You work super hard on a fresh newsletter, cue it up, press send, and then…
Nothing.
Your open rate is abysmal. No one responds. Not even one single piece of email from a subscriber to say, “Thank you.” It’s like you’re hollering into an empty room.
Feeling “ignored” is one of the most painful (and scary) feelings for any entrepreneur, coach, consultant, writer, or any other creative maker of Internet-y things. When your newsletters repeatedly get ignored, that’s an unsettling feeling.
So why is it happening?
Well, there could be several issues going on. Often, it’s not just “one thing,” but rather a combination of several issues (tone, timing, content, or lack thereof).
But after working in the publicity, marketing and small biz consulting industry for close to 15 years, I’ve learned that if your newsletter isn’t “working,” it usually boils down to one of the following 4 issues:
1. You’ve bleached out all of your personality.
If your newsletter sounds dry, corporate, and devoid of personality, that’s a surefire way to get people saying, “Ummm… no thanks. Delete.” If you continually find yourself thinking, “I can’t say that! I need to sound more professional!” as you’re writing your newsletter, be careful. You might be over-censoring yourself and stripping the personality out of your writing in the process.
2. You’re selling more than serving.
If all of your email communication sounds like some variation of “Buy me now – fast action bonus!!!” well, can you blame people for sending it right to the trash? Or unsubscribing? Every audience is different, but generally speaking, people don’t enjoy receiving a constant barrage of sales pitches. Ease up. Try to give more than you request—and serve more than you sell—and you might notice a big change in how people respond to your newsletters.
3. Your storytelling is… nonexistent.
So many business owners obsess over newsletter minutia that doesn’t really matter (“Should this text be italics or bold? Should I include a photo of a blossoming lotus flower or a photo of a smiling woman doing yoga?”). None of that stuff matters very much. What does matter… is telling a powerful story that’s coming from a place of genuine emotion (passion, anger, hope, joy…)
Want to sell tickets for your upcoming watercolor painting retreat? Use your newsletter as a platform to tell a true story about how you reconnected with your creativity after shutting it away for 30 years.
Want people to get excited about your stress-release class? Tell a true story about the unexpected mentor who came into your life and totally changed your attitude about meditation.
Want people to donate to your Kickstarter campaign? Tell a true story about how your fledgling project is already changing people’s lives in your community.
Storytelling is the key to getting people interested.
4. You’re making too many requests all at once.
Nothing is worse than a newsletter that’s packed with 75 different requests (“Click here, share here, buy this, or this, and then this! Also follow me on Instagram!”). It’s great to include a “call to action” as part of your newsletter, but limit yourself to one call to action per email. Give your readers one “next step” rather than a whole bunch, and they’ll be much more likely to get onboard.
If you’re feeling like, “Oh noooz. I am totally guilty of making some (or, gulp, maybe all) of these newsletter mistakes!!” – check out my newest class ClickSanity! (unless you’re in already, then you just rock. :-))
With ClickSanity!, you get 14 lessons covering a whole bunch of different newsletter topics—like how to write amazing subject lines, how to decide what to include, the best day and time to send it out, how to “sell” without sounding bossy or desperate, how to write better stories, and more. Each lesson includes a slideshow-video (narrated by me) plus other helpful goodies.
Interested in signing up? All the details are right here: http://clicksanity.teachable.com/
And it goes without saying:
“Buy me now fast action bonus!!!”
Haha! Just kidding. But seriously, if you want to learn how to write a way more engaging and effective newsletter, I think you’ll love this new class. See you inside. 🙂