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TheSkimm: Proof that Newsletters Still Work

Have you ever wanted to get a concise version of the latest news that makes it easy to understand with little effort? So often, interesting news stories are encased within a plethora of rhetoric that is time consuming and requires a lot of effort just to get to the main point. TheSkimm is a newsletter that is designed to bypass all of the rhetoric and deliver the scoop in a clean and to the point style so you can get updates on the latest news without the need to wade through unnecessary fillers to get to the story.

Newsletters have been around for a long time and at some point, they began to fall out of vogue. TheSkimm is much different because it actually makes reading more convenient and enjoyable for people who have a busy schedule. TheSkimm may well be proof that newsletters still work in today's society.

What exactly is TheSkimm?

We've established a few basics about this amazing subscription service but there is much more. It is directed towards professional women or at least women who are busy. It focuses upon the types of content that are most likely to be of the greatest interest to them. It breaks the content down into highly readable and easy to digest sentences so the full impact of the story is quickly absorbed. There is no condescension intended nor delivered.

The founders realize that many women will skip reading the news because they simply don't have the time or cannot afford to spend long sifting through longer editorials when their focus is on other responsibilities. TheSkimm helps busy women to get their daily dose of news in an entertaining format that actually simplifies the process while keeping them up to date on what is going on in a much shorter time span than reading a newspaper or magazine. It is delivered via email so is available by subscription and waiting in your inbox for easy access when you have a couple of spare moments to spend.

Who Founded TheSkimm?

TheSkimm newsletter publisher was officially launched in 2013. The co-founders are Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg. Their focus centered around a way to deliver popular news promptly on business day mornings. The target group for the subscription service is women who are urban and between the ages of twenty two and thirty four. The founders served as NBC News producers right out of college so they had a good idea of how to pursue their new startup and the best ideas for great content. They became friends prior when studying in Rome and have remained friends ever since. Each lady tendered her resignation in the summer of 2012 and started work on their new startup business.

Quick and steady success

Since it's initial launch in 2013, TheSkimm has grown and expanded to include more than three and a half million subscribers. Zakin and Weisberg have appeared on popular news shows to promote their business including Good Morning America and have been the subjects of multiple other interviews about their success. There are quite a few celebrities endorsing the subscription service including First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah and Sarah Jessica Parker just to name a few. This is not bad for a business that got its start in a living room.

Fundraising

TheSkimm has generated a lot of interest and investors are impressed enough to believe that expansion is eminent and will be a great success. The company raised 7.9 million dollars in 2014 and has just had another successful round this year. In June of 2016, another round of venture capital funding came in to the tune of eight million dollars. Leading the investment group is Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox with Homebrew Ventures, RRE and Greycroft. We haven't received any news yet about how the owners plan to use the funding but we're assuming that they will use it to identify and infuse new technology into the delivery of the subscription content.

The future of TheSkimm

The company is thriving and growing at a tremendous rate. Confidence is high with regard to its' likelihood for success in the future. We're seeing proof of this through the venture capital that they've been able to raise just recently. All indications point in the direction of upward movement with a loyal subscribers base of more than three and a half million users and growing. Their growth has been nothing short of amazing for a company that has only been in existence for the past four years. Earlier in the year, TheSkimm launched a new app that is called the Skimm Ahead app. It assists in synching iPhone calendars of subscribers so they will be kept up to date on any new events or news. It appears that TheSkimm founders can look forward to a bright and prosperous future if everything stays on course with its current trajectory.

Are newsletters making a comeback?

Who said that newsletters are old fashioned and outdated? Well, many of them are but TheSkimm is revitalizing the value of the newsletter with content that is worthy of the short amount of time that it takes to "skim" through it. Perhaps those who are having a lack of success with their newsletters would benefit from looking at the model that TheSkimm follows. Removing non essential information and rhetoric is a good start. We think that it's all about giving people what they want and doing it in a format that adds convenience. This is precisely what Zakin and Weisberg have done and the results have been overwhelmingly positive.

The pair comes from a solid professional background in the news industry and perhaps this is what inspired the to create the powerful and potent newsletter than so many women look forward to each business day morning. The idea was great from the start and it has added an extra value component to the life of each subscriber as she starts her day. It takes forethought and careful planning to give the public what they want and from what we're observing, TheSkimm is excelling in its' mission to do so.

Garrett Parker

Written by Garrett Parker

Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world.

Read more posts by Garrett Parker

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