The Wall Street Journal’s email Challenges are a series of limited-run, on-demand newsletters that showcase the best of what we have to offer: an authoritative take from expert journalists delivered in a format that builds a direct relationship with the reader. Readers can sign up at any time to receive a weekly email for four to six weeks, depending on the Challenge. The portfolio consists of six Challenges centered around topics of self-improvement, such as healthy habits, networking and personal finance. The Journal typically launches one to two new Challenges per year.
Each Challenge email contains a specific activity or sequence of tasks for readers to complete that week.
For example, Week One of the Networking Challenge explains how to build a list of your most helpful contacts. We make the activities as fun as possible while still providing useful information, such as the Investing Challenge email that teaches a lesson in investment strategy by having readers bet on a baseball game outcome.
The weekly activities sometimes help with progression toward a specific goal, such as getting a better night’s sleep in the Healthy Habits Challenge, and sometimes serve to more generally increase knowledge in a particular subject, such as better understanding personal finance in the Money Challenge.
The Challenges are written in the first person by a Journal reporter or group of reporters with extensive experience covering the topic at hand. Readers trust the Journal’s expertise and know they are getting reliable, well-researched information. Writers quote experts to provide an outside perspective and link to relevant Journal articles for further reading. They also make the emails entertaining and interactive by sharing a motivating song or a bonus activity that encourages readers to stretch even further outside their comfort zone.
Throughout the Challenges, writers share their personal experiences with the subject along with their own results from completing the weekly activity. For example, in the Healthy Habits Challenge, personal health and wellness reporter Anne Marie Chaker tells readers about her struggles with long Covid and its impact on her diet and exercise routine. As the weeks progress, she shares how swapping her 4 p.m. coffee with a mug of hot water still gave her that warm, cozy feeling she craved without disrupting her sleep. These personal stories give readers a deeper connection to the topic while ensuring each Challenge has a unique voice.
The visual elements help make the emails more accessible and clearer for the reader. For example, the Investing Challenge features charts to illustrate some of the more complex topics. In each email, emoji provide signposts for different elements, such as a clock to show how long an activity should take or a “partying face” to remind readers to celebrate their wins.
The final email of each Challenge congratulates readers on what they have accomplished, invites them to provide feedback, and encourages them to sign up for one of the Journal’s daily or weekly newsletters.
