3 Easy Tips for Generating e-News Content

Content is king when sending out your e-news. Resist the sell, sell, sell copy. You want to give your audience value when they open your email. Think of Pavlov. After so many opens. If you only are selling and not sharing / educating, why should I expect anything different when I see your e-news come into my inbox?

Try on these 3 ideas for creating content for your email marketing communications:
No. 1 Share a success story. Let people know how someone used your product or service and got results. Had fun. Learned something. Made more money. Increased their lead captures.
No. 2 Be a motivator. You're the expert in your field. Help others understand how they can excel. And when they do, be the first to cheer them on! Give credit, where credit is due. Encourage them to do more of the same. Use a case study in your e-news on how someone uses you as a coach or mentor.
No. 3 Give relevant answers. Answers to questions you know they are thinking about. For example, I know many of my e-news readers are lying awake wondering whether they should be spending time on social networking i.e. LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo? Why wait for them to ask? Include a valuable answer, and you'll soon be viewed as a resource of information.

Check which e-news you read--and ask yourself "Why?"

Care and Feeding of Emails

How you handle your email says a lot about your experience and your professionalism. People who live and breathe by email have unwritten rules and protocol that they expect to be followed by fellow users. Trust me, you are prejudged by your email etiquette. Before I even begin -- ALL CAPS ARE OUT . . . OKAY? They are tantamount to screaming at someone.

1) Please refer in your subject line what the email pertains to i.e. Ad Spec Information for Yuma Yellow Pages. Yes, this takes a bit of time, but it is a courtesy to the party you are emailing. You have verified the content. They know quickly that your message is not spam or a scam. When they save in their system, they can find it quickly using search terms.

Just today I received an email from a prospective ad rep who I do not know well or could even remember their name. The email came in with "Hi" in the subject line. This is an auto-delete type of subject line. After I gingerly opened it, I recognized the rep and asked for more information. They came back again with "Hi" in the subject line and over 9300KBs of info attached -- which immediately froze my system. After having to reboot my system, I am definitely not impressed--and still have not seen the info. Brings me to #2.

2) If attaching documents send manageable file sizes. Please no 10 megapixel photo at 100%. Or large files. Save docs as PDFs - which usually makes them transeferrable. Use a file upload/download free service - like www.yousendit.com

3) Write in short, direct statements. Email is not letter writing style or journal style. Get to the point. Number items if covering a number of topics. Indicate in your subject line if you need a reply or response.

4) Create a complete email signature. Set up your auto signature with all of the info someone might need about you--definitely phone number! Don't worry that you are giving too much info. Parties know how to not even read a sig line unless they want the information.

As courtesy to you right now. I will stop writing this blog.