9 Ways to Personalize Your Newsletter [Infographic]

9 ways to personalize your newsletter



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The Bottom Line About Newsletter Bottoms

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There seems to be some thinking that getting people to read to the bottom of a newsletter is a most desirous goal. And, if getting people to read to the bottom (read the whole newsletter) is so important, isn't putting the really good stuff at the bottom the best way to make that happen? The short answer is that it doesn't matter. Oh, the placement of content matters but whether someone reads to the bottom doesn't... at all. If you think it does, you are thinking about your newsletter strategy all wrong. It's all about your reader finding value in opening your newsletter. That value might be in the form of useful information or it might be interesting reading or both. And it definitely shouldn't be hidden away at the bottom. In fact, it should be immediately obvious. Having readers discover value in hearing from you regularly is the goal. It doesn't matter how much they read. Your readers aren't thinking, "I have to read through all this other stuff be...
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Guest Post: 10 Ways to Figure out What to Write on Your Blog When You Don’t Know What to Write on Your Blog

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Frances Leary When I saw this blog post by Frances Leary, I immediately asked her if I could share it with you. Frances is owner of Wired Flare , specializing in SEO, Internet Marketing & Social Media for franchises and organizations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. While she's blogging about blogging, all of these tips below work for newsletters as well... We've all been there. Complete brain freeze.  The only problem? You need, need, need to get this blog article out STAT. You've already pushed it to the last minute, and you’re down to the wire. It simply can’t wait.  So you’re in a predicament. What do you do?  Truth be told, we often find ourselves in this predicament, and when we’re in it, these are some of the things we do…hopefully they can be a starting place for you, too. Tell a success story – Think of moments big or small that have happened in your business recently that can be a celebration. Did a client give you a pat on the back? Can you gi...
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How Long should a Newsletter be?

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@DaleyProgress How long should a newsletter be in this day and age? — Lino (@LinosVersion) December 5, 2013 The ideal answer is: as long as it needs to be to give value. The real answer is: it depends. Here are some of the things it depends on: Frequency Typically, the more often you send your newsletter, the shorter it will be. In my experience, though, that tends to be a function of the work involved with preparing it. Is there such a thing as providing too much value? Goals If one of your goals is to build your reputation as an expert, your newsletters will need to include a fair bit of content in the form of original articles (or images). If you have well-defined goals, these will always help you decide what to include and what to leave out. When in doubt, ask yourself if any of your goals are being met by the content you’re considering. Your commitment The perfect strategy is to put out as much amazing content as you can. Your actual strategy will depend...
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Watching, Learning and Stopping

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A client recently wrote in her newsletter about how reducing her social media presence over the past few months hasn't impacted her sales results. Here's what Natasha said: As the weeks and months fall away, it's glaringly obvious to me how I can let go of social media marketing, no matter how reluctant I feel about doing that. While social media serves its purpose for branding, researching, and relationship building, my business isn't suffering from a current lack of participation on certain platforms. Phew. Something OFF the list for a change. Since Natasha shared that, I've been paying attention to a lot of things I do and questioning whether they're benefitting my business. And so, I'm doing a little experimentation to see what happens. What can I stop doing that isn't contributing to my bottom line? How about you? Click to Tweet this Article
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5 New Strategies to Supercharge your eMail Marketing

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If you've been publishing a regular monthly newsletter, you already know the benefits of reaching out to your contacts. You've invested time and money to build your readership and your reputation. You've provided value consistently and people have come to look forward to your newsletters. It’s time to crank it up a notch and send more emails. You've earned it. The 5 strategies listed below weren't invented by me but some of them may be new to you. Or perhaps you've rejected them in the past and it’s time to think again.  The goal of implementing these ideas is to ‘touch’ your contacts more frequently than you are now. There are other advantages built into each one as well. 1. Create and promote a new free resource. Make it amazing. Make it better than any other resource you've ever created. Make it something people would pay for. Give it away with no strings attached. Am I suggesting you give it away without getting an email address in return? Y...
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How to Make Smart Marketing Decisions

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Small business owners can spend a lot of time and money on marketing initiatives. Sometimes we're successful and sometimes not so much. I think of marketing as an experiment because - really - there are no magic bullets. There are best practices, there is good and bad advice, there are lots of experts and gurus. But we, the business owners, have to make the final decisions and... live with the results. Marketing isn't cheap (even if it's our own time) and poor decision-making can hurt more than our wallets - our reputation may also be at risk. So, how do we make decisions about things we have little experience with? How can we possibly know what all of our options might be when it comes to getting a new website? Or knowing which social media platforms will work best? Or building a content strategy? We can't... unless we put some extra effort into it. Step #1: Clearly identify the decision that needs to be made. Sometimes it'll be staring you in the face ...
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Repurpose Articles into Infographics

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I'm a big fan of repurposing content for two reasons: It can save me time . People have different ways of learning. Different formats for the same material will ensure a broader reach. Summing up a past article in a graphical format is a great way to appeal to a different audience. Pick an article that can be summed up into bullet points. Then turn those bullet points into a graphical format. With the proliferation of infographics, we now have lots of choices of apps to make it easy for us to create our own: infogr.am piktochart.com Hubspot’s templates canva.com Here are a few examples of our own infographics: Elements of eNewsletter Success  (used Hubspot's templates) 9 Ways to Personalize Your Newsletter  (used Canva) 4 Ways to Constantly Grow Your List  (used Canva) In her article Marketing with Infographics , Janet Slack suggested these other creative uses for infographics: Share testimonials Showcase your expertise Share customer statistics...
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Action and Email Don't Mix

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Reactionary Workflow – reacting to what’s coming in rather than being proactive. It’s a new term but a familiar feeling… and it sure did resonate with me. Being constantly connected means that it’s really easy for people to contact us. As a consequence, our ability to prioritize is crippled by the unending flow of communication. It has become harder to direct our work with intention. We’ve relinquished control over our focus. One of my own personal focus areas last year was to be, well, more focused. What I found was that just focusing on being focused didn’t cut it. I needed tactics… and discipline. Here are some things that I found useful: Blocking out time for specific tasks , especially tasks related to developing my own business. Turning off email for certain periods during the day – need I say more? Taking time to create , rather than just responding to emails. Yes, I might be suggesting taking more time. Adding value to my communications has resulted in many ben...
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Commit to Consistency

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Every single month since June 2011, Peter Chapman of GPS Business Solutions has been sending out an informational newsletter . It’s a shining example of commitment and consistency . I asked Peter recently to share his insights, tips and successes. Peter is a consultant focused on increasing the sales of producers, manufacturers and retailers in the food industry. Because he’s an expert, he’s also in demand as a speaker on these topics. Now, unless you work in the food industry, you may not be interested in what Peter has to say. It’s very specific... and very valuable to folks in his target market. One key to Peter’s success is advance planning . He told me, “I have a spreadsheet with my ideas for each section of the newsletter and I try to plan at least 4 months out. It makes it much better for me to know I just need to write it, as opposed to coming up with the ideas and then writing it. I also find there is better continuity. If you start from scratch every month there is no...
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Here's How Writing Content Turns You Into an Expert

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There are many marketing benefits to regular blogging or writing for a newsletter. But other - perhaps more important - benefits may not be clear until after you've been doing it a while. Regardless of how much you know, sooner or later you're going to need to do a little online research. Does that article you just wrote really include all the important facts or items? Especially for checklist type articles, you want to make sure to include everything relevant. An item missed from a list of items to take camping in the winter could have dire consequences, not the least of which is your reputation. Does your article agree or disagree with others' advice or information? Finding other references that support your message is good - you can grab quotes or link to it. Finding others who disagree is important if there are a lot of them - you may need to justify your message in that context. Do you know the latest developments in your industry or affecting your target ...
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