What to expect this fall with newsletter coverage, plus info on subscriber GIVEAWAYS
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The purpose of this newsletter is to share my in-season posting schedule for the fall, just so everyone knows what to expect (and when to expect it). But also, I’m excited to share some fun giveaways I’m planning for the fall — ones that apply to both new and existing subscribers.
We’ll get to the giveaway stuff in a bit, but first, here’s what a typical Game Week of coverage will look like this fall:
Fall coverage plans
(Keep in mind, this is a general outline, not the gospel. For example, this week for Fresno State, there won’t be a power rankings post because I already did my preseason power rankings at the end of my Big Ten positional rankings series. The viewing guide will actually roll out on Wednesday instead of Friday because there are five different games involving Big Ten schools on Thursday/Friday and I want to get all predictions out before the first game kicks off.)
Monday: Radio recap — This is already on ongoing offseason feature that will continue through the fall (and not take weeks off). It’s an audio recap of my weekly radio appearance over at The Michigan Insider with Sam Webb and Ira Weintraub on the newly rebranded The Big 1050 WTKA in Ann Arbor. This includes a guide that shows what is discussed and when it is discussed for folks whose time is at a premium.
Tuesday: Stock watch — This is a new feature this year that will look at players/coaches/concepts that are trending both positively and negatively and allow for some forward-looking analysis that also gives me one last chance to touch on the previous week’s game, too. I’ll be trying some different things out in this space throughout the season, but I envision some sort of superlatives/weekly awards fitting here as well.
Wednesday: Power rankings — This is a long-time in-season newsletter staple that will return once again this fall. It’s my weekly attempt at ranking all 18(!) teams based on on-field merit. Those who have followed for a while know that I try and keep things fresh and throw some fun gimmicks in there, too, and I’ll attempt to continue that this fall as well.
Thursday: Subscriber Q&A — This is also already on ongoing offseason feature that will continue through the fall. I’ll answer any and all questions from premium subscribers throughout the day (though this is likely to skew more to a PM thing in the fall now that my paternity leave is wrapping up and I have to do my whole “day job” thing, too).
Friday: Viewing guide/predictions — This long-time staple serves as a “most interesting games to watch” for each week of the season while also doubling as my prediction/prognostication corner. I would never encourage wagering on sports (😇), but those who happen to have tailed my picks the last few seasons have made a pretty penny. As mentioned above, the first one of the year will be hitting the inboxes of premium subscribers on Wednesday. It’s already 2,500 words and counting.
Saturday/Sunday: Game coverage — I’ll provide takeaways and analysis from each Michigan game this fall, and I’m committed to having it land in your inbox before your work week starts the next Monday. This will be a change from last year, where game columns were typically landing the following week.
Yes, for astute readers, yes, this means the Monday/Tuesday (…or sometimes Wednesday 😬) 5,000+ word novel is no longer going to be a weekly expectation. It’s simply not feasible from a bandwidth standpoint for me, and the time it would take to finish those novels would mean they’d be hitting your inboxes 3-4 days after a game where it’s no longer that relevant anyway and most people’s focus had shifted already to the week ahead.
Will there be times where I produce a super deep dive into something? Absolutely. But it won’t be on a weekly basis, and this new schedule is designed to ensure analysis is hitting your inboxes in a timely manner each week.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the weekly content plan, don’t hesitate to shoot me an e-mail at bagofbell@gmail.com. I’ve shown a willingness to adjust things on the fly during past seasons and this season will be no different. I want subscribers of this newsletter to have agency in what the coverage looks like, so the more feedback I have from folks, the better I can craft the coverage to fit your needs.
All posts except for the radio recap will be locked behind the paywall and only available in full to premium subscribers. If you’re not a premium subscriber, this is the best time of the year to come on board. You can view monthly and annual subscription offers below:
Subscriber giveaways
Ok, now for the fun stuff. At the start of this year, I made a pledge to make more strategic partnerships with this newsletter that can help give y’all more perks and the opportunity to win some really cool stuff. And I’m proud of how well I’ve followed through so far. To date, I’ve given away multiple free commemorative footballs, two Jim Harbaugh autographed footballs, Fathers Day Michigan items from Playbook Products, free subscriptions to the newsletter, cash and more.
But we’re still just getting started.
I’m using this as an opportunity to announce four different giveaways for subscribers before the end of the 2024 season.
From a “business” standpoint, giveaways are most impactful when they can help drive new subscriptions. And I’m not going to lie to you and say that’s not a huge driving force behind these new giveaways, too. But I also don’t want to alienate people who already subscribe, either, so like some of my contests earlier this year, I’ll be running two separate promotions simultaneously during two different contest windows — one that rewards new subscribers and one that goes to existing ones.
The first giveaway window will run from now through September. The second will end at the end of the season.
To be eligible for the new subscriber contest:
Sign up for an annual premium subscription. And that’s it. Easy enough.
To be eligible for the existing subscriber contest:
Be an annual premium subscriber (or be a monthly subscriber that has already subscribed for at least 12 months) and then …
“Like” a newsletter post of mine.
RT a post of mine on Twitter that is promoting the newsletter/has a link to newsletter content.
Refer a friend to the newsletter (at the bottom of each post, I have a “refer a friend” button).
Give a gift subscription (at the bottom of each post, I have a “give a gift subscription” button). Each gift subscription will be worth 10 entries.
Every time you do one of the four above things, you’ll gain an entry into a drawing that will take place at the end of September. You’ll be capped at 10 entries, unless you give multiple gift subscriptions — there will be no limit to entries you can gain through that.
After the September drawings, your entries will reset and the next drawing will take place at the end of the 2024 season. The second new subscriber contest will be for people who sign up for annual premium subscriptions between October-December and the second existing subscriber contest will be for actions taken by existing premium subscribers between October-December.
There will be four separate items given away. Priority of “choices” will go to:
September existing subscriber winner
September new subscriber winner
End-of-season existing subscriber winner
End-of-season new subscriber winner
In other words, the winner at the end of September will get their choice of the following items:
A commemorative Michigan National Championship Football (the same ones described here that I did giveaways for earlier this year and can be seen in this unboxing video)
A commemorative J.J. McCarthy career retrospective football (the same ones described here that I did a special offer for earlier this year and can be seen in this video)
An 8x10 Photo Signed by Zak Zinter
A U-M football trading card signed by Mike Sainristil
The new subscriber winner will have their choice of any item besides what was chosen by the person above, and so on.
I’m hopeful this is an opportunity to grow the readership here, but also to show my true appreciation for everyone who subscribes and engages with this content. I know the Michigan football market is saturated with quality coverage and I know you are making a conscious effort to give your valuable time and money to me when you subscribe. I do not take that for granted. I hope to continue to find ways to collaborate with sponsors who make sense for this space and provide new value to you as subscribers without having it be too invasive to the product.
If you’re a business owner who thinks there could be a mutually beneficial partnership opportunity for this space, please don’t hesitate to reach out: bagofbell@gmail.com.
Thanks, and let’s have a fun 2024 college football season.