Work Better, Not Harder

Have you noticed a sudden flurry of emails recently? Here are a few examples I've received: The nail technician who I haven't heard from since before the pandemic suddenly shows up telling me she's open for appointments. But not a word earlier about the interruption of service. The leadership consultant who I also haven't heard from since before the pandemic shows up with a newsy, here's-what's-been-happening-in-my-world email that didn't even ask how I'm doing. This was followed by an email every two days to promote her new program. And then, there are those people who have been collecting email addresses via online forms for years but have never sent a newsletter... until now. I've been hearing from people I'd long forgotten about. It's not suddenly a good idea to be sending newsletters! It's been a good idea for a long time. Respect your subscribers. Realize they are real people. Have an ongoing relationship with them. Give them some...

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...

Whether you've been doing an email newsletter for a while or are just getting started, there are always ways to improve. Download our Newsletter Audit Checklist and use it to ensure both you and your readers get the most out of your email marketing efforts. If you discover you'd like help with your email marketing efforts, fill out the Newsletter Planning worksheet here and book a call. Click to Tweet this Article

It happened again today. I am blown away by how often I see this particular mistake. I received an email newsletter from a business I wasn't familiar with. That's OK but I wanted to go to their website to investigate more. And there was not one link in that newsletter that went to their website! Granted, there are times when you may not want to distract readers from another goal for your email. But a newsletter is definitely a place where you want to encourage click-throughs to your website. There's a very direct correlation between the amount of text, the number of links available to click, and your click-rate - the more links, the more clicks . There are many ways to insert links to your website into your small business newsletter. Here are a few suggestions. Insert links behind images. ☺ Always insert a link to your Home page behind every iteration of your logo. ☺ If your photo appears in your newsletter, link it to your About page. ☺ Behind product/ser...

Tidbit is defined as "a small and particularly interesting item of gossip or information." (Just in case you're Canadian and were thinking about chocolate Timbits.) The most successful newsletters I've seen are full of tidbits. A tidbit is short, delightful and easily digested (just like a Timbit). It makes the reader feel like they've instantly learned something. Or it tweaks their curiosity to want to know more about something. Or maybe it makes them laugh and lightens their day. A newsletter full of tidbits also has a little something for everybody . A simple (and darn great) example of this is the newsletter I prep each month for the Nova Scotia SPCA - check out a recent newsletter issue here . Some pet owners only like dogs or only like cats - the newsletter as different articles about either or both. Some people are interested in pet health, others aren't. Some people want to read emotional success stories, others don't. Some shop at the SP...

This morning I deleted an email from a good friend and past client. I didn't realize it was from that wonderful lady because it didn't show up in my inbox from her name or her company's name. I only dug it out of my trash after deleting because the wording of the subject line seemed familiar. 42% of people check out the sender name when deciding whether to open an email. - source:  https://litmus.com/blog/6-shocking-myths-about-subject-lines My own newsletters, my blog posts and my weekly event list all go out from my own name - Linda Daley - and have for years. I absolutely know that if I suddenly changed the sender name on my emails, to say Daley Progress, my open rate would drop significantly. This is an experiment I don't need or want to try. Personal names often do better as far as email opens go but it can depend on how well you know your subscribers. More importantly, don't switch the sender name once you're well established. You want your su...

We often use the words editing and proofing interchangeably but there is a significant difference. If you're not aware of it, you could be failing at both. Editing is big picture or 'zoomed out'; proofing is detailed or 'zoomed in'. Editing is about the overall structure and flow of the article. Are the introduction and conclusion supported by the content in between? Are the paragraphs organized well? Is it easy to read and digest? Are the sentences structured well? When you're reading something and you have to pause to reread a line - that's a signal that editing is needed. Proofing is about grammar and spelling and punctuation. It's often about the little words, like 'of' instead of 'if'. And about missing words, like 'the' or 'an'. It's hard to proofread our own writing because our brains follow the same pattern as when we typed it. Reading out loud, or printing to proof with paper and pencil, are both good...

Years ago when I first started doing email newsletters, each new client had questions about writing the introduction to their very first issue. Eventually, I prepared a tip sheet for new clients and also posted the info on my blog thinking it might be useful to others. That was in 2012. Three years later I realized 2 things: the advice I was giving needed to be refined/updated and this was the top-performing post on my blog (by far!) so others were indeed finding it useful. I published a refreshed version with a similar subject line. That was in 2015. Now you can see that these two posts account for a huge chunk of the traffic: all-time stats 2010-2019 And you can see what that organic traffic is searching: all-time stats as of 2010-2019 These readers didn't come to my blog because I did something magic to get Google to rank the posts. People came (and still come) because it's a topic they're interested in and the information is useful. (If you search ...

"Yes, it's an old marketing trick to "accidentally" make a mistake in an email campaign so you can resend an email shortly thereafter to increase the number of times people see your message." This was the lead message in an email I received recently which included a correction to information which I had indeed received a couple of hours before. Making a deliberate mistake is a darn poor excuse to get into people's inboxes. Making ANY mistake doesn't reflect well on you, deliberate or not. Do your marketing well and you won't need to resort to tricks. And you won't need to fix mistakes. If a *real* mistake happens, here is my advice about how to deal with it . Let's avoid those made-up mistakes completely. Click to Tweet this Article

When I see the words "try this" along with the words "your email subscribers" in a headline, I get a little antsy. The email I received today included "sneaky-favorite email sequences" in the body text. Here's the thing, if you're delivering value to your readers on a regular basis, you don't need to do anything sneaky. If your readership is dropping off, start delivering more value. Keep giving the thing your readers signed up for... or give even more of it. Being sneaky may result in short term gains (i.e. your stats look better for a month) but it will tarnish your reputation and long term results. Being sneaky means you've run out of value to give and you're getting desperate. You're not there yet. You only have to keep discovering the value that your readers want . Do a little research ... get inspired . Click to Tweet this Article

Starting an email newsletter isn't especially difficult if you have a propensity for apps and design. You could start tonight and send tomorrow if you really want to. BUT developing and implementing an email marketing strategy that will serve your business - and your readers - well for the long term requires thought, research and decision-making before touching an app. This month while preparing to teach a 10-week course on email marketing, I've been updating presentations first created 10 years ago. It's been eye-opening to realize how much has changed. Email remains one of the most effective ways to communicate with our target markets. The tools have become more user-friendly but the strategy part has become more complex. It's no longer as easy as it once was to get the attention of new contacts via email - there's a lot more competition in the inbox . Over the past month or so I've focused on email marketing strategy. Even if you're not getting st...

You've finally decided to start doing some email marketing for your small business. There are lots of things you know you need to consider and lots of things you don't know about yet. But you're game and, having finally made the decision, you hop online to do a little research. Because, of course, we can find all the answers to life's mysteries on Google. You'll quickly find this challenging for two reasons. There's both good advice and bad advice . Some of the advice online comes from people who are writing from experience but a lot doesn't. Some of it has simply been researched online and rehashed. I could go on and on about the myth of double opt-in . Even if you are learning from experienced marketers, there's always the caveat - 'it depends' . I find myself saying that often when teaching because - really - there is no magic bullet or secret formula. You need to know what it depends on . There are some email marketing best practi...

Having prepared and sent over a thousand different newsletters, this is what I know to be true: mistakes happen . There are so many opportunities for error that I still cringe inwardly when I click 'publish'. This checklist gives you an easy way to remember all of the things to check before you click 'publish':  Proofing Checklist for Error-free Newsletters Click to Tweet this Article

If you're a small business owner without an email list, at some point your future self is going to think, "Why didn't I start an email list sooner?" It takes years to build an engaged email audience. If you're successful (and of course, you want to be), at some point you'll have something exciting to tell all your customers and colleagues - past, present and future - and no easy way to do it. All the reasons to start email marketing can be boiled down to this: an email campaign gives you an audience  for your news and information. If you do it well, conversations (and "conversions") will result. Click to Tweet this Article

All the experts know that email is still king. If you're starting an enewsletter for your small business, figuring out what content you want to put in it might be one of your first challenges. Here's a quick rundown of a variety of different content sections you might include... but don't use them all at once! Articles by you, including blog posts Articles by others , or links to articles by others Quizzes, surveys How-to’s , tips and tricks, useful tools , resources FAQs - Did you know…? – fast facts, interesting tidbits Book reviews , other types of reviews Interviews Case studies, client showcase What’s new…? – of local/industry interest Testimonial(s) Product spotlights Staff/team spotlights Quotes Current and future promotions and sales Promotions for others (with caution) Events Content that might stay the same each issue (but don't ignore it): Website link Social media links Contact info and links Google map (link) Photo of you/staff/t...

Small business owners often arrive at the desire to start an email newsletter from one of two different directions. The route has an impact on the strategy, tactics and tools you will use. A Vehicle Some have already been blogging and, for them, an email campaign is a vehicle to get their content in front of (more) people on a regular basis. It's a way to extend the reach of the content they are already creating. It gives regular readers a way to ensure they don't miss a post. Plus, adding additional content snippets can help advance marketing goals. The Destination For others, starting a newsletter is their first foray into content marketing - their newsletter will be a resource they want their target market to sign up for. It may be something that isn't available anywhere else. The value delivered is the final destination. Why does it matter? If the newsletter you're thinking of starting is a vehicle , you can cruise right past strategic planning . I...

The process of starting an email newsletter for your small business involves focusing on these aspects: strategy, tactics and tools. It makes sense to approach them in a logical order from high-level thinking through to detailed work. Strategy First This is where you consider that your newsletter strategy flows from your overall marketing strategy . These are the  goals typically related to email campaigns : Build relationships, community Grow your reputation, sphere of influence Be seen as an expert Share valuable info, products, services Increase your social media following Give value to your customers, prospects and colleagues on a regular basis From that list, identify 2-3 goals that relate directly back to your marketing strategy. These will guide your thinking and planning moving forward with your email campaign. Aside from goals, your newsletter strategy also needs to consider 'who' . Depending on the breadth of your target market, this ...

After sending out clients' newsletters, I'm often asked by them why someone would have unsubscribed. The worry seems to be that something in that particular issue made them disconnect. This is rarely the case. I can't tell you all the reasons people unsubscribe but I can tell you that it is always about them. Lives change, interests change, jobs change, priorities change, time changes... all of these things can result in unsubscribes.  You should never take unsubscribes personally. You can typically expect list attrition - the natural pattern of unsubscribes you can consider normal - to be 25-30% per year. That industry-wide benchmark is not as useful as the one your own list will give you over time. You will see what your typical unsubscribe rate is. As long as you are growing your list faster than that rate, you shouldn't spend too much time worrying about unsubscribes. On the other hand, if you are experiencing a sudden spike in unsubscribes, you will want t...

It's always useful to check in on your blog stats so you can see what people are interested in reading. This year I'm a little surprised with some of the posts that have been read the most on Work Better, Not Harder. Here they are: #1. 7 Out Of 12 Small Business Bloggers Agree On This When I teach marketing courses, the group eventually tires of seeing this list of key reasons for publishing a blog or newsletter come up on the screen in every class. Focus on only 2-3 main goals. #2. Social Media Day Halifax 2018 Marketing Conference For the first time, Halifax celebrated Social Media Day in grand style this year. I'm proud to be one of the organizers of the first Social Media Day Halifax conference which took place on June 22nd. #3. 3 Ways Having a Social Media Strategy Will Save You Time Guest blogger Anita Kirkbride says, "If your paralysis stems from social media, the best way to get moving is to create a social media strategy and plan out what you need to be do...

If you read  Pinpoint Your Unique Content Marketing Opportunity last month and are still stuck, this article may offer some hope. First, if you are sitting at your desk alone, new ideas may not come to you easily. This process requires brainstorming - and more than one brain. And it may not happen immediately but, if you are constantly on the alert for ideas, it will come sooner or later. A couple of months ago I was masterminding with Alison Knott at Humani-T Cafe in Halifax. I think I was encouraging her to do a regular email newsletter and she was lamenting about the time and effort required to blog regularly. This is a discussion I've had many times with many people over the years. "Just do it!" doesn't often work as inspiration. At one point, I said something like, "It'd be nice to find something valuable to give readers that you don't have to work so hard to create," and went off to get a fresh coffee. When I came back, I said, ...