In 1961, during an expedition to the Antarctic, 27-year-old Russian surgeon Leonid Rogozov fell ill with appendicitis.
He needed an operation.
And – as the only doctor on the team – he soon realised he’d have to use the scalpel on himself.
As you can imagine, it was no easy choice.
Rogozov knew his appendix could burst at any moment.
And, if it did …
… he would probably die.
So, faced with life or death he did something most sane human beings would NEVER do …
He cut open his abdomen and took out his intestines.
Then, while bleeding heavily, and growing weaker by the second, he looked at his infected appendix.
He later commented: “With horror I notice the dark stain at its base. That means just a day longer and it would have burst...”
So, left with no choice, he chopped it out.
Then neatly tucked his intestines back in.
After nearly two hours of self-surgery he completed the operation, down to the final stitch.
And continued his mission in the Antarctic.
Now, you might be wondering “What’s all this got to do with writing emails to my list?”
Actually, a LOT.
You see, I consult with a number of clients who write some of their own emails.
And, almost all of them says the same thing:
“Writing emails is like pulling teeth.”
They spend hours hunched over the keyboard … struggling to find the right words … and … when they’re done … they’ve got almost nothing to show for it.
So I ask them: “If you needed an operation, would you perform surgery on yourself, or go to a qualified professional – someone who’s spent years learning, practicing and honing their craft?”
The answer’s always the same:
“I’d go to a professional!”
You see, you CAN struggle to write your own emails …
You CAN battle it out with the keyboard to come up with the right words …
You CAN spend hours writing instead of focusing on your core money-making skills …
But why?
If Leonid Rogozov wasn’t stranded in the Antarctic he certainly wouldn’t have performed his own surgery.
So unless you’re dead broke … and have no other option … don’t write your own emails.
And speaking of NOT writing your own emails …
I’m accepting 2 new clients over the next 3 weeks. If you want to be one of them … I’ll write your first email FREE.
But only subscribers to my twice-weekly email marketing newsletter qualify.
Subscribe here:
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And it’s absolutely … umm … riveting? I mean, you should be on the edge of your seat right now reading this.
In it they declare:
Australian open rates remain strong at 18.7%
Click-through rates rise to an average of 2.8%.
Click-to-open rates also rise, climbing to an average of 14.9%.
Unsubscribe rates remain steady at an average of 0.2%.
Australia leads open rates with an average of 18.7%; slightly higher than the global average of 17.8%, the UK at 17.5% and the US at 17%.
Sounds like a politician rattling off the latest unemployment figures.
Aren’t you glad you know these statistics?
Don’t they just rock your world?
Aren’t you glad you’re reading this important announcement?
Let me ask you this:
Who cares?
I mean, what are you going to do with this information? What is ANYBODY going to do with this information?
I can just imagine a bunch of suits sitting around the boardroom table discussing this report and asking “What are our open rates? How do we compare?”
To which the poor sod from the marketing department responds by pulling up a spreadsheet on his tablet computer thingy to reveal this fascinating sound bite:
“Let’s see now… we’re a little below average on open rates … but our unsubscribe rates are about where they should be!”
“Quick, send a tweet” replies the CEO.
Come on.
The problem with this type of report … and the problem with marketing consultants who constantly blabber on about email open rates is …
Open rates might be good for the ego … but you’ll get the shock of your life if you ever try to deposit an open rate down at your bank.
That’s why the only email marketing statistic that matters is …
Sales.
Now, I hear you saying: “But the more emails people open the more sales I can make, right?”
Not necessarily.
I mean, it sounds good in theory.
But that’s where it stops.
You see, the only thing an email open rate can tell you is how many people clicked on your email.
Open rate stats don’t tell you whether the person who clicked on your email did so to open and delete it … open and read it … or if they accidentally clicked on it while trying to click an email above or below yours from their dear ol’ mother.
But sales … now that’s a statistic that tells us everything we need to know.
That’s a statistic we can get excited about.
Nobody accidentally buys your product.
There’s more to this, of course. And I’m deliberately only presenting one side of the story here.
But that’s all I’ve got time for today …
However, I will leave you with one final “insight” from the Campaign Monitor report.
This statement sums up their findings:
Australia is leading the way with open rates, which could be an indicator of an especially interested audience. Additionally, emails sent in this region may generally follow email subject line best practices, which encourage opens.
Let THAT sink in.
And then, when you realise you’ve learned absolutely nothing … subscribe to my twice-weekly email newsletter for ideas you can actually use to increase your sales from email marketing.
Just your email address below will do:
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Someone from the “I need a copywriter squad” contacted me recently via my google profile to ask if I write copy for websites, like product descriptions and landing pages to generate leads? And if so, why don’t I mention this on my website or on my google profile?
The answer is simple:
Yes, I do write all types of copy. From social media posts, to website pages to whitepapers and special reports. But I specialise in email marketing, because that’s where I see the highest profit potential for business owners right now, and the biggest overlooked opportunity.
Problem is, most businesses owners JUST. DON’T. Get. It.
So they spend a bucket load of cash on ads to get new leads, but do almost nothing to nurture the leads they’ve already got. They spend hundreds — and sometimes thousands — a month on SEO, but do nothing to collect the email addresses of the people who arrive at their website.
I get it. I really do.
I spent a lot of years in direct sales so I understand the thrill of the kill on the first contact.
And I understand your insatiable desire for hot new leads.
After all, you just want people to hit you expensive website, see the value you bring, and buy on the spot ….
… which is probably the dream sold to you by your fancy webs designer.
But …
THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE CRIME YOU COMMIT AGAINST YOUR OWN WALLET!
Because — study after study shows only a tiny fraction of all the traffic that arrives at your website will buy on the first visit. Even fewer will visit a second time. And …
That’s why the best, smartest and most profitable business owners make “email capture” the focus of their website.
Without doubt, email is the best way to nurture captured leads right now, and the best way to automatically sell more products to existing customers and expand your referral base.
And that, my curious reader, is why I promote myself as an email copywriter.
But yes, as a copywriter I can write any type of copy. Preferably in the alternative health niche because I feel the alternative health market does a great service to the community.
I also publish a twice-weekly email newsletter full of ideas to help you get better results from your email marketing. It’s free, although some reader’s have said they’d happily pay a C-note to get some of the info I share. If you know what’s good for you … you’ll subscribe here:
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I awoke this morning to find this question in my inbox – my response will follow:
Q.I only email my list when I have something important to say – which is usually once a month. But I see my competitors emailing more often, like weekly or a couple times a week. Won’t people unsubscribe if I send an email every week?
A. Do you drop your Netflix subscription because your favourite show is on every week (or every night)? Do you stop turning the radio on in your car because the same station – with the same announces – are on every day?
Remember this: The more you contact your list the more you sell.
I hear people say, “My customers know where to find me” and “They know what I sell, I don’t need to remind them all the time”.
WRONG! You need to remind them.
People are busy.
You may think they’ll remember you.
They won’t.
Your customers have got too much going on in their lives to remember you and what you sell. The only people they remember are those who contact them on a regular basis – and this includes family and their closest friends.
Even worse …
Waiting for people to come to you is like expecting veggies to grow in your garden without planting seeds.
Or like hoping to get fit without exercise.
Or like fishing without a net or line or bucket to catch the fish.
But if you’re like most people … you’re so busy doing everything else in your business that you don’t have time to write good sales-generating emails to your subscribers.
Or you have time but don’t know what to write.
If that’s the case, reply to this email and let’s talk about how I can help you.
I can either write a series of emails for you every month … or coach you on writing your own emails.
Either way, if you’re ready to talk, hit ‘reply’ to this email.
If you’re reading this on the web, and you’re not a subscriber to my twice-weekly email newsletter, subscribe below – I only work with subscribers.
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Hi Michael, I read most of your emails. You seem to have a knack for getting my attention each time your emails land in my inbox. Here’s my question: How do I get more subscribers reading MY emails?
– Jeremy
ME: Hi Jeremy, that’s a great question, one I hear a lot.
To answer your question, you don’t need to look far —
The magazine industry spends millions of dollars producing, publishing, and distributing every single issue they release to the market. Do you think a company spending that kind of money knows a thing or two about getting people to open and read their magazines?
They might be dumb, but they’re not stupid.
The truth is, they spend millions each year on headline writers who write those irresistible headlines on the cover of each issue. The headlines on the cover of a magazine – like the subject line on the top of your emails – are the key to getting your emails read.
So go learn from the magazine industry. I can give you a few (actually three) clues to get you started in an article I wrote recently titled 3 ways to get your subscribers to open and read your emails. But for the full scoop, you should hire me to work with you on your emails. I can’t promise your subscribers will read EVERY email you send after you hire me. But your strike rate of emails sent to emails read WILL increase.
And sales will follow.
Reply to this email if you want to chat about getting me to write YOUR emails.
If you’re reading this message on my website, or if a friend sent this message to you, get your own subscription to my twice-weekly email newsletter here:
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You spend hours thinking about and writing a brilliant email newsletter to your subscribers and only 10% open your emails. Even less read them. And only a small handful buy the products or services you’re promoting.
What gives?
And how can you get more people reading on a regular basis?
These are the questions Donna asked me recently. She said:
“My list is growing but I feel like I’m writing to myself. I don’t think people are reading what I write. How can I get more people to read my emails?”
Here’s what I told her:
Take a leaf out of the magazine industries book.
You’ll find a lot of similarities to email newsletters.
For example, magazines are fighting for attention on a crowded news stand or magazine rack at the shopping centre. So too are your emails fighting for attention in a crowded inbox. As a result, the magazine editors spend a lot of time planning the cover. The cover’s job is to get people’s attention and get them to open the magazine. Your email subject line has the same job: get attention and get opened. So that’s the first thing:
Write intriguing subject lines that pull readers in.
Listen: Nobody will read your email unless it stands out like a zebra on the subway. So your subject line better pull readers in and practically force them to open your email.
I’m sure you’ve had the experience many times standing at the store checkout or passing a newsstand and a headline on the cover of a magazine grabbed your attention. News websites are good at this too. They give you a picture, a headline and a few lines of teaser copy – all designed to arrest your attention for a few seconds like lights on a police car in your rear-view mirror. The goal is to get you to click and read what’s inside.
Your subject lines need to do the same thing (only without the benefit of using an image).
Or at least that’s your goal.
This means your subject lines can’t be an afterthought. Can’t be something you do at the last minute.
Writing subject lines is a project on your to-do list and needs as much time as writing the actual content.
If you spend an hour writing the newsletter, spend at least half an hour writing the subject line, it’s THAT important.
Next …
Create memorable content that’s worth reading and sharing.
Don’t know about you but when I read a magazine or a news website I usually find one or two articles that really hit me in the feelers and stand out in my mind. I then find myself quoting those articles in conversations with family or friends.
This is called social currency.
Ideas worth spreading.
Ideas that make you feel intelligent, better informed, more knowledgeable, more up to date with the latest whatever.
When you find a source of information like this you continue returning to read what they have to say.
You want your email newsletter to have a similar effect.
Aim to become the voice of your audience.
Aim to be the voice people look forward to because they wonder what you’re going to say next.
And finally …
Tease about the future.
Magazines do this too.
Or at least the magazines I read as a kid did this.
You get to the end of the magazine and there’s a section tilted: NEXT ISSUE. Followed by a quick preview of the top stories or interviews coming up in the next issue. Cartoons and comics do this really well too. So do TV series. They leave you hanging, wondering where the story is going next.
You can do the same in your email newsletter, either in the PS or midway through a good story. Tell the reader you’ll talk more about this next time. For product announcements don’t just say “Here’s the product”. Say “Next Tuesday’s email will announce a brand-new product that will totally change the game.” And so on.
In summary:
– Give subject line creation the time it deserves. If your subject line doesn’t grab the reader’s attention they probably won’t read your email newsletter.
– Create content that gets people talking. The more readers love your content the more they’ll look forward to your next email and read it the second it arrives.
– Leave readers wanting more. More about this when you subscribe to my email newsletter.
Use these three ideas to get more subscribers opening and reading your email newsletters.
Want more ideas like these to help you build and profit from a successful email newsletter?
Subscribe to my email newsletter and I’ll send you short lessons and ideas (1 or 2 times a week)to help you succeed with email marketing:
And they found 72% (or 720 people of the 1,000 surveyed) subscribe to email lists for just two reasons:
1. To learn more about what you do and …
2. To stay up to date on the latest about a topic that interests them.
That’s it!
Shock Alert: They actually want to hear from you!
I could probably end the article right here and send you off to write emails based on those two discoveries.
But I won’t do that.
Instead, let me suggest three emails you can safely write that are perfectly instep with your subscribers’ reasons for being on your list. And then I’ll give you three email templates you can use immediately (and possibly make sales within the hour).
EMAIL ONE: Announce a sale (because a sale keeps subscribers updated on what you offer)
EMAIL TWO: Announce industry news (because industry news gives your subscribers information on a topic that interests them) and …
EMAIL THREE: Announce ‘insider or ‘behind-the-scenes’ stories about your business, products or services (because this type of information keeps subscribers updated on what you’re doing)
“But How do I Write the Actual Email?”
Okay, Okay. Hold your horses. I’m getting there.
The ‘HOW’ varies, depending on your market, positioning, products and services.
But …
For now …
Here are 3 simple email templates you can use to write your next broadcast email.
SIDE NOTE: If you don’t normally send emails with a direct pitch — or feel uncomfortable about sending a direct solicitation for business — write a content based email and use one of the templates below as an ‘insertion’ in your regular email. Use it to start your email, like writing a special letter from the editor then follow on with your usual content … or …. put one of the following email templates after your main message with its own headline. Or place it right in the middle of your message with a border or shaded background around it (like I’m doing here) to make it stand out from your other content.
You can send any (or all) of these emails to your list without offending anyone – just make sure you adapt them to your business before pressing send:
1. Announce a sale.
Like this:
“Hi, I’m running a sale on my ABC product this week until Friday.
Thought you might be interested because you bought (similar product) and a lot of my customers buy them together.
The reason they buy them together is, the X in product A matches perfectly with the Y in product B.
It’s normally $127.
But because you’re a subscriber to my email list you get 40% off – so it’s only 76 bucks when you grab yours before the deadline.
More information here:
[Link to website]”
2. Announce industry news.
Like this:
“Hi, have you seen the news reports about XYZ?
Seems there’s a nationwide crackdown on (some topic or other).
Not sure how this is going to affect our business yet. We may have to stop producing our ABC widget. But I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, you can still order a month supply at the following link:
[Link to product page on website]”
3. Announce insider or behind the scenes news about your business.
Like this:
“Hi, last week my partner and I attended an industry awards nights for (awards category).
Frankly, we only went because a good friend invited us, and we thought it’d be a fun night out with free champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
We had no idea WE were going to win a prestigious industry award.
But we did.
It was totally unexpected.
And we’re overwhelmed with gratitude.
The award has thrown a spotlight on our business. And we’re already seeing opportunities for grants and access to people who can open new doors for us.
Anyway, to celebrate (and because you’re a valuable supporter of our business and we wouldn’t be here without you) we’re offering store wide discounts on everything in stock from today until the end of the week.
Check the details and grab a bargain here:
[Link to website with bargains]”
Pretty simple, right?
And non-offensive.
You can adapt these email templates to any type of business or profession.
You can send them without fear or risk of upsetting anyone on your email list.
And, they follow our two new email rules of sending emails that 1) keep people up to date on what you do and 2) help them learn more about a topic (your industry or product or service category) that interests them.
Want Me to Customise One of These Emails For Your Business?
If you want help customising one of these emails for your business, I offer a one-time service where you get your next marketing email written by me, at no cost to you. (It’s a great time-saving service if you’re trying to write an email right now but don’t know what to write.)
I picked up her book because it’s highly regarded within book author circles. Many credit this book (and the workshop Tammi teaches on the same topic) as the key to their book publishing success and the launch pad that rocketed their self-publishing career to new heights.
I can see why.
Newsletter Ninja is easy to read and walks the reader through a clear process Authors can follow to build and profit from an email newsletter. And although the book is written specifically for authors, 90% of the content is applicable to businesses of every stripe. If you want to improve your email newsletter, get more readers, and turn readers into engaged fans who talk about you and buy your stuff then you can do a lot worse than reading this book.
For more …
Subscribe to my email newsletter and I’ll send you short lessons and ideas (1 or 2 times a week)to help you succeed with email marketing:
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Sending an email newsletter is the most efficient way to stay in touch with the people who buy from you or want to know more about what you do.
An email newsletter is also a great way to sell more of your products or services to prospects, past customers or the people they know. (People share good emails with colleagues, friends and family.)
Your customers are the most important people in your business.
So communicating with them on the regular should be your highest priority.
But not everyone is natural at keeping in touch.
If it feels forced to write a regular email to your list you’ll quickly lose interest and enthusiasm.
And if you don’t know what to send to your list it’s even harder. Often frustrating. And a time-consuming brain drain.
When NOT to send emails
Some think no communication is better than bad communication. And I guess that’s true. But then again, who decides what bad communication is?
I know some companies that send the same email every month. It works. It reminds their customers to buy their stuff. When I first heard this I thought “really! The same email every month?” But isn’t that better than sending no email? It is, because he who communicates the most has the most influence.
That’s why I advocate emailing at least monthly, preferably weekly and for some people multiple times a week, depending on what you do and who’s on your email list.
If you’re a hobby type business for example then more emails are best. I’m on a couple of hobby lists right now and I almost never hear from them. And when I do they don’t really say anything.
What if people don’t want to hear from you very often?
If your subscribers don’t want to hear from you they can always unsubscribe. After all, there’s an unsubscribe link in every marketing email you send, right?
And if you’re afraid of upsetting subscribers because you send email too often, you can always give your subscribers the option to join a sub list that you mail less frequently. Just put a section at the bottom of each email that says: Don’t want to hear from me so often? Click the link below and I’ll only email you once a month (or quarter or whatever).
Using tags in your email sending software will cause this link to automatically flag the subscribers who click it as people who only want your monthly or quarterly emails.
Of course, you’ll then have to create a monthly or quarterly email to send to these people.
But that’s easy.
Once a month or quarter do a “round up” type email that summarises what’s been happening with links to relevant pages and products on your website. (More on this some other time.)
Then continue to mail everyone else weekly or at whatever interval makes the most sense.
Deciding email newsletter frequency
Oh, and when you’re deciding the frequency to send emails to your list, always err on the side of more emails not less.
Most people underestimate how often people on their list want to hear from them.
And most people on your list will only open 20-30% of your emails anyway, which means they’ll only read 1 in 4 emails you send.
So if you send monthly, they’ll receive 12 emails a year and only read 3.
Hardly a relationship building exercise.
Listen: If you email monthly, the first thing you should do after reading this is switch to twice monthly, then work toward once a week. Then look at your sales stats and decide which is better, once a month or once a week.
I know of some companies that mail twice a day! And up to 5 times a day when running a special promotion or limited time sale.
Based on the results I see my clients getting, your sales will increase when you increase email frequency.
And that’s without applying any of the suggestions I make about how to write emails that convert readers into buyers.
Make sense?
Good.
For even better ideas to help you build a successful email newsletter subscribe below:
Then go write an email.
Subscribe to my email newsletter and I’ll send you short lessons and ideas (1 or 2 times a week)to help you succeed with email marketing:
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Do you have a fear of writing? Or a sense of self-consciousness about what you write?
Do you write like a person with a stutter, constantly worried about how your message sounds?
Are you feeling self-conscious about what you’re writing because you don’t have a lot of writing experience?
Do you feel like a fraud sitting behind a computer pretending to be a writer, secretly hoping no one will notice that you don’t know what you’re doing?
One way to overcome these feelings when you write is to forget about yourself and write fearlessly.
Write like you’re being chased by the cops and need to get your words down fast.
Or like you’re running into a tsunami with a surfboard.
Write with reckless abandon. You can always edit later.
Write what’s on your mind, no matter what people may think.
And write to someone.
Don’t write to yourself and send it to subscribers.
Write to a person.
Write like they’re asleep in a burning building and it’s your job to wake them up. Shake them around a bit. Get them moving.
Write like their life depends on it, not yours.
Think only of them.
It’s not about you.
That’s how you write fearlessly.
That’s how you write emails that compel people to act.
That’s how you write emails that get attention, that stick in people’s brains.
That’s how you stand out in a crowded inbox.
And it’s how you get subscribers to look for your email first when they open their inbox.
Write fearlessly.
Subscribe to my email newsletter and I’ll send you short lessons and ideas (1 or 2 times a week)to help you succeed with email marketing:
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