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Home::Newsletters
Your Newsletters Are Pretty Lame If You Are Doing These 7 Things
Author : Gina Stathopoulos
I remember the good old days of the internet when it was a real
treat to subscribe to someone’s newsletter and receive all their
wonderful information through the convenience of your email.
It’s still like this today - for the publishers that are getting
it right. I believe newsletter publishers somewhere along the
way forget WHY readers subscribe. On their websites we are
promised all this wonderful information and instead we receive a
sales pitch, email after email.
Bad newsletters far out number the effective ones. Here is a
list of mistakes I find newsletter publisher religiously make…
1. Sell right off the auto responder
When I subscribe to a newsletter and get the sales pitch right
off the auto responder, I know my subscription to this
newsletter won’t last long.
The autoresponder is the ideal place to get your subscriber
familiar with yourself and your business. It’s a great first
step in building that relationship with your reader. Get them
enthusiastic about receiving your newsletter. Tell them the
wonderful things they will come to expect. Welcome them and just
leave it at that.
Something to take with you: “Don’t put the cart before the horse”
2. Talk about how much money you are making – all the time
Hyping is old news. Are you still doing it?
The newbie internet marketers love to tell you how much they are
supposedly making. They love referring to this time and time
again in their newsletters. They haven’t yet realized that hype
doesn’t sell. Information does.
If you are making all this money, then help someone who isn’t.
Give them some intelligent information. Help them make an
informed decision about buying your product.
Something to take with you: “Uh… Don’t hype?”
3. Instead of 80% content and 20% selling you are doing it the
other way around
Your subscriber didn’t give you permission to sell to them. They
gave you permission to give them more information. That’s what
you promised when they signed up. Are you honoring that promise?
Subscribers know that you will be doing some selling in your
newsletters. They are not stupid. So weave the selling process
in with your great information. That way it won’t stick out like
a sore thumb and your readers won’t feel pitched.
Something to take with you: “Always give before you ask to take.
It rarely works the other way around”
4. Copy and paste an article in your newsletter and hey presto!
You have a newsletter… Not
There is no double about it. Articles are very effective – the
ones that are well worded and give the reader insider
information about a specific topic.
One publisher I subscribe to uses the power of articles very
well. He is an affiliate and in his newsletter he publishers
different people’s articles. This is his technique:
* His newsletters begin by telling readers a little about his
day. * Then he introduces the article author, giving readers
about a paragraph of information about him/her * Next we read
the article * Then he gives us his
thoughts/tips/stories/comments. * Then he finishes by referring
to the author and the information in the article.
I’ve bought from this affiliate time and time again. Know why?
Because his technique works.
He puts effort into his newsletters. Readers see that. Through
them, I’ve come to know him, trust him, like him. Not only does
he provide me with good articles, he is also knowledgeable in
the subject he’s involved him and his contributions really help
reinforce the information of the article.
Unfortunately, most newsletter publishers don’t use the power of
articles. You see, when you don’t put effort into it, I know you
went to an article directory, selected an article, joined it’s
affiliate program and just stuck it in your ‘newsletter’ with
nothing else but your name and contact details. Not good.
Something to take with you: “Go the extra mile. It’s not
crowded.”
5. Not telling people abit about yourself
Give readers a sense of you. We are curious creatures and want
to know abit about people we associate with. You do want to bond
with your readers, don’t you? Then your name and website address
at the bottom of your email won’t accomplish much.
The best newsletters I subscribe to, without fail, always
include a small paragraph in the beginning about themselves.
Tell readers something and keep it short and sweet. Don’t go to
the other extreme and devote your newsletters to talk about
yourself. Boring.
Something to take with you: “Balance is what we are looking for
here.”
6. Giving subscribers info that is so basic, they can tell you
are new to this
Your defense may be that you are catering to newbie internet
marketers so your information has to be basic. Okay, let’s put
it another way. Last time I checked there were 55,000 people
looking for internet marketing. Do you believe all those are new
to this?
There are many types of products to do with internet marketing
like ebooks, newsletters, autoresponders etc. An internet
marketer needs a variety of products to build and run their
business.
Consider something else. Who else buys your products? Answer:
Affiliates. So at most times you are dealing with people with a
higher level of experience.
Let me give you an example of what I consider basic information.
If you write an article telling me why I need an email service
then this won’t make an impression on me. I already know this.
And if I was a newbie, I would know this too because I would’ve
come across it hundreds of times before from other people who
rehash the same information.
On the other hand, I may not know what the best email services
are and why. So tell me.
Something to take with you: “Do some research. It always pays
off.”
7. The biggest booboo of them all
I was stunned. Are people this dumb?
About a month ago, I subscribed to a bunch of internet marketing
newsletters. I don’t remember now from where. Pity.
Well, I received the autoresponders, as all newsletters begin.
All the same. I received the first newsletters, second
newsletters, third newsletters. (then I unsubscribed from them
all). All the same.
Word for word they were all the same. The only thing that
changed was the contact details of these people.
I found out later that you can pay for a service and they will
write your newsletters and send them off for you, with your name
and contract details of course. You join their affiliate program
and you make your money that way. Well, that’s the theory anyway.
Doesn’t work. Write your own newsletters.
Something to take with you: “Email is a powerful medium. Are you
using or abusing its power?”
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-------------------- Copyright © Gina Stathopoulos
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