Case study · Copywriting
Copywriting for MKE Meetups
Outbound writing that gets strangers in the door, then makes them feel like regulars.
MKE Meetups’ voice is that of the friend who waves you over to their lunch table and saves you a seat. The main copy is the deliverable. The note beside each piece is mine, on why the writing works. The inside of the newsletter, the weekly rituals and component rules, lives in the case study next door.
The newsletter grew from 129 subscribers to 1,200+ in its first year, entirely by word of mouth, holds an open rate of around 55% week after week, and drew nearly 70,000 archive views during that same period. Roughly 40 to 50 hand-selected meetups go out every Wednesday.
01 · Campaign
It’s not just you
Making friends as an adult is hard. That’s the problem a regular meetup habit solves, so the campaign names the feeling first, then offers the solution. It runs on free, local surfaces, including the same community boards where information about local meetups tends to be posted.
Bulletin-board posters
Letter-sized, pinned to corkboards in coffee shops, libraries, and campus halls. QR tear-tabs along the bottom.
Poster A
It’s not just you: meeting new people & making new friends is hard.
Every week I put together a hand-picked list of Milwaukee meetups. Book clubs, run groups, craft nights, board game tables, and dozens of other open, friendly spaces where you can walk in alone and leave having met someone new.
Free to read, free to subscribe, and beginners are always welcome.
We saved you a seat. Come find your people.
QR + tear-off tabs: MKEmeetups.com
Poster B
New to town? Or just trying something new?
Looking to shake things up? Maybe meet some new people, try out a new hobby, or establish a new ritual?
You’ve got a standing invitation to dozens of Milwaukee-area meetups every week.
Find your new favorite activity and make new friends along the way at MKEmeetups.com.
QR + tear-off tabs
Social posts
Platform a host
Tonight: Open Stitching at The Vine Humboldt Beer Garden, 5:30. Bring whatever you’re working on, or just chit-chat with fellow crafters. Free, and the perfect, low-key option if “meeting people” sounds like a lot right now. More info and full week’s list in bio.
Name the feeling
You’re not alone: making friends as an adult is weirdly hard. Meetups are a great way to spark new connections and cultivate friendships over time, and you can indulge in a long-time hobby or pick up a new one in the process. Big ol’ list of meetup options at mkemeetups.com.
Featured-maker spotlight
This week’s featured local artist is [Name], who [one line in the artist’s own words]. (Getting to share this kind of amazing work is one of the best parts of running MKE Meetups.) Make something cool? I’d love to see it and get it in front of more people. Submit link in bio.
02 · Subscribe page
Readers
Reader: someone who just found the site or read a forwarded issue and is deciding whether to give access to their inbox. Goal: make subscribing feel like accepting an invitation, not joining a mailing list. Approach: name what they get, in the voice they’ll get it in.
Find your people in Milwaukee.
Every Wednesday morning, I send out a single email containing a hand-picked list of 40-ish Milwaukee meetups, a local maker’s work, and a community-related note or two.
No algorithm, no feed to doomscroll. Just a list of meetups, curated by a fellow Milwaukeean.
What lands in your inbox
- 40 to 50 human-approved meetups, listed chronologically, by day
- A featured local artist, an image of their work, a description of their practice
- The occasional neighborly tip: a grand opening, a giveaway, something worth checking out
- A promise to personally respond to your email (if you have a question, I’ll get you an answer)
MKE Meetups is free, weekly, and easy to leave whenever you like.
Subscribe free
03 · Submit your meetup
Hosts
Reader: someone who organizes a knitting night or a run club and isn’t sure it’s “big enough” to bother listing. Goal: make submitting feel easy and worth the effort. Approach: remove the doubt, name the benefit, keep it to one short ask.
Run a meetup? Let’s send some more people your way.
If you host anything in the Milwaukee area that gathers regularly, like a book club, a running group, a board game night, or a language exchange, I’d love to add it to the list and the Wednesday email.
Your group doesn’t need to be big. All meetups start small, and yours might be exactly what someone’s been looking for.
Send me your event info and details about your group (a few sentences is ideal), along with a link to your event page, website, or social post. I’ll quote you for the meetup description, and point anyone who wants to know more in your direction.
Submit your meetup or just email colin@mkemeetups.com and I’ll get you set up.
On Instagram? Tag or DM @mkemeetups and I’ll share your event posts as Stories too.
04 · Sponsor pitch
Local businesses
Reader: a local business owner or organizer who could pay for a sponsor slot. Goal: sell the slot without breaking the no-hard-sell neighbor voice. Approach: lead with the audience and the feel, frame sponsorship as a neighbor sharing with neighbors, and be honest about what it is and isn’t.
Reach 1,200 engaged, social Milwaukeeans.
MKE Meetups goes out every Wednesday morning to 1,200+ locals, and around 55% of them open it, far above the average. These are people who leave the house, like trying new things, and show up, over and over again. If that’s who you’re hoping to reach, I’d love to talk to you about it.
What a sponsorship looks like
A sponsor slot is a short message, written to sound like a Milwaukeean telling their neighbors about something good. A grand opening, a local launch, a class, a space that hosts meetups. I’ll help you write it so it fits the email instead of interrupting it, and so it feels like a valuable insight, rather than an advertisement.
Sponsor slots work best when paired with something extra for readers: a giveaway, a raffle, a small discount. Anything that reinforces the message that this is a gift, not a billboard.
What it isn’t
No banner ads, no tracking pixels, no pop-ups. This doesn’t come with guaranteed reach or click-throughs, and there’s very little analytics data. It’s just an honest message at the top of a list people trust, which is why a mention here lands differently than an ad anywhere else.
Sponsor an issue or email colin@mkemeetups.com and tell me about what you’re working on.
05 · Featured-artist call
Local makers
Reader: a local artist, photographer, or maker who isn’t sure their work “counts.” Goal: get them to submit. Approach: make the invitation generous and low-stakes, lead with what they get.
Made something cool? Milwaukee should see it.
Every week, the MKE Meetups newsletter features one local artist, sharing their work with more than 1,200 of their neighbors. Painters, potters, photographers, illustrators, zinesters, fiber folks—anyone making something by hand.
You don’t need a gallery show or a big following to submit your work. If you’re creating something in the Milwaukee area and want more people to see it, you’re eligible. Send a few images, a sentence or two about what you’re up to and why, and a link to where people can find more.
One house rule: nothing AI-generated. Every other visual medium is fair game.
Previously featured makers have told me that they saw a fair number of new subscribers, opportunities, and sales after their feature in the newsletter. I can’t promise that. I can promise your work will bring a smile to a whole lot of your neighbors’ faces, and that I’ll do my best to send new fans your way.
This is completely free, and I can’t wait to see what you’re making.
Submit your work or email colin@mkemeetups.com
06 · Welcome email and CTAs
Onboarding
The automated first email a new subscriber receives, plus a few subscribe lines for different placements and a forwarding nudge. Onboarding and growth copy, in the same voice as the weekly issue.
Hello and welcome!
You just signed up to receive a list of Milwaukee-area meetups in your inbox every Wednesday morning.
Each email will contain a hand-picked collection of 40-50 meetups sorted by day, some work made by a local artist, and the occasional neighborly tip about something happening around the city.
The email is free, as are most of the meetups (and those that aren’t tend to be inexpensive).
I reply to every email I receive. So if you’re new to town, unsure where to start, or hunting for a very specific kind of get-together (a 7 a.m. running group, a queer book club, a spot where you can draw in companionable silence with other people), just hit reply and ask. That’s what I’m here for, and I’d love to point you in the right direction.
It’s going to be a great week. You’ve got this :)
Colin
mkemeetups.com
Short subscribe CTAs
07 · Before and after
A sponsor message
The “before” is the kind of sponsor blurb most newsletters run: competent, promotional, and interchangeable with a thousand others. The “after” is the same sponsorship rewritten as a message from a neighbor, the way MKE Meetups runs them.
Before
Looking for the perfect spot to work, meet, or unwind? Stop by Lakefront Juice & Coffee, Milwaukee’s premier destination for artisanal coffee and a variety of juices made on-site. With free Wi-Fi, ample seating, and a welcoming atmosphere, we’re your new favorite place to get things done. Mention this newsletter for 10% off your first order!
After
The folks at Lakefront wanted to say hi and offer you a place to meet if your writing group, knitting circle, or board game club is looking for a home base. They’ve got big shareable tables, coffee, tea, food, and ridiculously good juices. They’ve offered to give MKE Meetups readers 10% off this month, so if you’ve been meaning to try them out, here’s your excuse. Tell them Colin sent you :)
08 · Instagram Story sequence
A swipe-through
A swipe-through set of Instagram Story frames. Casual, sequential, one screen at a time. Goal: spotlight a few of the week’s meetups and the list.
Frame 1: It’s a [fun-descriptors-here] kind of Wednesday, and there are 40-ish meetups around Milwaukee this week. Here are a few :)
Frame 2: [photo] Silent book club, 5:30 at the Good Hope Library. Bring a book, read near other readers, say nothing if you don’t feel like talking. Honestly sort of perfect.
Frame 3: [photo] East Side Yarn Night at Von Trier, 6pm. Knit, crochet, or just keep your hands busy and eavesdrop. Beginners 100% welcome.
Frame 4: [photo] RPG Nights at Faklandia, 6pm. Brand new players welcome, they will teach you. Yes really, learn D&D, live the dream.
Frame 5: The full list (40-some more) is at the link in bio. [poll sticker: going to one this week? → yes / talk me into it]
09 · Counter card
Coffee-shop table tent
A small printed card propped on a café counter or table, often at a place that hosts meetups or sponsors the list. Its reader is seated, idle, and holding a drink. Goal: a gentle, captive-audience nudge in a few lines.
Front
Drinking your coffee alone? Same, honestly.
There are 40-ish free meetups around Milwaukee every week. Book clubs, run clubs, craft nights, even game nights at this very café.
Check them out and find your people: MKEmeetups.com [QR]
Back
Beginners always welcome. We saved you a seat :)
MKEmeetups.com [QR]
10 · Email reply
An audience of one
A real, personal reply is the brand voice at its most personal. Goal: make a nervous stranger feel seen and heard. This is relationship copy, included to show the voice holds up, even at an audience size of one.
A subscriber wrote
“Just moved to Bay View and don’t know anyone. This is probably silly, but I’m kind of nervous to show up to things alone. Any suggestions for where to start?”
Reply
That’s not silly at all, and you’re not alone in feeling that way.
Showing up somewhere alone can be anxiety-inducing, and pretty much everyone has been where you are at some point in their lives.
Since you’re in Bay View, a couple of gentle, particularly welcoming places to start: the Cactus Club book club is very low-key and friendly, and you can mostly just listen if you want; and the Run-With-Us run-walk groups are easy, if you don’t mind a little physical activity, because nobody’s looking at you and you can just wander off at any time if you feel like it, no harm, no foul. If you’d rather have something to do with your hands, Open Stitching is the sweetest crowd, just really lovely human beings who would love to have you join them.
Something to be thinking about: pick one meetup and commit to going three times, even if the first one feels awkward. By the third, someone will know your face and name, you’ll know theirs, and then you’re not walking in alone anymore, you’re part of the group.
Let me know if there’s something more specific you’d like to start with, and I’ll point you in the right direction.
And let me know how it goes! I believe in you, you’ve got this :)
Colin
