{image: ‘Desert Mailboxes’ by Jillian Audrey, here}
If you’ve got a small business, you have to get yourself a mailing list. (I’ve written a little about it already, here – but I’ve got some more to say about why it’s an essential thing for your business, hence today’s post).
Derek Halpern of Social Triggers gives some excellent reasons as to why you should. He says it is WAY more effective than social media and he’s got some convincing arguments. For instance, the average person gets thousands of Twitter updates in their stream in one day, but most people get less than a hundred emails per day. For that reason alone, they’re more likely to open your email than click on a twitter link. Add to that the fact that if your customer is not looking at their twitter stream at around the time of your tweet, they are VERY likely to miss it. Your email remains in their inbox until they do something about it.
There are other limiting factors in social media too. Facebook in particular ranks posts, so that not everyone sees all of your posts (and depending on how active and engaging you have been in the past, your post might not be seen by very many people at all. Email has no ranking system. Guaranteed they’ll see it in their inbox.
Another compelling argument is that your subscribers, by definition, are already specifically interested in what you have to say. They’re already receptive to your ideas and what you have to offer. So, don’t disappoint them.
The point is this: everybody has an email address that they access on average a couple of times a day. Using an email to stay in contact with them is personal and direct.
What should you include in your newsletters?
DON’T just use your newsletter to sell, sell, sell (unless of course you set up that expectation with your subscribers in the first place). If you promise useful stuff on the opt-in form, deliver useful stuff.
Some of the biggies in the biz, such as Derek Halpern or Marie Forleo send out fab videos every week or so, posing a specific problem and explaining how to deal with it. Some others, such as Alexandra Franzen, simply share insights and ask thought-provoking questions.
You don’t have to be fancy to be helpful. Here are some of the types of things I always include in my email newsletters. There are lots more, just keep in mind who and what your customer is, and what they would find interesting.
Tips and tricks specific to your area of business are good. It’s always a pleasure to read Colette Patterns‘ newsletter, because they’ve always got great sewing tips – I’ve seen some really tricky, neat stuff, too!
You could include items of interest from elsewhere around the web. Keep it focused on the core content of your business; for instance you could include a great article you found, or reports on trends in your specific field.
Another idea is to base your newsletter around either a great quote, or an article you’ve found, or some insight that you have gained in your life/business recently. Amy from Pikaland does this, and I always love reading her stories and insights.
Lastly, yes! include your stuff – because this is the point of having a list in the first place, right? The idea is to present things to your potential customer that are of value to THEM – links to an article you wrote, pics of new work, a special discount code, what new ideas you’re working on. Of course, if you’ve got some special amazing thing that you’re launching and you’re very excited about, sure, headline it! Write the whole damn newsletter about it! That’s fine; just don’t make a habit of ONLY talking about yourself/your products in every email.
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In part 2 of this post, I’ll show you how to build your list effectively, about how to choose an email provider, and other necessary stuff.
Email lists are important – When you build up a relationship with your customers by being generous with quality information, your customers reward you with loyalty, and word spreads.
That’s it!
oh, and p.s. – you can join my email list here. You’ll be getting mucho goodies in your inbox shortly. Spread the love!
Julie X