…and I’m writing you to tell you how to get your email newsletters opened and read. I want you to get good at this because it is the best way you can build relationships one-on-one with the people on your list. And when you do that they will get to know you, like you, and trust you.

And, well, we all know what that means! They will eventually buy something from you, or hire you for your services.

Now, why did I start this post with my name? It’s an experiment in getting up close and personal. Some internet experts stress the need to get real friendly, even though you are writing online to people at the other end of a computer screen.

In fact, Nick Usbourne of excessive voice has this to say about that:

Whatever the purpose of your email, whether it’s promotional, customer service or just an automated email response – try to include a salutation followed by a few lines of personal, conversational text.

Why?

Because there is tremendous power in connecting with your reader on a personal level. Opening with a personal voice signals that the email comes not just from a corporation, but from an individual person.

When you do this well, each email you send slowly builds and reinforces a one-to-one relationship with the reader.

That personal relationship, however slight, will help get your emails opened each time you send one.

Read More→

Might as well jump head into 2006 and address the future of email newsletters. Yes, there continue to be delivery problems, with some open rates averaging as low as 25-40%. Is there hope? Of course.

Research from the Jakob Nielsen Alertbox shows that readers prefer email newsletters for the following 3 reasons:

1. Informative: They keep users up to date (mentioned by two-thirds of the users).
2. Convenient: They’re delivered straight to the user’s information central and require no further action beyond a simple click.
3. Timely: They offer current information and real-time delivery.

   Newsletters that leverage these advantages (and other points that users mentioned) have a stable future. To survive, newsletters need only give users specific benefits that help them with life or work issues in the here and now.

So email newsletters must be more scannable. This same research shows that only 11% of recipients read a newsletter thoroughly. There is too much information and too much email to expect that your newsletter will get the attention it deserves.

Solutions? Use lists and bulleted points. Or, excuse me:

• Use lots of lists
• Use frequent subheadings
• Be brief, get to the point
• Don’t spend your time writing long discourses that will not be read
• Make your longer articles available for those dedicated readers who want to know more, by using "to continue reading" links.
• Focus on benefits to readers, what’s in it for them

Read More→

Christopher Knight from EzineArticles.com gave a free teleseminar Tuesday night on writing articles. Christopher heads up one of the largest article directories and knows something about what makes for a popular article, one that gets picked up and redistributed by others.

Here are a few tips from this teleseminar:

Write articles in sets, creating 2-3 or more, instead of just one. It is easier to break them down into sub-topics this way, and have shorter articles.

Best articles are now only 250-400 words long, maybe up to 600 words, and never more than 750.

His best format? An introduction, 7 bulleted tips, and a conclusion.

Always use your keywords in the title

Christopher Knight intends to give a value-packed course on article writing in 2006, stay tuned, and read his blog for great writing tips.

Creative Nonfiction: I never knew this writing style had a name and a godfather, but it does in the form of Professor Lee Gutkind. Here’s a great interview of him by Jane Genova on her blog.

I’ve been noticing a change in the way the best writers of nonfiction present concepts. There are more narrative stories than there used to be. Even business books and sales copy have stories. Of course, the biggest examples of use of narrative is evident in blogs.

It is far more interesting, I think, to learn how a writer encountered a situation that illustrates a lesson or point, than to just deliver the facts. What do you think?

I am trying hard to develop in this direction; I guess it’s harder for us ‘old school’ types. My scientific and journalism training gets in the way. But I do know how articles in the Vanity Fair style of reporting/writing always seem to get me to read to the end of the story.

The challenge is in discerning which stories to include, which will keep a reader interested and teach something of value. Not all stories have value and you can irritate a reader by telling a story that leaves them scratching their heads in confusion.

Are you telling stories in your newsletters and copy? Your own stories or someone else’s? How do you handle confidentiality issues, if you have any?

Just hit the comment link below and…tell me your story!

In a recent conversation with Internet Marketing Wizard Tom Antion, he gave 3 keys to making great presentations:

1. Content
2. Humor
3. Sales, or a Call to Action

And what a great tip for writing good ezines and blog posts, no? You need valuable meaty content your readers can use, you need some humor, or a way of building rapport and connection (telling a personal story, for example), and you never want to forget a request or a call for action, like register for a teleseminar, download an ebook, and/or leave a comment on the blog.

Most good tips seem to come in three’s, don’t they? At least it seems the good ones do, either that, or they are just easy to remember.

Content, humor, action. Which part are you strong on, and which could use some improvement?

Leave a comment below.

Now if I could only insert a really funny joke here…I’d get all three into this post.

Michael J. Katz hates boring business communications. He’s devised a scoring system to check your writing. Based on his pet mascot the Blue Penguin (His company is named Blue Penguin Development and he calls himself Chief Penguin), it’s easy to remember. Next time you write an email, a newsletter, prepare a power point presentation, check your PENGUINscore™.

  Enter the PENGUINscore™. Inspired by the APGAR score — the universally accepted system for assessing the general physical condition of a newborn baby — the PENGUINscore™ assesses the effectiveness of your business communications. It’s equally simple to use and in terms of the "health" of your message, equally critical.

P = Position:  Did you take a position, say something that will make others take notice?

E = Easy: Did you make it easy for people to understand?

N = Narrow: Did you focus on a few simple ideas, or try to explain the universe?

G = Genuine: Is it genuine, does it sound like it comes from you; does it touch people on the human level they crave?

U = Useful: Is it useful, does it shed light on something, have you given them something of value?

I = Infectious: Did you give them something to think about, talk about, disagree with, something to spark a conversation?

uN = Unexpected: Is it unexpected? Did you break a pattern, flaunt convention, get their attention?

I agree with Michael. Quite frankly, I don’t know any other Chief Penguins, but this one’s not boring. He writes a great newsletter about writing newsletters.

Dear readers, what are you’re cues for not boring your readers? Got any tips?

Simple but profound words from Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion.com. He posts about "The Secret Sauce of Corporate Blogs." What’s the secret to getting read and creating a large following of readers? Good content. That goes for blogs, newsletters and website copy. Here’s an excerpt of Steve’s post:

The Secret Sauce for Any Corporate Blog

The question comes up at every event or pitch – “how will our blog get noticed among the throngs of millions?” Good question. There are millions of corporate web sites. However, this surely hasn’t stopped companies from investing in new ones every day. So I don’t see why this should inhibit blogging. Still, in this era of marketing ROI, I recognize that this is a key hurdle to overcome before someone green-lights a budget.

The short answer is, your blog won’t get noticed unless you nurture it. This means – in an ideal situation – weekly or even daily someone is pumping the weblog with fresh compelling content. But any old content won’t do. Corporations interested in blogging need to add value to people’s lives. That’s the biggest key to a successful corporate blog that keeps people coming back.

So what do I mean by add value? I mean give us a reason to read your blog. Give us something we can’t find anywhere else. Provide information that your customers, partners and prospects care about, not necessarily what you care about. Be a resource and a connector.