Audience Bridge [Insights]

Chris Miquel

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Marketing

Audience Bridge Insights is a podcast for newsletter operators, marketers, and media founders who want to scale smarter. Each episode dives into real-world strategies, tools, and conversations with industry experts on email deliverability, list growth, monetization, and the evolving tech behind the inbox.

9h ago

AI Is the Biggest Change to Email Since the iPhone w/ Dan Oshinsky

Email has only had two truly big moments: the AOL CD in 1998, and the rise of mobile. Dan Oshinsky says the third one is happening right now — and nobody, not even the Gmail team, knows what the inbox looks like on the other side. Dan ran newsletters at BuzzFeed and The New Yorker before founding Inbox Collective, where he helps newsrooms, nonprofits, and independent newsletters get more readers and make money. I caught his AI talk at the Newsletter Conference in May — it was the conversation everyone kept having in the hallways afterward. So I brought him on the show. We get into who you should actually be writing for (people, robots, or deliverability), why depth is the new moat, where AI genuinely earns its keep in a newsletter operation, and the one fear keeping publishers up at night: email's stability — the entire foundation of this industry — is being challenged for the first time. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations on newsletter growth, deliverability, and monetization: https://www.youtube.com/@audiencebridge 📬 Get the newsletter breakdown of every episode: https://www.audiencebridge.io/subscribe CONNECT WITH DAN: Inbox Collective: https://inboxcollective.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danoshinsky/ CONNECT WITH CHRIS: X: https://x.com/miqchris LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismiquel Audience Bridge: https://www.audiencebridge.io
Jun 2

The List-Size Lie: What Advertisers Really Pay For in Newsletters

Most newsletter operators are pricing their inventory wrong — and most advertisers are buying it wrong. In this episode, Jeff Eisenberg, co-founder of Media Intercept, breaks down how newsletter monetization actually works: why list size and open rate are vanity metrics, the real trade-offs between CPM, CPC, and CPA, and why treating newsletters as a pure bottom-of-funnel performance channel sets everyone up to be disappointed. Jeff and Chris met at a newsletter conference where — surprisingly — almost nobody was talking about monetization. So they fixed that here. From bot and VPN traffic to dedicated-send fatigue, AI ad copy, and the case for industry-wide metric standardization, this is a working operator's guide to making your audience monetizable, not just big. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro & meeting at the newsletter conference01:33 Jeff's path: law → radio → video → newsletters07:05 The models explained: CPM, CPC & CPA08:16 The list-size lie & fake open rates12:30 Why newsletters aren't bottom-of-funnel21:03 Native vs. dedicated (pricing, churn, deliverability)24:50 AI ad copy & the rise of newsletter slop26:16 Bots, VPNs & validating traffic37:28 Pricing your spot & ad frequency43:00 Beehiiv, Kit, Substack & the standardization problem51:28 Rapid fire: overrated, underrated & ready for sponsors1:00:30 Inside Media Intercept's new platform Connect with Jeff Eisenberg & Media Intercept Stay in the loop Subscribe to Our Newsletter: Audience Bridge Insights Follow Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismiquel/
Apr 28

Why MarketBeat Just Cut Their Email List in Half (On Purpose) w/ Matt Paulson

Matt Paulson, founder & CEO of MarketBeat, is just deleted 3 million "active" subscribers from his list — and he's doing it on purpose. In this episode of Audience Bridge Insights, recorded at MarketBeat's brand new Sioux Falls studio, I sit down with Matt for round two (he was my very first guest on this show) to unpack what's actually happening inside one of financial publishing's biggest email operations in 2026. We get into the engagement-only future of email, the 5-minute pixel rule that reclassified half their "opens" as automated, why MarketBeat now runs four parallel Beehiiv lists, the "Make Money Button" automation that Matt McGarry credits to Matt, ASN-level bot filtering, and the one metric Matt thinks every newsletter publisher should be obsessing over right now. If you publish a newsletter — especially in finance, health, or any vertical ISPs treat as "high risk" — this one is required listening. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open00:54 Welcome to the new MarketBeat studio01:28 The Yahoo collapse, one year later02:50 Apple is the new deliverability headache04:42 The 5-minute pixel rule that reset every metric05:50 Why MarketBeat is cutting their list from 6M to 3M07:03 The Beehiiv diversification play08:48 Inside the "Make Money Button"10:59 AI's impact on email and the inbox13:47 Inside the newsroom: Claude Code, Multi, and Victor18:53 SMS at MarketBeat: 200K active, $9 RPU23:15 YouTube and the new MarketBeat studio29:27 The cohort data game31:20 The bot war: ASN filtering and Cloudflare34:10 Why Spark Loop didn't work (and Beehiiv ads do)37:40 What every ESP is missing39:11 Matt's #1 advice for newsletter publishers40:04 Wrap-up 🔗 ABOUT THE GUEST Matt Paulson — Founder & CEO, MarketBeat Website: https://www.marketbeat.com/ X.com: https://x.com/MediaKing ABOUT CHRIS MIQUEL AND AUDIENCE BRIDGE Subscribe to Our Newsletter: https://links.audiencebridge.io/subscribe-v2 In this video, EXPLAIN. Follow Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismiquel/ If you liked this video, subscribe to my channel!
Apr 8

Co-Reg Isn’t Dead — You’re Just Doing It Wrong (w/ Tim Bourquin)

Co-reg has a bad reputation in the newsletter world—but most people are doing it wrong. In this episode of Audience Bridge Insights, Chris Miquel sits down with Tim Bourquin (Co-Founder of AfterOffers) to break down what actually works in co-registration today, how to scale list growth without destroying deliverability, and why activation—not CPL—is the metric that matters most. What You’ll Learn: — What Is After Offers & How Co-Reg Works — SMS Co-Reg: TCPA, Compliance & Double Opt-In — Tim's Origin Story: From LAPD to After Offers — Co-Reg Pricing: CPL Then vs. Now (Email & SMS) — Expanding Beyond FinPub & Why Topic Matching Is Everything — Building Both Sides of the Network (The Chicken-and-Egg Problem) — When to Use Co-Reg (and When NOT To) — Email Frequency, Nurture Strategy & Activation Tips — Tracking Performance & What Traffic Sources Are Converting Best — Offer Count, Compliance & the 4-Layer Email Validation Stack — Ramping Co-Reg Slowly & Welcome Email Best Practices — The Future of Co-Reg: SMS, AI Matching & Identity Graphs — The Future of Newsletters: Deliverability, Personal Branding & AI — Mindset, Habits, Book Recs & Where to Find Tim About Tim Bourquin Tim Bourquin is the Co-Founder of AfterOffers, a co-registration platform working with 350+ publishers and 80–100 advertisers across multiple verticals including finance, health, and tech. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timbourquin/ X: https://x.com/TimBourquin After Offers: https://www.afteroffers.com/ About Chris Miquel Chris Miquel is the Co-Founder of Audience Bridge, helping newsletter publishers improve deliverability, optimize list growth, and scale revenue through smarter data and segmentation strategies. Subscribe to Our Newsletter: https://links.audiencebridge.io/subscribe-v2 Follow Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismiquel/ Follow Chris on X: https://x.com/miqchris
Mar 4

Your List Size Is Lying to You — with Armando Roggio (Quartz)

What if the thing quietly killing your email program had nothing to do with your content, your subject lines, or your list size? In this episode, Chris sat down with Armando Roggio, VP of Audience Development at Quartz, to dig into the deliverability blind spot most media operators never see coming — until it's too late. Armando shares what surprised him most when they started fixing Quartz's email infrastructure, how activation rates jumped from 10% to 40%, and why the industry's obsession with list size and CPMs is pointing publishers in exactly the wrong direction. They also get into the compounding nature of deliverability decay, why ISPs aren't exactly rushing to warn you when things go sideways, and the one question every publisher should be asking about their lead sources but almost nobody is. Honest, specific, and packed with things you can act on — this one's worth a full listen. Guest: Armando Roggio - Duplex (Quartz) LinkedIn - /in/armandoroggio/Website - Quartz Host: Chris Miquel - Founder, Audience Bridge LinkedIn - in/chrismiquel X (formerly Twitter) - @miqchris🔗 Learn more: www.audiencebridge.io 📧 Subscribe to Audience Bridge Insights: www.audiencebridge.io/subscribe
Feb 10

How He 10x'd Revenue by Increasing Cost Per Lead (with Nathan May)

Most newsletter publishers obsess over cost per lead. Nathan May, founder of The Feed Media (the largest agency for newsletter growth), explains why that's the wrong metric—and how one of his clients 10x'd revenue by increasing their CPL by 30%. In this episode of Audience Bridge Insights, Nathan breaks down: Why cost per lead is lying to you (and what to track instead)How creative became more important than targeting on FacebookWhy "cheap" traffic sources quietly destroy monetizationThe deliverability mistake that kills inbox placementWhat smart operators do differently (and how they outbid competitors)Key story: One newsletter increased their cost per lead by 30% and revenue went up 10x. Why? They stopped optimizing for "anyone who would sign up" and started optimizing for "people who would actually engage." Topics covered: Intro: The cost per lead trapWhat's changed in paid media (Facebook evolution)Optimizing for engagement vs. signupsThe 10x revenue story (CPL up 30%)Building proper revenue attributionScaling campaigns without losing qualityDefining quality traffic sourcesThe deliverability mistake killing newslettersWhy CPMs are the wrong metricWhy open rates are misleadingWhat smart operators do differentlyThe invite-only newsletter strategyRapid fire questionsWhere to find Nathan Perfect for: Newsletter publishers, content creators, digital media operators, anyone running paid acquisition for email lists Guest: Nathan May - Founder, The Feed Media LinkedIn - in/nathan-may1X (formerly Twitter) - @_May_HamWebsite - The Feed Media Host: Chris Miquel - Founder, Audience Bridge LinkedIn - in/chrismiquel X (formerly Twitter) - @miqchris🔗 Learn more: www.audiencebridge.io 📧 Subscribe to Audience Bridge Insights: www.audiencebridge.io/subscribe
Jan 28

The Local Newsletter Founder Who Proved Everyone Wrong About "Small Markets"

Most publishers would look at the Catskills region of New York and say "too small to build a real business." Michael Kauffman proved them wrong. In this episode of Audience Bridge Insights, I sit down with Michael Kauffman, founder of Catskill Crew, a local newsletter that's rewriting the playbook on community publishing. Here's what makes his approach different: 42,000 subscribers in a "small" market~$0.30 average subscriber acquisition costSends once per week (not daily)Monetizes without becoming an ad billboardBuilt a real business that could be bought and soldBut the numbers aren't the story. It's HOW he thinks about newsletters that changes everything. What we cover: Why local newsletters have a built-in growth advantageHow Michael made ~$8K in one week with a simple "bulletin" sectionWhy he only sends once per week (and why it works better than daily)Why events, products, and IRL experiences beat more email sendsHow he's using snail mail as a premium subscription (yes, actual mail)Why newsletters are becoming legitimate businesses you can buy and sellThe one mindset shift that separates winning publishers from dying mediaKey quote: "If you prioritize advertisers over subscribers, you're already losing." Who this episode is for: Local newsletter operators (or anyone thinking about starting one)Publishers feeling pressure to send more oftenAnyone looking to monetize without wrecking engagementFounders building sustainable, community-driven businessesGuest: Michael Kauffman, Founder of Catskill Crew 🔗 Catskill Crew Newsletter 🔗 The Newsletter Club 🔗 Michael Kaufmann on X Host: Chris Miquel, Founder of Audience Bridge 🔗 Learn more: AudienceBridge.io 📧 Subscribe to Audience Bridge Insights: https://www.audiencebridge.io/subscribe
12/24/2025

Ryan Deiss on Why Email Still Wins

In this episode of Audience Bridge Insights, Chris Miquel sits down with Ryan Deiss, founder of DigitalMarketer and Traffic & Conversion Summit, to break down why email remains the most valuable channel in digital marketing — even as social platforms, SEO, and paid ads continue to change. Ryan shares hard-earned lessons from two decades in digital marketing, including what happens when algorithms change overnight, why owning your audience matters more than ever, and how modern email strategy has evolved beyond long automations and generic broadcasts. This conversation goes deep into email deliverability, list hygiene, segmentation, AI’s impact on education businesses, and why most brands are still measuring the wrong metrics. If you run a newsletter, media company, or any business that depends on audience growth and monetization, this episode will change how you think about email. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why email was the first social network (and why it still wins)How algorithm changes wiped out businesses overnightThe biggest mistakes marketers make with email todayWhy long email sequences no longer workHow segmentation and list hygiene protect deliverabilityThe 3–6% rule of engagementHow AI is reshaping education, courses, and contentWhy owning your audience is the ultimate leverageIf you run a newsletter or scale revenue through email, this episode will help you protect deliverability, grow smarter, and avoid the hidden mistakes that quietly destroy inbox reach. 🔗 Connect with Ryan Deiss: LinkedIn → ryandeiss X → ryandeiss Youtube → RyanDeissOfficial 🔗 Learn more about Audience Bridge: Website → https://www.audiencebridge.io Newsletter → https://www.audiencebridge.io/subscribe

Audience Bridge Insights is a podcast for newsletter operators, marketers, and media founders who want to scale smarter. Each episode dives into real-world strategies, tools, and conversations with industry experts on email deliverability, list growth, monetization, and the evolving tech behind the inbox.

Creator

Chris Miquel
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

17
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 Audience Bridge [Insights]
Show Website

Audience Bridge [Insights]