People do business with folks that they like, know, and trust. It’s hard to get that trust just by having them read your website. As they read your newsletter over time, they will get to know you, like you, and trust you – if you write a great newsletter!
Newsletters should be friendly, informative, and promotional.
Friendly – be sure to include a brief personal note about yourself in the newsletter. This may seem to be contrary to the ‘focus on your customer’ idea, but people don’t buy from businesses – they buy from people that they like. Help them to like you!
Informative – offer useful information in the area of your expertise. Many entrepreneurs fear ‘If I tell them all that I know, they won’t hire me’. Yes, they will. There is a huge difference between information and support.
Promotional – Don’t forget the last part! Many entrepreneurs feel that it’s wrong to offer their list promotional information. Remember, however – if your product or service benefits your customers, you have a moral obligation to tell them about it!
Top 10 Super Newsletter Tips
1) Publish regularly – whether it’s once a week or once a month, get on a consistent schedule so your readers know to expect you.
2) Use interesting subject lines – in these days of too much email, it takes something extra to get people to open your email. Don’t put ‘Jan 2009’ in your subject line – it’s not compelling. Instead, try something like ‘I can’t wait to tell you about this!’ or ‘Do you know how to do this?’
3) Give value – this goes back to the informative part. Make sure that you’re always offering your prospects and customers real value.
4) Make it fun – if it’s dry or boring, you’ll lose people. Your friendly nature should shine through, and it should reflect your character.
5) Format it for the web – send out your newsletter in HTML, so that you can have graphics and make it look visually appealing. (AWeber gives you templates to help you with this.)
6) Proofread it – nothing says ‘unprofessional’ more than misspelled words and poor grammar. If these aren’t your strong suit, get editing help from a word-savvy friend.
7) Test it – send a copy to yourself before you send it out to your entire list. Make sure that it looks as you intend it to.
8) Learn from your colleagues – some might call them competitors, I call them colleagues – the people who are in the same business that you are. What are they sending out? What do their newsletters look like? Subscribe to a few and see!
9) Track your statistics – how many people received your newsletter? How many opened it? If there was a link inside, how many clicked the link? Knowing these things is a great way to test how you’re doing with subject lines, content, and calls to action, i.e. getting people to click when you tell them to.
10) Ask your readers what they want – in the newsletter, invite them to email you with questions that they’d like to have answered. It’s a great way to get information about what your audience is looking for!
Action Step: Make a commitment to put out your newsletter regularly, even if it’s only once a month. Put the dates on your calendar. Schedule 2 hours to brainstorm on different topics that are of interest to your target market, and write out at least three newsletters so you get ahead. To make it even easier, keep them short – an article that is 250 – 400 words stands a much better chance of being read than one that is longer. So think short and powerful!
Pamela Bruner, Business Success Coach
Make Your Success Easy!
Phone: (888) 736-0620
4370 Old US 25, Zirconia, NC 28790
www.MakeYourSuccessEasy.com
Pamela@MakeYourSuccessEasy.com