AI | Chatbots | Newsletters
How I Turned a Newsletter into a Chatbot
Someone is always looking for that long lost post. Now they can just ask for it.
I had a paper route. Each morning I would get up at 4:45 am. The newspaper company would dump my papers, in bulk, at the end of my parents driveway. I’d be waiting. I’d cut off the wire band holding the papers together, fold each newspaper, stick it into plastic bag if it was raining, and then load all 110 papers into my carry bag which I wore on my shoulders. I’d jump on my bike and deliver each paper to the assigned address.
Right to the doorstep. I never missed a day or a house or let a paper end up in the bushes. It was important. It’s how the news was delivered. It’s how people kept abreast, informed, and educated themselves.
Not so today.
Information evolves like everything else. Paperboys no longer exist. Paper delivery no longer exists in a meaningful way. Newspapers have evolved their business models and their delivery methods. News comes in bursts over our phone.
We find our favorite source of information in the form of a newsletter or a podcast or video and we consume what we want. Immediately. We don’t wait. We don’t really want to search. We want it now.
We don’t want to wait for it to be delivered to our front door. We no longer even want to wait until our weekly newsletter gets crammed into our email box.
And why not? What’s wrong with wanting it all now?
Well, we’re missing a lot of knowledge. Every newsletter — good ones and bad ones — are packed with tons of information. A new subscriber to your newsletter may read one or two back issues but most of that information is lost. Read once and delegated to the digital equivalent of the ‘bottom of the bird cage’.
But a chatbot is always there and ready for a conversation. Just ask a question. You’ll get an answer. No waiting. No searching. Just answers. Ask a smart question, get a smart answer. And the answer can come from your first newsletter or the latest. All of your posts are relevant. All can and will be used to keep readers abreast, informed, and educated.
And it’s easier than ever to turn your newsletter into a chatbot. You can have a fully functioning chatbot up and running in about 30 minutes.
Here’s how I did it:
Step 1 — Open your bundleIQ account. If you don’t have one you can easily get set up here at bundleIQ.com.
Step 2 — Create a new bundle of information. Hover over the plus symbol with your cursor and you will get a drop down menu. You’ll want to select ‘New Bundle’. If you already have a bundle that is loaded with information and will make a great chatbot, you can skip to the next step. But if you’re creating a chatbot around your existing newsletter you will want to start with a new bundle and control all of your data in one bundle.
Step 3 — Name your new bundle. It’s a quickie. Anything works. But make sure it’s recognizable. You may want to monetize your chatbot and a recognizable name will help users not subscribed to your newsletter find your chatbot.
Step 4 — Upload the information and/or files from your newsletter into your new bundle. Hover over the plus sign and you can easily add url files to your new bundle. Or you can copy and paste directly into a new note. Either way is quick and easy.
Step 5 — Create your chatbot. Hover over the settings icon on your account and select ‘Chatbots’.
Step 6 — Click ‘Chatbots’ and follow the step-by-step directions. Add a name. It should be the same name as your bundle for easier file management.
Step 7 — Add a description. This will be viewed by users if you set your chatbot to public. So it should reflect the content or information in your newsletter.
Step 8 — Select a chatbot category. This is just some meta data. Select the category that best describes your newsletter. Don’t worry too much about it.
Step 9 — Add some sample prompt questions. Sometimes people need a nudge to get started. Add some sample questions that are pertinent to the information in your newsletter. It reduces any starting friction your users may have and will get them interacting with your chatbot quickly. A sample prompt may be something like, ‘What are the top 3 issues I should understand about this newsletter?’
Step 10 — Upload you logo. The logo will be in a square ratio (800x800) and in the center of your cover photo.
Step 11 — Upload your cover photo. Clean and simple works best but feel free to be creative. Remember the logo image will be featured in the center so make sure teh two images don’t clash.
Step 12 — Select the bundle you created for your chatbot. All the bundles you’ve created will be on the right side of the dialogue box. Just hit the toggle next to the bundle you’ve want to turn into a chatbot. You’ll be good to go.
Step 13 — Add a url tag. Select a tag that describes your newsletter and add to the ‘Chatbot URL’ space.
Step 14 — Select Access Type. It’s public or private. You can monetize either but a private bot will not be featured in the Alani Chatbot marketplace.
And one last thing…
Monetize or not-to Monetize — Chatbots are useful in many ways. They make your newsletter more user friendly. They allow for better understanding of your information. They make your newsletter more viral. Whether you monetize the chatbot or not you will get significant benefits for your business and increase your reader and open rates. If you do decide charge money, simply add a price. You’ll have to connect your account but otherwise you are up and running.
I broke this down into a lot a simple steps. But it goes extremely fast. Some of these steps will take less than a minute. And it’s all fun.
Try our bundleIQ newsletter chatbot. It’s free. It’s fun. It’s informative.
