sales-skills/sales-adlynews

adly.news Platform Help

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

1. What are you trying to do?

   • A) List my newsletter on adly.news to attract sponsors
   • B) Buy ad placements in newsletters as an advertiser
   • C) Manage ad slots (pricing, dates, availability)
   • D) Compare adly.news to other newsletter sponsorship platforms
   • E) Create a campaign to recruit newsletters for my brand

2. Which side of the marketplace are you on?

   • A) Publisher (I have a newsletter and want sponsors)
   • B) Advertiser (I want to buy newsletter ad placements)

3. Newsletter size (if publisher): subscriber count and open rate

Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the question is about... | Route to... | |---|---| | Newsletter monetization strategy (subscriptions, pricing, ad revenue models) | /sales-newsletter [question] | | Programmatic ad network or large publisher marketplace | /sales-paved [question] | | Sponsor intelligence with API, competitor monitoring, spend trends | /sales-sponsorgap [question] | | Sponsor intelligence with ad creative screenshots | /sales-whosponsorsstuff [question] | | Curated sponsor lead list with weekly updates | /sales-sponsorleads [question] | | Managing sponsor operations (invoices, CRM, reporting) | /sales-sponsy [question] | | Growing your subscriber list | /sales-audience-growth [question] |

If the question is adly.news-specific, continue to Step 3.

Step 3 — adly.news platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full platform reference — capabilities, comparison with alternatives, workflows for publishers and advertisers.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Focus on the user's specific situation:

• Publisher getting started: Create your adly.news listing, set up ad slots with pricing based on CPM, write descriptions that highlight audience demographics. The verified metrics feature pulls data from your ESP automatically.
• Advertiser finding newsletters: Browse listings with verified metrics, use campaigns to attract newsletters to you, or book ad slots directly. Start with small test placements before committing to packages.
• Choosing adly.news vs alternatives: adly.news is best for indie publishers wanting a simple marketplace with verified metrics and negotiation. For larger operations, Paved (programmatic + 3,000+ publishers) may be better. For prospecting sponsor contacts without a marketplace, use SponsorGap or Who Sponsors Stuff.

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.

1. No API, no webhooks, no Zapier/Make: All operations are through the web interface only. No programmatic access to listings, campaigns, or data.
2. Commission rate not publicly disclosed: adly.news takes a cut of transactions but the exact percentage is not stated. Ask before listing.
3. Small/new marketplace: Newer than Paved or Hecto. Inventory may be limited in certain niches — supplement with direct outreach or other marketplaces.
4. Verified metrics depend on ESP integration: Metrics are pulled from ESPs like Beehiiv and Kit. If your ESP isn't supported, metrics may not be auto-verified.
5. Stripe-only payments: No alternative payment methods. Both publishers and advertisers need Stripe accounts.

Related skills

• /sales-newsletter — Newsletter monetization strategy (paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ad sales, pricing)
• /sales-hecto — Hecto newsletter advertising marketplace (self-serve, transparent pricing, direct creator messaging)
• /sales-paved — Paved newsletter sponsorship marketplace, Ad Network, Booker, Radar
• /sales-sponsorgap — SponsorGap sponsor intelligence (38K+ brands, verified contacts, competitor monitoring, spend trends, API)
• /sales-whosponsorsstuff — Who Sponsors Stuff sponsor intelligence (8,000+ sponsors, ad creative screenshots, email alerts)
• /sales-sponsorleads — SponsorLeads sponsor lead lists (4,318+ companies, decision-maker contacts, Airtable database)
• /sales-openrates — Open Rates sponsor prospecting database (10,000+ active sponsors, decision-maker contacts)
• /sales-sponsy — Sponsy sponsorship operations (ad inventory calendar, sponsor CRM, customer portals, reporting)
• /sales-buysellads — BuySellAds contextual advertising marketplace (managed ad sales, Carbon Ads, Ad Serving API)
• /sales-socialpresence — Social Presence AI-powered newsletter advertising marketplace (discovery dashboard, Ad Library, managed sales)
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do

Examples

Example 1: Publisher listing their newsletter

User says: "I have a 3,000-subscriber tech newsletter with 38% open rate. How do I get sponsors through adly.news?" Skill does: Walks through creating an adly.news listing, setting up ad slot types and pricing based on CPM benchmarks, writing audience descriptions, and enabling verified metrics from their ESP Result: User has a live adly.news listing with verified metrics attracting self-serve sponsor bookings

Example 2: Advertiser creating a campaign

User says: "I want to advertise my developer tool in newsletters. Can I create a campaign on adly.news to attract publishers?" Skill does: Explains the campaign feature where advertisers describe their target audience and budget, newsletters browse and apply to campaigns, and the advertiser selects the best fits Result: User has an active campaign attracting relevant newsletter publishers

Example 3: Comparing adly.news to alternatives

User says: "Should I use adly.news or Hecto to sell newsletter sponsorships?" Skill does: Compares both marketplaces — adly.news has verified ESP metrics and bidding/negotiation vs Hecto's transparent upfront pricing and date-specific inventory. Both are UI-only with no API. Recommends based on publisher's needs. Result: User picks the right marketplace for their situation

Troubleshooting

Not enough advertisers finding my newsletter

Symptom: Listed on adly.news but no sponsor inquiries Cause: Small marketplace, weak listing description, or pricing misaligned with audience size Solution: Supplement with direct outreach using SponsorGap or Who Sponsors Stuff to find active sponsors. Also list on Paved (3,000+ publishers) for more visibility. Improve your listing with specific audience demographics and engagement proof.

Unsure about ad slot pricing

Symptom: Don't know what to charge for ad placements Cause: No benchmark data available on the platform Solution: Calculate using CPM: subscribers x open rate x CPM / 1000. Start at $25-$50 CPM for general interest, $50-$100+ for B2B/finance niches. See /sales-newsletter for detailed pricing guidance.

Can't automate sponsor workflows

Symptom: Want to sync sponsor data to CRM or automate reporting Cause: adly.news has no API, webhooks, or integration support Solution: For automated sponsor operations, use Sponsy (Zapier integration, sponsor CRM, automated reporting). For API-accessible sponsor data, use SponsorGap.