Missed sending your newsletter this month? It’s OK…give yourself a break
When I was a kid, one of my first tasks of the new year was to sit down and write thank you letters for Christmas gifts. My mother stood behind me until I ground them out, which meant that by mid-month (at the very, very latest) they were all in the mail. Phew! I'm a…
7 Ways to Boost Response to Your Newsletter
I know from experience one of your biggest questions is likely to be: How do I squeeze more out of my newsletter? How can I get more response? The good news is, there's lots you can do. Just doing one extra thing will help. So here we go: 1. The personal paragraph. I've written about…
Why I Put Those Darn Recipes in My Newsletters
Here's a video on a very important topic – the actual content of your newsletters. Here I explain why I choose certain types of article – and why that choice is important for making your newsletter effective.
Newsletters with Passion
Sometimes I?get this overwhelming urge. I?want to grab a business owner by the shoulders and give him a good, hard shake. “Why the heck,” I’d say through clenched teeth, “are you in this business anyway?” Once they’ve got over their shock (and probably called their lawyer), they might start to answer the question. Because deep down, hidden…
Who Are Your 1,000 True Fans?
It would be nice if you were a blockbuster, wouldn’t it? If you were Avatar. Or Martha Stewart. Or The Simpsons. But that probably isn’t going to happen. Which means that you are probably further down the famous “Long Tail”. There’s the blockbusters there on the left, and then you’re one of the gazillions fighting…
One way to put video in your newsletter
I was at Infusionsoft's annual user conference in Scottsdale last week, and a straw poll among the audience found that people were split 50-50 over whether they preferred reading text or watching videos online (particularly when it came to sales websites). What's clear is that you cannot afford to ignore video when half your audience…
Inside the squirrel’s mind: why long-term perspective is so vital
Take a look at this video of an extremely busy squirrel. Maybe there's a lesson here for your business: short-term actions vs long-term planning.
Giving and Getting
I was re-reading Flight Plan, by Brian Tracy, last night. It's a book about goal-setting (and sticking to those goals). This is, after all, the traditional season of goals – 2010 planning around the Christmas tree and all that. But goal setting isn't what this message is about. Near the start of this book is…
An In-Flight Magazine and Your Newsletter
A short video for you today about how you can learn from in-flight magazines when putting together a customer newsletter. Key takeaways: 1) Make it interesting to your readers, not all about you. Yes, some of your own personality is important, but don’t make the content all about your business. First, concentrate on what your…
Print newsletters and Canada’s second currency
OK, let me get the wisecracks about the title of this post over with right away – in case I lose my residency in Ontario. No, Canada’s second currency isn’t the US dollar. And it’s not the euro either, as an earnest store associate suggested to a friend last week in upstate New York. “Would…
‘Bore me and I block you’ – how to make your newsletters interesting
About a year ago I got really into Twitter. Maybe a little too much into it. Huge timesuck. I'm still on it, but I ration myself. Now I waste time on Facebook. But I tell yer – it's rough and tough in the Twitterverse! Some people on there really work it. They post many times…
Newsletters: the bar is pretty low. Really.
I got a call on Tuesday from someone who is thinking of joining my newsletter service for real estate agents. She’s been receiving emails from me (not these, but others you can sign up for on my websites.) But she said something that disconcerted me. “The information is great, but it’s kind of putting me…
How to Get Your Newsletter Articles Read – the Easy Way
"Service journalism" is the reliable older sister of the newspaper world. If it wore clothes, it would wear a cardigan. With pockets. It sure ain't glamorous. There are no scoops (such as they are these days), and there are no celebrity interviews or witty columns. Service journalism is the simple reporting of stuff that's useful,…
Why Some Businesses Succeed and Some Don’t
A bit of a rant this morning. Here's the thing. There are no doubt lots of businesses sitting around complaining right now. The economy's bad, customers are gone – and when customers do call, all they want is the cheapest price. And then there are others that are doing just fine. What's the difference? Hear…
How to Be Like Oprah
I got the shock of my life on the internet last night. There on my favorite news website was a big, blue headline: "Oprah Talk Show Going Off Air." Now, I know she had Sarah Palin on this week, but it can't have been that bad. I thought Oprah was stronger than that. +++ Turns…
The Perils of Newsletter Personalization
Yesterday I received a Facebook "be my friend" request. It went like this: "$Name$$, Facebook considered you as a friend. I enjoy meeting like minded people, hope you feel the same." Personalization is a wonderful thing. And so is technology. Mix them and you have a powerful cocktail – or a recipe for disaster. +++…
The trouble with ‘newsletters’
I hate it when people ask me the question: So what is it you do? A cocktail of adrenaline and tears rushes through my veins. Do I give my pitch speech? "I help businesses build profitable, long-term relationships with their clients." That often works only in an elevator. Or do I just come out and…
The efficient newsletter article
The chicken has 11 parts, I was told with huge authority by the 16-year-old KFC employee. That was why I would receive only two breasts – the rest of my order would be made up of the other nine parts of chicken. I guess that's fair, although I've wondered ever since what constituted that odd…
Newspaper columns, 17 kumquats, and a famous ‘you’
If you think some movie stars are prima donnas ("I requested 17 polished kumquats in the scarlet dish, not 16, not 18, you imbecile! You're fired!"), then you haven't met a newspaper columnist. There's something about being charged will filling ten inches of virgin newsprint each week that does horrible things to the ego. Newspaper…
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…