So you’ve decided to stop making excuses and and start sending an email newsletter. Now what?
If you’re going to prioritize sending an email newsletter on a regular basis, you’ll want to make sure it’s successful so that it’s worth the time and energy you invest in it!
All kinds of online experts will have varying ideas on what goes into creating a successful newsletter, but I like to keep things simple. I believe there are a few key ingredients that go into a successful email newsletter, and that if you stick to these guidelines, you’ll reap huge benefits over time!
Here are my top 4 tips on what you should and shouldn’t do to have a successful email newsletter…
1. Send your newsletter weekly.
It’s a really good idea to send your newsletter weekly because people need to stay connected with you and remember that you exist. To build a strong relationship with anyone — business or personal — weekly connections are so important.
Think about the people in your everyday life — your relationships and friendships. How often do you like to stay connected with them?
I know for me, personally, I try to get face-to-face time with everyone in my inner circle of friends at least once a week. If I only connect with a friend once a month, it feels like there’s so much to catch up on and we’re missing out on important parts of each other’s lives!
I think this can translate to business, especially when it comes to building relationships with your readers. (And remember! Your newsletter is one of the best ways to do that.)
When you send a weekly newsletter, it builds consistence connection, expectation, and anticipation. Your readers will learn that your newsletter comes every week on a certain day, and they’ll be excited and looking forward to what you have to say each week!
2. Bring value in your newsletter.
Think about the value that you’re bringing to people. Who is your target audience, what are their needs, and how can you serve them well?
One great way to find this out is to simply ask them!
As part of your welcome campaign, send an e-mail out that says “I want to serve you well. What are your greatest needs? What are you struggling with right now? How can I serve you?” People want to know you genuinely care about them.
One thing I love to do is introduce myself in the very first e-mail that a new subscriber receives. I tell them a little bit about myself and then ask them to share about themselves in return. This helps me get to know my readers so that I can serve them better.
I always make sure to respond to readers personally, too! I love hearing from readers, because I want them to know this isn’t a one-way, one-sided conversation. If a reader asks a really in-depth question that a team member can answer, I’ll sometimes forward it on, but I usually take the time to personally respond as often as I possibly can.
3. Write personally in your newsletter.
I think it’s SO important that you write your e-mail newsletter like you’re writing to a friend.
How would you write if you were writing to a friend? I’m not saying to be super casual or air your dirty laundry, but just be yourself and exude your real personality! You want your readers to know the real you and feel like they’re your friend or next-door neighbor — that you could hang out with them and have a conversation over tea or coffee.
Let your quirkiness shine! Be yourself! Feel comfortable. This is your inner circle of readers.
A Word on Subject Lines
Your subject lines often make or break your newsletter, because they determine if someone will open your email or not. You could have the most amazing content in your email newsletter, but if you have a boring subject line, a number of people may just delete it without reading it.
I try to use subject lines that tease my content in a personal way so that people will be intrigued and want to open the email. I usually write my newsletter first and then look for a phrase that will work well for my subject line.
If your friend sends you an e-mail and uses a subject line that has you curious, you’d want to open it right away, right? Do the same thing when you come up with subject lines for your emails to your email list!
4. Don’t oversell in your newsletter.
As we talked about previously, your readers’ trust is one of the most valuable assets you can have. And you should never take that lightly or abuse it.
Make sure that you are not just selling products in your e-mail newsletter. You newsletter is a great place for you to be able to talk about your latest course, promote your new ebook, or mention a great affiliate deal. But if that’s all you talk about, you’ll devalue your newsletter.
The whole goal of your newsletter is to build a trust relationship. And once you’ve built that trust, it’s important to cherish it and not abuse it. Again, think about this related to friendships. If you had a really close friend who suddenly only wanted to talk to you about their MLM and why you should join, you’re probably start feeling less comfortable being around them all the time.
Carefully space out your strong sales pitches. While they are really important, you should space them out appropriately so that you’re providing lots of free, valuable, helpful content that serves your readers well before you ask them to spend money.
Keep these few simple tips in mind to create a successful email newsletter, and you’ll start to see a growth of dedicated and loyal followers before you know it!
If you’d like me to give you some step-by-step help to grow your email list, check out Build Your List 101.
In this course, I take the mystery out of building your list so you can start getting excited about growing your audience (and your income!) using simple tips and strategies that have made such a difference in our business!
Build Your List 101 is an easy-to-understand multimedia course with text and video lessons + bonus video tutorials teaching strategies to help explode new bloggers’ list growth! Find out more about it here.
You are a blessing ! I’m a retired principal who is in transition as we speak trying to decide what area I really want to focus my blogging on .I love couponing and teaching others in my community , and I love training and supporting teachers too .
So ,is it too much to do both ?
Thanks for you help!
Joyce
I think you can do both, but I’d suggest picking one and focusing on that and getting that really set up and then moving on to start the next thing. That way, you’re not biting off more than you can chew. These seem like two separate businesses/blogs/ideas that would appeal to very different markets so my suggestion would be to keep them separate.
I have unsubscribed from SO many newsletters because all they use them for is to promote things. And I totally understand promoting things, I also do affiliates, but I want to hear more from a newsletter than what’s for sale. I do appreciate that yours have actual stories. This is motivational. Thanks for the tips.
YES! This is so true — and it’s something I’m constantly working on improving in. Thanks so much for sharing!