a recent Brew Markets:

OR go full plain-text email so it truly does feel like an email from your friend. Otherwise, lose it.

Next in my crosshairs? Those 3-4 rundown bullets everyone likes to put in the intro of their newsletter. A teaser, if you will. Done right, this can set the slippery slope in motion (sup, Joseph). But you need to be a masterful copywriter.

If it reads too much like an AI overview and gives it all away, there’s no point in scrolling. Not enough to elicit any sort of reaction? What was the point?

Back to the same Brew Markets edition. Here’s their take on the bulleted rundown…

What I like: it makes me want to know what the new Fed Chair is dealing with, and I certainly need to scroll to see China’s hottest AI stock.

But “Fox buys Roku” gets a C+. It doesn’t give me a reason to read on. Perhaps “Fox makes $22B bet on streaming”?

So. Close. To. Actual. Content.

Spoiler: no one is forcing you to open up with the bold header/”eye-catching” image one-two punch…

You could just… wait for it… start writing your killer content. You know, the thing everyone came for.

The bottom line?

Make every pixel earn its place above the fold.

Open your email on a phone. Screenshot the first thing you see (no scrolls). Now run everything in that screen through this filter…

Does your screenshot convince a reader to keep scrolling? Be honest.

Want to play on hard mode? Send that screenshot to someone who's never seen your newsletter. Ask them one question: "Based only on this, would you keep scrolling?"

If they hesitate, do better.

(Even better, use one of the many software programs that allow you to preview on literally every device.)

That first screen is your audition. Treat it like it's the only thing a reader will ever see.

PS/homework: Send me a screenshot of your above-the-fold. Happy to share my thoughts/roast it.

PPS: If you want to collab with someone who’s this (see above) obsessed with newsletter copy, reach out about CNO’s done-for-you newsletter service. Hit reply and let's talk. Or just book a call.

Oh, and before you go, I’d love to know what you think about CNO. After all, would I really be a newsletter operator if I didn’t ask how likely you are to recommend it?