17 Reasons to eMail Your Contacts Before Your Next Newsletter Goes Out


NOTE! Don't jump directly to the list below. There's a caveat and it's an important one.

While these are your reasons for emailing your list, you need to create value or point it out to readers. Frame all your messaging around the thought, "What's in it for my readers?" If you make it valuable to them, you'll feel the love in return.

Here are 17 reasons to email your list, independent of your regular newsletter schedule:
  1. A new or improved product or service - highlight the benefits, not the features
  2. A demonstration of one way to use your product... and the fantastic results!
  3. A new article, video or audio file published online
  4. A customer success story - and how subscribers can enjoy the same success
  5. A customer question and your answer - useful information
  6. A cool tool you just tried - how your contacts can benefit
  7. Comment on a common myth about your industry - why your subscribers need to know
  8. Announce a contest
  9. Request information (feedback, research, and so on) - be very cautious with this 'ask'
  10. A summary of information - this could be results of the feedback/research or a summary of a process you use
  11. You learned something recently that you're now implementing - focus on why your subscribers need to know this, what's in it for them
  12. Special offers for your email subscribers only
  13. Changes to your business - only things that will benefit/affect subscribers
  14. A follow-up to something you sent before, such as that contest
  15. A report that combines a blog post series and becomes a great resource.
  16. Hot-off-the-press news affecting your target market
  17. A special date or event, such as Mother's Day or International Ideas Month (March).
Wondering where to start? Pick the one that seems the easiest and get a quick success under your belt. Then come back to this list and pick another item. Here's a challenge: can you do one a month for the next 12 months?

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