# Developer newsletter Human Guide

## What This Is For
This skill helps you build and write newsletters that developers actually open, read, and look forward to receiving. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for email marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Developer newsletter agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for developer newsletter.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Developer newsletter guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Who you're writing for (role, seniority, tech stack)
- What content resonates (problems, interests)
- Where else they consume content (to avoid duplicate effort)
- Voice & tone (how casual/technical)
- [ ] Under 50 characters (mobile preview)
- [ ] No spam trigger words (free, act now, limited time)
- [ ] Matches email content (no bait and switch)
- `developer-audience-context` — Know who you're writing for
- `devrel-content` — Source content for your newsletter
- `community-building` — Generate community content
- `developer-advocacy` — Build your personal brand alongside newsletter
- Starting a developer newsletter

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Newsletter Strategy, Define Your Newsletter Type, Frequency Matrix, Content Mix Framework, The 70-20-10 Rule, Content Categories, Writing Developer Emails, Subject Line Framework, Pre-header Text.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Where else they consume content (to avoid duplicate effort)
- Avoid in subject lines and body:
- | Category | Words to Avoid |
- Guides you through creating and growing a developer newsletter. Covers content strategy, writing, subject lines, growth tactics, and avoiding spam filters.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Developer newsletter human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the jonathimer/devmarketing-skills skill entry for `developer-newsletter`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Developer Newsletter

This skill helps you build and write newsletters that developers actually open, read, and look forward to receiving. Covers content strategy, writing, growth, and deliverability.

---

## Before You Start

**Load your audience context first.** Read `.agents/developer-audience-context.md` to understand:

- Who you're writing for (role, seniority, tech stack)
- What content resonates (problems, interests)
- Where else they consume content (to avoid duplicate effort)
- Voice & tone (how casual/technical)

If the context file doesn't exist, run the `developer-audience-context` skill first.

---

## Newsletter Strategy

### Define Your Newsletter Type

| Type | Description | Example |
|------|-------------|---------|
| **Product updates** | Changelog, new features, tips | Vercel's updates |
| **Curated links** | Best content from around the web | TLDR, Bytes |
| **Original content** | Your own articles, tutorials | Cassidy Williams |
| **Community digest** | What happened in your community | Dev community roundups |
| **Educational series** | Teaching a topic over time | Course-style newsletters |

**Best practice**: Pick ONE primary type. You can mix in others, but have a clear identity.

### Frequency Matrix

| Frequency | Best For | Risk |
|-----------|----------|------|
| **Daily** | Curated links, news | Fatigue, hard to maintain |
| **Weekly** | Most newsletters | Sweet spot for most |
| **Bi-weekly** | Original content heavy | Can lose momentum |
| **Monthly** | Product updates, digests | Easy to forget you exist |

**Developer preference**: Weekly is the sweet spot. Developers are busy and inbox-protective.

---

## Content Mix Framework

### The 70-20-10 Rule

| Percentage | Content Type | Purpose |
|------------|--------------|---------|
| **70%** | Value content | Teach, inform, help |
| **20%** | Product content | Updates, features, how-tos |
| **10%** | Promotional | CTAs, asks, sales |

### Content Categories

Build a rotation of these:

| Category | Examples |
|----------|----------|
| **Tutorials** | "How to implement X" |
| **News analysis** | "What Y announcement means for you" |
| **Tool/library roundups** | "5 libraries for handling Z" |
| **Code snippets** | "Quick tip: better error handling" |
| **Community highlights** | "Best from our Discord this week" |
| **Industry takes** | "Why I think X is overhyped" |
| **Behind the scenes** | "How we built feature Y" |
| **Q&A** | "You asked, we answered" |

---

## Writing Developer Emails

### Subject Line Framework

What works for developers:

| Pattern | Example | Why It Works |