The Vatican’s Astronomer
If you read the title of this post, you might have had the same two questions that popped into my head when I first heard about the Vatican’s astronomer. First, I didn’t know that the Vatican had an astronomer. And second: What is the Vatican doing with an astronomer anyway? Then maybe you had a…
The dilemma of the trusted advisor
Last Friday I went to see my accountant. Then I walked next door to visit my lawyer. I would have seen my doctor too – to get the full triumvirate and 200 extra frequent flier miles – but I had an appointment with him the week before. I like seeing my professional advisors. They know…
Email Newsletter Open Rates – and Your Mother
If you sent an email to your mother, would she open it? Probably. (I know a good Freudian analyst for those who said no.) That’s the point I make to clients when they question me about email newsletter open rates. The second thing I ask is: how can you make your newsletter as relevant to…
A bear in the kitchen and your local newsletter
Most summers, the Haliburton Echo carries a story that goes something like this: A local homeowner wakes to the sound of crashing and rustling. On going to investigate, she discovers a large black bear – its head buried in a box of cornflakes. So with great derring-do, the homeowner shoos the bear out of her…
Arrogant newspapers, upstarts in t-shirts, and the practice of resilience
If I owned stock in one of GPS companies – like Garmin or Magellan – I’d be crying into my cup holders right now. Why? Because Google has moved into the neighborhood with a better, cooler sat nav system for cell phones. Oh, and it’s free. Notice how this kind of thing seems to happen…
The David Beckham of Punctuation
Next time you’re planning to book the Kennedy Center for a stand-up comedy show, remember one thing: you can use the F-word a maximum of 41 times. This isn’t my observation, of course. It belongs to comic Lewis Black, who says he wasn’t allowed to record an HBO special at the venue because someone at…
The Newsletter Audacity of Hope
Today is the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s election victory. Now don’t worry. I’m not going to launch a political rant about President Obama’s qualities – or lack of them. But you remember his slogan: Yes We Can. It’s often said that the two most powerful motivators are fear and hope. Just think of all…
The Freedom to Choose Sweeping Leaves
The other day I spent two hours sweeping up leaves. Now, as anyone who knows anything about running a business would say: that’s a dumb thing for an entrepreneur to do. After all, I could have paid a student $30 to do that and instead invest the time making more money for my business. Indeed,…
The Day of the Dead
The cemeteries of Spain will be busy today. I've always found Iberian graveyards curious places. I never visited one when I was living there, but I saw many from the outside. You see, in Spanish cemeteries, many graves are set in high walls. The dead are stacked on top of each other, with stones marking…
30 Days in November, 30 Interesting Messages
Want to take part in an interesting experiment? Want to see me potentially humiliate myself in front of thousands? I’ve been challenged by copywriter John Fancher to hone my email writing skills. He has pledged to create one auto-responder message each day. What is an autoresponder? It’s computer software that automatically sends emails to your…
What Black-Eyed Susan Taught Me About Succeeding Right Now
Please give a warm welcome to Black-Eyed Susan! She’s pictured on the right. Actually, this is Black-Eyed Susan’s body double. The real Black-Eyed Susan, who lives in my garden, is too shy to be photographed. She’s not looking her best. But she sure reinforced an important lesson in thriving in these tough economic times. You…
Why Your ‘Bonus Document’ Is at the Heart of Your Newsletters
Members of my real estate newsletter service know that they get at least one bonus document as part of the program. Don’t take the power of this document too lightly. It’s at the heart of any successful newsletter. Here’s why. The terrible truth is that people don’t want to sign up for your newsletter. They’re…
Will Your Newsletter Pester People?
I had an interesting chat earlier this week with someone who is thinking of joining my newsletter service. He was pondering sending a newsletter only every quarter instead of monthly. Why only every quarter? Because he didn’t want to “pester” his readers. It’s at that point that I said, “Hang on just a minute….” Here’s…
Why Real Estate Agents (and Others) Need to Be Publishers
Once again, Seth Godin is speaking my language. In a post he draws our attention to the difference between renting eyeballs (the old media way, where you buy an ad that is shown to the readers of, for example, a magazine) and actually owning the platform – owning the magazine or other media. He gives…
Why I’m Not Making ‘Newsletters’ Anymore
Listen up. I’m not making “newsletters” anymore. Let me tell you why. I guess I was bored. And I was boring. I was embarrassed when people asked me what I did for a living. “I make newsletters for real estate agents and other people,” I would tell the ground. Then silence. Well, there isn’t anything…
Real Estate Agents: How to Make 4x as Much Commission
Here’s another of my little charts. This one applies to real estate agents and mortgage brokers in particular – but the general idea applies to any business. It makes a compelling economic case for keeping in touch with clients over the long term. The chart shows the difference in commission earned by a real estate…
Give Before You Take: the Art of Nurturing Leads
So much of business is common sense, it pains me to write about it. Yet so much that business owners do goes against simple common sense that…well… I guess I just have to point out the obvious. Here’s today’s topic: give before you take. Imagine you meet someone for the first time and they say,…
How to Increase Email Newsletter Open Rates
Although I believe that email open rates aren’t the most important statistic, it’s still worth investing time in raising the percentage of subscribers who open your email. Here are some things to test: Subject line: Is the subject line really relevant to your reader? Does it indicate that the information inside will help him do…
Do Email Newsletter Open Rates Matter?
Ever invited 100 people to a party and then only 20 show up? Kind of disappointing, isn’t it? You feel like you’re No Friends Simon. But actually… look at the 20 who did show up. Aren’t they your best friends? The people you’re closest too? The ones who really matter? Email newsletters are a lot…
ABC – Always Be Collecting (and Double Your Leads)
Always Be Closing – that’s the sales mantra made famous by the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. But I have another ABC. Always Be Collecting. Always be collecting contact info from your visitors so you can keep in touch. Because if you’re not always collecting, you’re seeing potential clients walk out the door. I’ve ramped up…