In partnership with: Outpost for Ghost publishers growing subscription revenue
We don’t need platforms to promote us. We can promote each other.
You’ve heard me say this before, and it’s the theme of our Cross Promotion Challenge, currently underway this month.
A fresh example that’s sticking out to me right now is Mel Buer’s collaboration with Sean Beckner-Carmitchel in the midst of the ICE raids and the resulting community responses in LA.
Mel’s been uploading some of Sean’s footage to social media and reporting from afar. Sean’s been boosting Mel’s posts and analysis as the raids and protests continue. Together, they’re illuminating a lot of the story unfolding right now in LA. Major shout out to both Mel and Sean for their collaboration and their critical work.
Replying to @melbuer.bsky.socialTo the absolute legend who sent me a Venmo to pass off to Sean, thank you! It’s been shuffled along.If you wanna support Sean’s reporting, send him a venmo at ACatWithNews. He’s been working nonstop since yesterday and could use a boost10:21 PM • Jun 7, 2025216 Likes 69 Reposts 16 RepliesHighlighting somebody who really stepped up during the protests in Los Angeles the last few days: @melbuer.bsky.social has been providing much needed outside comfort, comms, advice and all sorts of things. She’s even posted on the behalf of multiple journos in the shit who couldn’t write captions.2:21 AM • Jun 10, 2025250 Likes 51 Reposts 7 Replies
Liz and I know this network of journalists (that’s you) can be much thicker and that’s why we wanted to encourage you to make new connections with each other this month and send out some of these cross-promotions.
We have 20 more days in the challenge and I wanted to check in on how it’s going.
Are you taking part in our cross promotion challenge?
Yes and I already shipped a promotion Yes, but I haven't shipped my promotion yet I want to! I plan to! Maybe Not planning on it
If you're not participating, can you share why?
I can't find good matches in the network I'm not sure how to get started I don't have time right now Audience growth is not a priority for me right now Other
There’s still time if you’d like to be part of the challenge. Please reach out if I can help match you to the right people or suggest an approach for you.
We’re going to keep the cross promo network growing year round. Member Greg Nix also suggested I add a directory of journalists and writers you can place small ads with, so I’m adding that to my list to work on too.
Below, catch up on our Cross Promo Challenge and learn more about what’s coming for us in the Project C community.
P.S. I wrote a quick guide for movement journalists on how to get paid when mostly reporting via social media and Liz wrote about which creator journalists to follow and how to support them.
What is a Cross Promotion?
A cross promotion is when you and another journalist or writer promote each other, in any way, on any channel. The key that makes it a cross promotion is that it’s mutual, but it can look different for you and for them, especially if one of your audiences is smaller.
Take part in the Cross Promo Challenge
We are challenging you to place TWO promotions of any kind by June 30. Here’s how to do it:
- Choose 1 or 2 partners (From our network or on your own)
- Run 2 promotions of any kind (It really can be any kind of link, shout out or swap and you can run them both for the same partner or they can be different.)
- Submit your 2 promotions on this form to compete in the challenge!
Not sure how to cross promote? I have some ideas!
I’m adding methods to this post all month: Don’t promote by yourself
There’s 3 methods already there for you:
- Swap Newsletter Ads
- Social Takeovers
- Welcome Email Spotlight
I’ll be adding one or two more ideas for you before the challenge is over. And if you’ve used something I haven’t mentioned yet, tell me about it!
Prizes! There’s prizes?!
Everyone who submits their promotions by June 30 will be entered to win one of three prizes:
🏆️ I’ll design a sticker for your publication
🏆️ A one hour design consult on your newsletter layout (yes, we can talk about the logo you made in Canva)
🏆️ A one hour 1:1 automation set up call
It should be easy and fun! Don’t overthink it.
Join our Cross Promo Network
See who’s already in the network ↗️ and join us! You can reach out to other journalists and writers in our community and I will also recommend some matches to you when I see good fits.
What’s coming up at Project C
Tuesday, June 17 | Automate your marketing with Zapier: let’s take some marketing work off your plate with little robots (Bundle members only)
Monday, June 23 | Your next milestone: goal setting with your fellow ambitious writers (Everyone)
Thursday, June 26 | Getting readers to take action with Outpost: featuring the team from Outpost demoing their new smart call to action feature release (Everyone)
Thursday, July 10-Friday, July 11 | SRCCON: journalism, tech and internet culture conference. Liz and I are facilitating a session as is Matt Kiser and Andy Dehnart’s coming too. Join us in Minneapolis. This was my favorite conference I’ve attended in years.
July Sprint | Winback campaigns. You’ve had subscribers cancel. How many can you win back? More details on this coming very soon!
Revenue Lab is underway. A few of us are looking at the impact of race and identity on revenue growth (following up on my survey) and we’re running some experiments this summer to break through these barriers. We had our first meeting last week and we’re meeting again July 1. If you’re a journalist whose racial identity could be impacting your revenue, let me know if you’d like to join us!
