You know I just wrote this month's newsletter so I can have an excuse to put
"My" picture out here for a change. LOL!
Hey, the subject line says this is my advice, so I have to personalize the letter somehow.
As I now approach two years of writing these newsletters, I'm finding that about 43% of you, on average, open and read them. And, about 25% of you click the links that I occasionally put out here as well. With that said, those of you that know me well, know that I always want to teach and help others. Must be something to do with that whole teach at the college thing for 12+ years.
So without further ado, here's
Chris's Top 6 list for how to get people to read your newsletters.
Number 6. Don't sell anything! Give away some knowledge. Please don't mistake knowledge for "how your "product or service" can make you this or that." Or, a teaser paragraph or two, then a pitch for a seminar where I can learn everything. That's just a hidden sales pitch and eventually I'll stop reading your emails.
Number 5. I know in advance if it's a sales pitch just by reading the subject line. So you trick me, and put in a
snappy/cute subject line. But the body is a sales message. Fool me once you will, but not a second or third time. Make the subject
snappy/cute, but follow rule number 6 too!
Number 4. Have a conversation with me, don't just throw a bunch of paragraphs of information at me. Talk to me when you're giving me what you want to give me. We probably know each other already, so it's ok if you miss a comma.
Number 3. Put some pictures in your newsletter. Bold and italicize some text now and then. Reading on the computer is so much more difficult on the eyes than reading a piece of paper. White space is a "good" thing. (Repeat after me... White space is a good thing, white space is a good thing :-)
Number 2. Kind of like number 4. Make me laugh! On occassion, put a tasteful/relevant cartoon in there. We don't laugh enough now-a-days.
Number 1. (Say number 1 with an echo or a David Letterman accent) The number 1 thing you can do to get people to read your newsletter is "Keep It Short......."
That's it, I'm done :-) Hope this advice helps with your newsletter open and click through rates.
Ohhhh, wait. Last thing..... SEND YOUR NEWSLETTERS!!! Don't put them off because you don't have time. :-)
Thanks,
