Archive for Managing Your Ezine & Blog Tasks – Page 14

Recipe for an Ezine: HTML or Plain Text Formatting Debate

Ingredient #6: HTML or Plain Text

Email_keys The debate continues: HTML graphic formatting or plain text for ezines? We recently ran a poll, over on Denise’s BizTipsBlog. Here are the results of what our blog readers prefer after only a few days:

HTML – 79%,
Plain text – 21%

So where does this leave you?  Experienced marketers know you get better deliverability with plain text, but your readers like to see graphics. If you deliver your newsletter in HTML format, make sure your readers have a way to access it online. Include a text announcement at the top of the ezine of where to read it online (the URL) for those people whose email reader does not permit viewing HTML formatting.

If you do use HTML, have the template professionally designed. Do not try this yourself, unless you have design skills. You want your template to appear uniform the way it is intended across many platforms and email systems.

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Recipe for an Ezine: The Call to Action Trap

Ingredient #5:  What do you want your reader to do? 

Handsinair This is a big challenge for most ezine writers. Either the ezine is all marketing hype, with a BIG Call to Action splashed throughout the content (BUY NOW! BUY NOW!), or they are all relationship-focused and information without ANY call to action.

The truth is the Call to Action part of an ezine is a big trap for many professionals, especially those not used to selling, or not comfortable with marketing. Why? Because for many people it’s all or nothing. Too much, or completely missing in action!

It doesn’t have to be that way. The more you think of your ezine and your email messages as a conversation with a friend, the more likely you will resonate with readers. Let’s face it, they know you’re in business. They expect you to sell something to them. Just do it nicely. Remember the value you are giving them.

If you read your ezine or email message aloud, it should sound like a conversation – not a commercial!

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Recipe For an Ezine: Find Ideas for Content

Ideaguy Here are a few ideas on where to find ideas for writing content for your ezine:

1. Burning desires: what rocks your boat, gets you steamed up, energizes you?
2. What are your readers’ pain points?
3. What are others talking/writing about?
4. Any good resources you’ve found that can help readers?
5. Use Google Alerts for key topics
6. Interview experts
7. Review a book you’re reading
8. Common questions your clients ask you
9. Emails clients send you; include both positive and negative ones
10. Share a big mistake you’ve made and how others can avoid it
11. Share a personal story and then relate it to your readers’ and clients’ situations
12. Definitions of words or terms
13. Run a poll and report on results (good list builder)
14. Run a contest (also a good list builder)

What are other content ideas? I like to think of growing “content antennae:” by being aware and sensitive to my environment, I can pick up ideas for writing every few minutes. However, you need a clear, receptive state of mind to do this.

Hit the comment link below and share other ways to spark your writing.

Related posts:
Ingredient #4: Writing Useful Content, part 1
Ingredient #3: Writing Email Subject Lines
Ingredient#2: Clarity of Purpose
Ingredient #1: Naming Your Ezine
Main Article: Recipe for An Ezine- Should You Publish an Ezine?

Recipe For an Ezine: Write Useful Content

Newspaperbeingread Ingredient #4: Write Valuable Information Readers Can Use (part 1)

Content is King AND Queen on the Web. Your first contact with Internet visitors is most likely when they land on your website, blog, one of your articles, or a landing page you’ve written. Your words act as doorman, receptionist, host, and sales team.

How you write and what you say is responsible for first and lasting impressions with a prospect. So how do you write valuable content for your ezine?

Marketing Sherpa, a leading email and web analytics firm, has done tests on email effectiveness. Here’s what President Anne Holland reports on one such test: “My favorite result — copy writing really, really matters. The top three best ROI tests were more to do with words (copy, offer, subject line) than they were with design or graphics.”

Here are 10 short tips for writing good content:

1. The reader comes first; address their pain, their wants, their challenges.
2. Break your writing into short sentences, make shorter paragraphs, and use subtitles.
3. Use simple words in place of longer, more sophisticated words; avoid technical jargon and insider phrases and acronyms; don’t be afraid to use emotionally strong words.
(NOTE: Use the test for readability in Microsoft Word under [Spelling and Grammar] [Options] [Show readability statistics] and make sure you are writing at a about an 8th grade level.)

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Blogging and Beyond: Email is Dead. Long Live Email!

Blogging and Beyond: Episode 5
Email is Dead. Long Live Email!
with guest expert Chris Baggott of
ExactTarget.com


MP3 File

Links to sites referenced in the show:
ExactTarget.com
ChrisBaggott.com
WheretoFindParkingBlog.com
SalesForce.com

Recipe for an Ezine: Email Subject Lines

Ingredient #3: Email Subject Line: Clear, Clever, and Compelling

Exxtra_read_all_about_it_1 Creating a good ezine article title or email subject line is probably more important than the actual content, given that so few readers (11%) actually read the entire content of emailed newsletters. Most readers scan, making the headline and subheadings very important. In the context of an ezine, the headline can be both the email subject line and the title of your articles.  In both cases, you want to compel the reader to first open your email and second, read your article.

The best headlines are those that start a story, make a shocking statement, tease a bit, offer a benefit or prepare the reader for what’s to come.

Experienced copywriters are extremely good at writing headlines and titles that pull in readers. One such expert is Michel Fortin, who uses his “3 X 3 Rule:”

That is, your headline should cater to:

1. The three greatest human goals to make or save:
   a. time
   b. effort
   c. money
2. The three greatest human desires:
   a. lust
   b. greed
   c. comfort
3. The three greatest human teasers:
   a. curiosity
   b. scarcity
   c. controversy

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Recipe for an Ezine: Get Clear on Purpose

Targetarrow Ingredient #2: Clarity of Audience & Purpose

What do you want your newsletter to do?
Who is your targeted audience?
What’s in it for them?

Addressing these questions before starting your ezine will serve your objectives in the long run. The better you are able to articulate the answers, the easier it will be for you to write relevant content, grow your subscriber list, and measure results.

Not being clear will result in an ezine that stagnates, meanders and loses subscribers over time. Being laser-focused will result in subscribers who want to hear what you have to say, and who come to trust you over time can lead to sales of your products and services.

Your ideal reader will most likely mirror your ideal client. Once you clarify who your targeted readers are, then list what benefits they will get from being a regular reader of your newsletter.

When you are clear, write a 25 word statement explaining your newsletter:

1. Who it is for
2. What benefits they will get from reading it
3. Who you are as the author an expert

Example:

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CAN-SPAM Compliance, a Review

What You Need to Know:  CAN-SPAM Laws
©2007 by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad™

Anyone doing business online and using email for marketing needs to know about the CAN-SPAM laws.

Smart online marketers use “permission” marketing: you invite potential customers to join your email list, and offer a newsletter, a special report, or a sequential series of messages to form an e-course. The recipient “opts-in” to the list by replying to an invitation and subscribing. By "opting in", your subscriber is telling you it’s OK to send email.  They’ve given you permission and your email messages are not considered spam.

But most people don’t really understand what constitutes spam. If you’re in business for any length of time on the Internet, you may encounter false accusations of spam simply because people forget they opted in receive your message. To many people spam is simply an unwanted message.

This can cause problems for you with your email service provider. You should be able to prove that you haven’t been sending unsolicited email. Your proof lies with the list management system you use that tracks invitations and opt in responses.

Here’s what you need to know about the law is so you can rest assured that you aren’t breaking it.

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.

Simply put, here’s a rundown of the law’s main provisions:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email’s "From," "To," and routing information must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.

• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.  Subject and content must match.

• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or an automated way for your subscriber to opt out. You must honor the requests.  When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor’s email address.

• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender’s valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

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Email Is Dead, Long Live Email

Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad: Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman, Internet Radio Show

"Email is Dead, Long Live Email!"
With guest Chris Baggott of Exact Target
Thursday, February 8 at 11:00 a.m. ET on Voice America

ChrisbaggottWhy you need a newsletter and how it works with your other marketing tools: The Blog Squad reveals essential information to make writing, formatting and sending out an electronic newsletter (ezine) easy and effective.   Guest expert Chris Baggott of Exact Target discusses issues affecting deliverability and ezine results and best practices.  In the second half of the show, we’ll work with Ideal Client Erik Feder on how to optimize his email newsletter.

If you have a question for Chris Baggott, please use the Comment link below and we’ll do our best to get it answered on the show.

Recipe for an Ezine: 8 Key Ingredients that Get Results

©2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. & Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squadtm

Newspapers_1_1 In our work with clients, we often hear this question from entrepreneurs who want to leverage the Internet and start marketing online: “Should I publish a newsletter?” As part of our Customized Newsletter Services program, we have reviewed hundreds of e-newsletters, or ezines, and can spot common errors immediately.

We have found ezines that work well for attracting new clients usually have these eight key ingredients:

1. A great name that defines the topic
2. A defined audience and clear purpose
3. A compelling headline or subject line
4. Valuable information readers can use
5. A call to action
6. A customized template or plain text formatting
7. A bonus incentive for subscribing
8. CAN-SPAM Compliance and a privacy statement

You will notice that the first five ingredients refer to the actual content of the ezine; the last three elements refer to how it is delivered. Each element contributes to the overall effectiveness of a newsletter for growing your business.

First, are newsletters really necessary for a strong online marketing system?

Should You Publish an Ezine?

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