The Internet gave us a lot: mIRC, MSN, HTML “about me” websites, Wikipedia, a false promise of direct democracy, blogs, Flat Earthers, Youtube and so on. Today, newsletters are the new blogs, enabling creators/writers/journalists to build their own platform-independent audience.

It is easier to be a curator than a creator, but I will not lie; I have been intensively thinking about shocking you with my accent on TikTok or Instagram. But until then, we stay in the format you know: emails. In the coming months, I will also use handpickedberlin.com to publish additional “timeless” content, shifting more to the creator side.

So far, I have curated #38 editions and evolved handpicked to something fairly useful and interesting: new subscribers, feedback and open rates are telling. I have recently fine-tuned the “operations” as much as possible, but an issue still takes several hours to produce. To deliver the good stuff to your inboxes, I pour over several hundred headlines and tens of websites, not to mention all those boring (🫣) job descriptions. During the week, I also read with you in mind.

I enjoy the process; otherwise, I would have long stopped.

🧶 And now you can support my work. With issue #39, I am adding a supporter tier. The weekly email will remain free, but supporters will have additional benefits:

complete access to the entire archive of weekly posts,
early access to exclusive handpickedberlin.com content (with added supporter-only materials),
monthly “snippets” collection,
quarterly footer links archives summary,
additional goodies that will crystallise in the coming weeks.

If you do not have the means to become a supporter but feel that handpicked can help, drop me a message, and I will grant you full access.

Example supporters-only posts:

handpicked for Berlin

🗂️ handpicked February 2023 snippets

20 days ago · Igor Ranc

handpicked for Berlin

🤓 Timeless and useful: 2022 in review

a month ago · 3 comments · Igor Ranc

Your support will help me continue bringing the good stuff to your inboxes. And the good stuff is priceless! How much are life-changing ideas worth?

To me, a lot.

Subscribe now

Give a gift subscription

Thank you for your support,
Igor

handpicked for Berlin

handpicked is going paid but staying free