How a gossip site helps me write better emails

Hi Reader,

Most creators and business owners are chasing the latest AI tools and bots for content ideas.

After dropping the kids off at school, I spend ten minutes reading an odd website from the 1990s: the Drudge Report.

Matt Drudge set up the gossipy news aggregation website in 1995… before Google. It still attracts nearly one hundred million visitors every month.

If you ever wasted hours agonizing over the look and feel of your newsletter or personal website, the Drudge Report looks the same as it did in the 1990s.

Black bold headlines on a white background. No fancy WordPress themes, AI chat-bots, or high-res imagery are required.

The Drudge Report famously broke the Monica Lewinski scandal and reported on Prince Harry's deployment in Afghanistan.

I don’t read the site for politics, news, or the latest gossip about celebs. I couldn’t care if the site leans left or right. It’s a treasure trove of great headlines, odd stories,s and quirky events.

Here are a few fun stories I came across recently:

• $344 for coffee? Farm selling most expensive cup…
• The Loneliness Trap: How to Avoid It
• Surge in demand for nuke bunkers…

Usually, I’ll read through these stories and see if I can spot an odd angle for one of my daily emails or articles.

It’s hard to find these unusual stories elsewhere online unless you enjoy trawling the net for hours, and AI can’t spit one out for you.

The Drudge Report headline formats are also great fodder for a swipe file. The team has decades of data, so they know what attracts eyeballs and generates clicks.

I don’t just use the Drudge Report for this type of work. Studying big publications' headline formats and applying them to your content is always a good idea.

A few days ago, I wrote an email newsletter based on that first news story about overpriced coffees. I also referred to the same story for a promotional campaign for one of my food and drinks websites. I turned the topic into a LinkedIn post that generated some decent engagement.

Finding an odd story or clever headline format is half the work. You still must relate that story to your latest offer or ideal reader. And personal stories are mandatory, too.

But if you get this balance right, your content will sound far more original than anything a lazy creator spits with a ChatGPT bot.

A few days ago, I shared insight about how I use the Drudge Report inside my private Telegram Group. I also share daily behind-the-scenes content about how I’m growing my content business.

My goal is to help you craft a content strategy that add $3–5k to your business in 2025. I don’t know how long I’ll keep the group open without charging. So, Join here while you can​

Write on,
Bryan Collins