What have you learned sending emails to your readers?

I started sending emails to my readers and wanted to see how others are doing it. I thought I'd share some of my takeaways and try getting some other hard fought lessons

I have a small personal blog intended to improve my writing skills. The initial idea was to create friction and so I would keep doing it. One of the tools I used was an email list, because it would validate that I had at least one person (probably my mom) reading what I was doing. In my emails I send out links to my previous posts and one or two other little things that have captured my attention throughout the week. The emails go out Sunday afternoons, mainly because I write them Sunday mornings.

I've done a few of these emails now and thought I'd share what I've taken away so far. First I have to provide something else. It seems really obvious, but the content in my emails gets more interaction when they have unique information. What I've found is that I can give more context & links to other resources for those who are interested. For example last week I wrote about Oatly, the Oat Milk company. I could have increased the value to my readers by providing a few links to the resources I used to research this topic. What has gotten me positive feedback was adding some more colored commentary on my posts as well as some opinions.

One of the features of my email is that it gives readers a little article or something that I've found the previous week. That element at the end has been the most clicked on part of my blog every week.

What do you think? Have you learned anything cool? Am I completely off?

P.S. Here is my email sign-up if you're interested