…And Some Solutions!

Top 10 Mistakes Coaches Make with Ezines

1. The ezine is full of fluffy, chatty stuff about
themselves, not enough meat.

2. The ezine is too promotional, asking for sales.

3. The ezine is too long to read.

4. The ezine is too short, gives top ten or five lists
without any serious discussion or backing up with studies or
authority.

5. The ezine is boring. Or too personal. (Thanks for
sharing, but save it for your best friend or therapist.)

6. Ezine takes up too much time and energy to put together,
so coach starts skipping issues and becomes inconsistent.

7. Coach doesn’t commit to sending out ezine for a long
enough time to build results.

8. Coach doesn’t connect ezine to links to products, and
services. And, or ezine doesn’t clearly reflect coach’s contact
information, requests for feedback, encouragement to forward
to friends an associates.

9. Coach doesn’t tie ezine in with an overall marketing
strategy or even a consistent branding look.

10. Coach doesn’t post articles on web, or drive traffic to
website through ezine.

Top 8 solutions to these problems:

1. Your ezine needs to be full of relevant useful
information.

2. Your ezine needs to be written in a clear genuine voice
that reflects what it is like to do business with you. It needs
to be fun to read!

3. Your ezine should bring results: it should grow your
business by focusing on and solidifying relationships over
the long term, yet letting people know you have something
(products or services) that could help them achieve or
obtain what they want.

4. Your ezine should be crafted regularly with a minimal
amount of time and energy. If you don’t enjoy doing it, you
probably won’t commit to doing it over time. Do the parts
you love, outsource the rest.

5. You need to commit to at least 12 months of ezine
publication before you can evaluate its effectiveness. It is
like exercise, the longer you engage in it, the easier it is
to do, the less time and energy it takes, and the more
results you see.

6. Your ezine should tie in with your website and overall
marketing strategies. There should be a branding consistency
in the look of your ezine, your printed materials such as
business cards, and your web design. Your products and
services should carry similar logos. Your ezine should
reflect not only the graphic look, but the professional
voice you create in all your marketing pieces.

7. You can get help, you don’t have to go it alone. We all
started from zero. Ask for help you will receive. Take
courses, sign up for ezines, get a coach!

8. Use a newsletter service. Outsource to professional
service providers those tasks you least enjoy and struggle
with. That’s what they are there for.

Here’s my Shameless Plug:

Customized Newsletter Services is in the business of
providing services for coaches to make their ezine tasks
easier and more efficient. We are here to help.

We have a
number of standardized options available as well as truly
customized services. If we don’t have an option that is
suitable for you, we may be able to create it. Just ask!

Patsi

patsi@customizednewsletters.com
011-52-376-766-4803
U.S.: 956-242-4254

The Challenge of Making it as a Coach or Consultant

© 2004 Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.,
www.customizednewsletters.com

If you are like many coaches or consultants, you love your
work and love helping others to grow and develop. No matter
what your niche, or your experiences, you are special and
unique in your strengths for helping others.

But like many professionals, you probably feel the challenge
of keeping your practice full of clients who pay you well
for your services. The statistics on the numbers of coaches
or consultants who are thriving are not encouraging.

There are now many products and services available to help
you market your practice. Some marketing gurus make big
promises. Some cost a lot of money. Worse, some require huge
investments of your time and energy.

But wait a minute…you want to be coaching and working with
people! You didn’t go into business to spend your time on
learning to implement marketing strategies.

The Challenge of the Internet…

And now there’s the Internet, and you have to learn a new
system of marketing all over again: the Internet and email
newsletters or ezines.

Where will you find the time? Can you afford not to take
advantage of Internet marketing? Of course NOT! You are
probably already behind others in your field.

You Must Publish an Ezine

Everyone will tell you how important it is to publish an
ezine. Some will tell you how to do this, again for a large
fee. None of the Internet gurus or experts give you
everything you need in a clear concise manner and include
resources you can use to accomplish these important ezine
tasks…until now.

We believe that you have what it takes to publish your own
ezine but may not know all the tips, tricks and tools that
will actually make your tasks effortless. You have the keys,
you need to learn where to find the boxes and the locks!

Make no mistake, there is some hard work involved in
publishing an ezine. You probably can’t code HTML, or handle
distributing your ezine yourself.

You probably can write your own articles, but do you have
the time to read, research, and format them?

There are services available for every step of the ezine
publishing tasks.

Get Help

Did you know that there are systems and software out that
are now actually user-friendly even for non-techies?

There are article content services and formatting and
distribution systems.

There is even my own little service company: Customized
Newsletters where we will do most of the work for you!

None of us knew anything about email, ezines and Internet
marketing a few years ago, or very few of us did.

Start learning about ezines. Don’t wait until you have a
better web site, better photo, more subscribers. Start it
now so you can learn as you go and get better as you grow.

You don’t have to do it alone. There are many e-books you
can buy to teach you the basics, some are even free.

If you must wait, wait until my own e-book is released in
November:

Secrets of Successful Ezines, by Patsi Krakoff and Elge
Premeau.

We should have this finished by mid November an you
won’t want to miss the valuable resources, writing tips,
formatting and distribution systems information, and all
the valuable information we can give you to make your
ezine tasks easier.

Your ezine should work in the background like a well-oiled
machine without a lot of time and energy.

Get back to coaching and making the money you deserve!

Patsi

Survey of Two Biggest Fears to Writing and Publishing

According to a leading expert on ezines and blogs, Debbie
Weil from WordBiz.com, time is cited as the biggest obstacle
to writing and creating a business blog. The second obstacle
is fear of not knowing what to write.

I am not surprised at these survey results. My own
experiences with coaching others on their ezines validate
these two big fears about writing and publishing.

Not enough time
Not enough to say

Baloney!

Let me just say that a few years ago, I myself experienced
both these fears and many others. I was one of the original
techno-weanies. When it came to publishing anything on the
web or through email, I had sticky fingers and keyboard
paralysis.

Now you can go to Debbie’s seminar to overcome these fears
for $79. Or, you can let me take a cyber-slap at you: Get
over it!

It took me exactly 20 minutes to write and post this article
on my weblog.

Get Over It!

I don’t have any more time than you do, and I have only as
much to say as you do in your own chosen field and niche. I
am no genius. My husband will tell you that.

But I do have motivation and a drive to help others do what
I myself have learned.

Help is just a click away: email or comment here to give me
your opinion on what your biggest obstacle to writing and
publishing your own ezine REALLY is.

And while you’re on it, tell me again, why you wouldn’t just
start your own blog like this one? If I can, you can.

Coming soon: Denise Wakeman and I are starting a teleclass
series to help you get started with blogging.

Prediction: Blogging or publishing a weblog is the wave of
the future.

Secret: It is much easier than publishing your own web site
or ezine!

Here is Debbie Weil’s survey:

WordBiz Update: text-only Oct. 18, 2004
===========

* Lack of Time Is Top Obstacle to Blogging *

Over 70% of respondents to a WordBiz survey report lack of
time is their key concern to managing a business blog.

In addition:

– 45% of you are unsure what to write about

– 18% question whether the content needs to be edited
or pre-approved

– 15% wonder who would be responsible for the writing

Yet, when asked if you have considered starting a business
blog, more than 80% responded yes.

To register, go here:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=104812

Why Ezines are Like a Magic Wand…

Do you know why writing and publishing an ezine is a magical
marketing wand for any coach wanting a full practice? Stop
and take the time to imagine a few of these things:

…Imagine getting a note of appreciation from a subscriber
whose life was impacted by one of your ezine messages.

…Imagine getting email replies in your inbox from people
you’ve never met inquiring about your services or wanting to
buy your products.

…Imagine freeing up time for clients and networking because
many of your ezine tasks are automated.

…Imagine having more free time to write new products and
design new programs because you don’t struggle with your
ezine anymore!

…Imagine fulfilling orders for your informational products
and telecourses just from sending out a link in your ezine.
(Listen carefully and you might be able to hear a ringing
“ker-ching!”)

…Imagine never having to struggle with keeping to your ezine
schedule, or coming up with something to valuable to write.

…Imagine someone contacting you for your services because of
something you wrote years ago, something they’ve kept all
this time.

…Imagine ideas flowing from your fingertips onto the
keyboard and reaching thousands of people across the globe
every month with little of no effort or expense at all!

…Imagine the thrill of seeing an article you wrote picked up
and reprinted in another newsletter or journal, reaching
thousands of people you’d otherwise never come into contact
with.

Ezines are truly a marketing miracle for all coaches or
consultants wanting to reach and impact the working and
personal lives of as many people as possible.

What other opportunity is there for one person to reach and
teach so many others so rapidly, globally, and
inexpensively?

To learn how to write, format, publish and distribute a
monthly coach ezine for one low price go here:

Creating an Emotional Connection with Your Readers
Some psychological secrets to keep in mind for your ezine…

Readers are more likely to respond to your offers of service
or products if there is a resonance between you.

What do I mean by resonance? An emotional connection is
forged when your reader experiences being on the same ‘wave
length’ as you. This can be done several ways.

Now, this is not always easy to do in an email or ezine.
Why? Because people are so different, and what is appealing
on an emotional level to one is really aversive to another.

Furthermore, the written word, especially in email form,
lacks the vocal intonation and body language that usually
communicate meaning to your messages! So you have to
be very clear when writing, more so than with speaking.

Remember, in another article I talked about 50 percent of
people being ‘feelers’ and the other 50 percent ‘thinkers?’
So using emotional language will probably put off some
people instead of connecting with them.

Connecting with a Wide Audience of Readers?

Don’t forget that even thinking type processors are
emotional human beings too. And so are emotional processors
quite capable of being rational. So striking resonance means
you have to show you care and show that you are logical at
the same time.

Make no mistake: it is not easy to successfully connect on
an emotional level with a large subscribership. Here are my
suggestions for doing this:

1. If you speak about spiritual issues, keep them
non-denominational and generic. I recently read an ezine
that made a lot of sense to me, but then the writer admitted
to being an agnostic, even while expressing many spiritual
views based in a faith in a higher purpose. His subsequent
ezine expressed dismay that so many readers unsubscribed.

This could have been avoided by not admitting his personal
beliefs but keeping the concepts clear. Likewise, I would
avoid references to any particular religion or religious
doctrine. Ezines are read globally, and not everyone is a
Christian. This applies to mentions of holidays as well.
When you do reference your local customs and holidays,
show your readers you are aware of them being in other
parts of the world.

2. If you speak of political issues or refer to political
parties and beliefs, keep in mind that a successful ezine
should target people internationally, and not only would
national politics have no meaning to some readers, but you
could come across as being ethnocentric and not aware or
respectful of readers from other parts of the globe.

3. If you want to forge emotional ties, try reaching your
readers on a level of their “humanness”… universal needs and
wants of all human beings. We all want a sense of belonging,
we all want to feel a part of life and society and we all
seek meaning out of life. There are certain emotions that
are common world-wide: loneliness, alienation, love,
achievement, pride, shame—the paradox of being human means
we are sometimes bad and sometimes wrong as well as good and
right.

4. Another way to connect on an emotional level is to share
some of your own humanness. Mistakes are a great way to do
this. When a reader reads about something stupid you did,
they access a memory link to something similar that they
did. When you then explain your lessons learned, you are
teaching them indirectly how they can apply this lesson to
their own lives, without actually telling them to do
anything!

They can feel a kinship to you because they know
you are like they are. But just be sure you relate something
authentically and that it has universal value. Again, be
aware that your readers may not be American or of your
religious or political philosophies; keep things generic and
universally human.

5. You can also create emotional pictures by using words
that ask the reader to imagine something. Ask them to become
aware of their feelings when they imagine something. This is
called hypnotic suggestion. One internet marketer is making
a fortune now selling the so-called secrets of hypnotic
selling. Nothing wrong with that, but what he is doing is
using the power of the imagination to get readers to tap
into their feelings. And since we all know that people buy
for emotional reasons and then afterwards find a rationale
for their purchases, this makes sense, no?

6. Be authentic. No matter what your philosophies, your
politics, your religion, your ethnicity, share something of
yourself. You don’t have to hide yourself, but when you
express your personal perspectives, be ready to admit that
is your perspective and you know that there are many other
people from different backgrounds and different
perspectives. Make it okay for your readers to be different
and still connect with you.

7. Extend a hand to your readers. Show you care. Ask them
for their opinions, ideas, perspectives, why not even ask
them to share something about themselves. Get a two-way (or
I should say multiple-way) dialogue with your readers going.

Get their input. First, it makes for interesting content.
Secondly, you can keep a finger on the pulse and know what
your readers’ interests are. Try either an informal or more
formal survey from time to time. Make it easy for them to
reply to your ezine. If your email distribution service
doesn’t allow this, give them an email address where they
can write to you.

Agree? Disagree?

Here’s my challenge to you: I know there are other ways of
connecting on an emotional level. Please share your tips and ideas about this essential
key to writing effective ezines. Just click on the comment button
and you can contribute, or criticize, and/or give your opinion.

I welcome your ideas and thoughts!

Thanks, Patsi
www.customizednewsletters.com

BIG P.S.:

Come visit with me on a teleconference Wed. Oct. 13, 4-5 p.m. ET.
I will reveal secrets to writing effective ezines that get clients to
call YOU! My colleague Sylva Leduc from Client Compass has
scheduled me to participate in an hour call for their Ask the Expert
Series. You can register for free as my guest by clicking here:
www.clientcompass.com/AskPatsi.htm

Sign up for my two free ezines, Newsletter Nuggets and BizBook Nuggets
and get note and quotes for busy folks. Sample article content.
http://www.customizednewsletters.com/free/index.html

Are You a Thinker or a Feeler?

My friend John Agno recently published this review of
personality types in his Coach2coach newsletter
(johnagno@signatureseries.com).
I think it contains important information to consider when
writing your ezine to attract clients.

=====

The Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory is a method for
helping people match their communication styles to others’ personalities.
Understanding Myers-Briggs allows you to foster the kind of interpersonal
climate that paves the way toward better understanding.

One of the four Myers-Briggs dichotomies is:
Thinking/Feeling—that people use to assess their preferred
ways of communicating, processing information, analyzing that
information, and coming to a decision.

The population is evenly divided between thinkers and
feelers. Two-thirds of men are thinkers and two-thirds of
women are feelers, but 70% to 90% of businesspeople are
thinkers, regardless of gender. The name of this
dimension is slightly misleading. Thinkers aren’t unfeeling,
and feelers aren’t fuzzy-headed. Both process information carefully.
The difference is in what facts each group considers to be most salient.

Thinkers are drawn to objective information. They tend to
overlook personal factors in favor of logical analysis. To assess a
situation, they detach and observe. In contrast, feelers are drawn to
subjective information. They focus on human values and the impact a
decision will have on the individuals involved. A feeler will think about
a situation by throwing herself into it and getting the “inside”
perspective.

=====

Have you ever read an ezine and got a queasy feeling of
disgust? Maybe it was just too subjective, airy-fairy and
touchy-feely? If so, then you may be like me, a
thought-processing person who wants facts and data when
reading an ezine. I like to cite studies whenever I write
about a concept, sort of like to prove my point.

But my readers aren’t all like me! (Well, on second
thought—process of elimination—maybe the ones that still
subscribe actually are. Probably all the “feelers”
unsubscribed a while back!)

It is important to appeal to your readers. If half of them
are feeling-types, and half thinking-types, you may have to
step back and look at how your writing reflects your own
preferences. You probably need to modify some of your
phrasing to include the people NOT like you.

Like the MBTI information (taken from Financial Planning,
March 2003) included above, feelers aren’t fuzzy headed at
all. You can appeal to their emotions, their sense of
caring, and write an ezine that is well-rounded and appeals
to both the feelers and the thinkers.

My challenge to you: take a look at the last ezine you wrote.
(You are writing one regularly, aren’t you- yes yes of course
you are…)

In what ways does it reflect your personality type? How can
you rewrite it to appeal to both feelers and thinkers?

Let me know how you do, just press the comment button
below and comment… (Or, for all you ‘feelers’ out there,
let me know you care! I love you, really, I just can’t express it!)

Patsi

Interview with Judith Scwader, after reviewing In Focus
ezine from www.ClarityofVision.com

PATSI: Hi, Judith. And thanks for your note. Always
good to know people are there and reading what I write!

JUDY: It’s my pleasure.

PATSI: At first glance I like the way you’ve laid out
topics and features with
links to the web site presentation.

J: 🙂

P: I’d be interested in knowing if you experimented
with other forms of
formatting and distribution and what decisions led you
to this formatting.

J: We originally planned on using HTML, but two people
in our company have Macs, and we discovered to our
dismay that the formatting didn’t come out the same
with Macs as PCs (at least not with the tools we were
using). There were so many problems with getting the
formatting to look good for both Macs and PCs – it was
too much tech to learn to be worth it to me. Then,
when I realized all the other attendant hassles to do
with filters, AOL, etc., we decided to forget about
HTML altogether. However, I had already invested a lot
of time in branding: (the logo and the banner and the
colors) because we thought we were going to go with
HTML. That’s why we decided to go with the web site
version.

P: I personally like it, and find it easy to use. It is
a great way around sending out a long text ezine, and a
nifty way of getting around the html problems.

J: I’m very glad you found the layout of the text email
easy to use. I wish there were some way to make the
text email more visually appealing.

P: What other formats have you tried? I’m also doing a
sort of survey, informal, asking people the histories
of their ezines and how they started, what numbers they
started with and how they grew their lists, and how
quickly, that sort of thing that would be helpful to
new coaches starting their ezines.

J: Very interesting that you should be looking into the
question of how coaches build their lists. I am at
this moment coordinating a cross-promotion of our 47
Author-Coaches. One of my main purposes, (in addition
to promoting our book series), is to help our clients
build their lists.

P: Would you share yours with me? I’m gathering info
for an e-book and would love to put something in there
about yours, with all contact info too.

J: Yes, it would be my pleasure to relate our
experience and perhaps give others some mistakes to
avoid and ideas to try.

I’ve only been with this company since May. When I
entered the picture, the list had about 100 opted-in
members for a sporadic text newsletter. It wasn’t the
founder’s focus: she didn’t have time as sole
proprietor then.

Then we were very fortunate to be included in a couple
cross-promotions much like the one I am coordinating
now. That built the list to almost 400. That’s when I
took over the ezine and decided to make it official and
regular. Our first monthly issue was August. We also
have issued 7 mid-month, shorter version “e-notes.”

Now that we’ve got it set up, and I am focused on it,
I’ll build the list steadily through sign up forms on
every page of the site, creating more traffic there,
and pop-ups on some of our sales pages. As well, I’ve
got some JVs in the works in which I’ll promote
subscribing.

It’s a lot of stuff to put in place, and gradually is
coming together. Once it’s all in position, much of it
will be on auto-pilot (except creating the content, of
course.)

P: As far as a more thorough review of your ezine, I’ll
read the content more thoroughly tomorrow when I have
some time….I can’t see anything glaring that bothers
me, and I usually do in most ezines. Keep up the good
work.

J: Thank you!

P: Some of the formatting is uneven, but I know that
happens with everyone even using a formatting utility.
Do you use an online one or other tool?

J: I’d be grateful if you would tell me about the
specific uneven aspects of the formatting so that I can
fix it. I don’t use a formatting utility – I didn’t
know that was possible.

P: I use http://www.formatit.com/
because I can set the
width. You still have to go through it when you paste
it to make sure the quotation and apostrophe marks
haven’t been transformed to things bizarre, but it does
a good job of formatting and it’s free! Look forward to
hearing more about your experiences with ezines.

J: I hope what I’ve shared is useful. Let me know if
you’d like some specific information about our
experience should you decide to use part of our story
for your e-book, etc.

And thank you, Patsi, for the opportunity to have your
professional review of our ezine.

Best Regards,
Judith Schwader
Judith Schwader [judith@clarityofvision.com]

To read IN FOCUS Ezine, see below:

=====================================
*IN FOCUS* E-Zine
September 7, 2004-Vol. I, Issue 2

brought to you by Clarity of Vision, Inc.
Read more here…
http://www.clarityofvision.com/ezine/

=====================================

Why (Some) Coaches Have Trouble Writing Their Own Ezines
(Just one opinion, of course!)

I have a theory about why so many coaches struggle to write
their own ezines. Maybe not all coaches struggle, but I hear
about this all the time.

Many coaches are extreme extraverts. In the Jungian sense,
this means that they are people who derive their energy from
interacting with others. Carl Jung, a renowned Swiss
psychiatrist and colleague of Freud, studied how people take
in information, process it, and act according to habitual
preferences.

Later, his theory was used to devise a measuring tool for
these preferences, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) was developed. It has since been widely used and
expanded. It is an excellent tool for understanding how
one’s own thought process preferences show up in life and
work.

Many people confuse the terms extraverts and introverts to
mean either socially outgoing or shy and withdrawn. The
terms are actually defined by how one derives energy.
Extraverts get it from other people. Introverts find energy
through internal thoughts, reading and thinking. They may
interact quite successfully with others and appear outgoing
and sociable. But for the most part, social interactions are
an energy drain for them and eventually they need to renew
themselves by retreating. An extravert just continues
getting energized as social interactions continue throughout
the day or evening.

Coaching is a People Business

So, getting back to coaches, many people who are outgoing
and energized by interactions are drawn to the field of
coaching because it is concerned with growing and developing
others through conversations. Coaching really is a people
business.

When it comes to sitting down and writing an ezine, who do
you think is going to be energized and excited by this task,
the extravert or the introvert? Right: the introvert who
goes inside, asks questions, searches for answers and
expresses him or herself on paper! Activities such as
researching, reading, and writing are all very energizing
activities for introverts.

But for the extravert coach, who derives energy from others,
the task of writing an ezine does not seem very appealing.
He or she is faced with the computer screen or blank piece
of paper. No energy there, for them. They may have many
things to say, but they prefer saying them to people.

People are multi-faceted and just because you have a
preference for one way of thinking and behaving does not
mean you are incapable of acting in the opposite direction.
Extraverts are all capable of studying and writing and
introverts are all capable of interacting successfully with
others. I do not mean to imply that these preferences are
rigid and concrete. They are simply preferences and habits,
and we and all called upon to act out-of-preference in order
to be successful in our work and lives.

The Law of Human Economy

The law of human economy says that people seek the greatest
amount of benefit with the least amount of effort. Boy, do I
know this to be true! Think about it, Every day we seek out
the maximum results with the minimum of effort. Here are a
couple of questions we ask ourselves when organizing our
work:

1. How much time should I spend on this task to get it done
and still get what I want out of it?

2. Is there a simpler way to do this?

3. Who can I get to do part of this, or all of it?

4. Which tasks do I like doing because I know I do them
well, quickly and efficiently?

5. Which tasks can I put off because they’ll take too long
and I’m not sure I’m going to get good results anyway?

Choices and Advice

„X Do not choose to skip writing an ezine.

„X Spend your time on the 20 percent of the activities that
bring you 80 percent of your results and revenues (Pareto
Principle).

„X Do what you love, outsource the rest.

„X Do what you know, learn about the rest.

„X Learn to love parts of what you don’t love.

„X Get to know which parts you can learn, which things best
left to others.

„X Always ask the people you hire to do tasks to tell you
how they do them, so you can at least learn to understand
better.

„X Do not be overwhelmed by tasks you don’t know anything
about, everyone starts somewhere (even the so-called
expert).

„X Spend some time and a little bit of money learning (buy
books, hire a coach, take a course, etc.).

„X Get good advice for your particular needs.

„X Use the internet to find good resources.

„X Use your association memberships to find others to help.

„X Ask for help.

As always, here’s to your successful coach ezines!

Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.
www.customizednewsletters.com

A note from Patsi:

Here’s a great article by Michael J. Katz of Blue Penguin Development. Michael writes a great ezine about ezines, and is author of the e-book E-Newsletters that Work.

The Five Deadly Fears of E-Newsletter Publishing
(and how to overcome them)

by Michael J. Katz

Fear of Having Nothing To Say

As a small business owner, you know a lot more than you may realize. And although running out of material is the number one reason cited by small business owners for not launching an E-Newsletter in the first place, I have never come across anyone who knew enough about a particular industry or topic to start a business in it, who didn’t also have a nearly endless supply of content to choose from.

The people who are going to read your newsletter have questions. You on the other hand, have answers, opinions, experience, and perspective. When it comes to your industry, you understand what matters and what doesn’t, and how all the pieces fit together. These brief, useful nuggets are the things you write about.

Fear Of Technology

An E-Newsletter has a lot of moving parts. There are mailing lists to manage; links to set up; images to lay out; responses to track; and dozens of other small pieces to coordinate and fine tune, all in the course of writing and publishing a newsletter month after month. Managing this process efficiently requires a fair amount of technology churning away in the background. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that email marketing has finally evolved to the point where there are dozens of vendors out there who, for a very small fee, will take care of most of this for you.

Fear of Publishing On A Regular Basis

Although you may be sold on the value of a regularly published E-Newsletter, you may still be worried that once let out of its cage, this beast won’t ever leave you alone. The truth is, you’re right to be concerned. If I had to point to one factor that plays the most significant role in the failure of company E-Newsletters, it’s that the people behind them stop publishing.

First, publish monthly. A monthly schedule however, means that the next issue is never more than 30 days away, and you will find yourself less concerned with achieving perfection each time.

Second, create a publishing schedule and stick to it. First Tuesday of the month, third Friday, whatever. The important thing is that you bake it into your monthly work schedule. An E-Newsletter will never be today’s top priority, and unless you explicitly determine when it will come out, you’re more likely than not to keep pushing it to the back burner.

Fear of Writing

I hear it every day from the small business owners I work with: “I can’t put out an E-Newsletter, I’m a lousy writer.” Well, you’ll be happy to learn that writing an E-Newsletter – like email in general – is a lot more like talking than writing.

After all, E-Newsletters are simply glorified emails, and email is fundamentally a two-way conversation. The more you can write in an authentic, friendly, spoken manner, the more it will feel to readers like somebody (i.e. you) is really on the other end. So don’t worry about something that your high school English teacher would be proud of. Focus on turning out something that breaks down the walls between your company and your customers. Something real.

Fear That SPAM Makes It All A Waste Of Time

There’s no doubt about it, SPAM has decreased the effectiveness of E-Newsletters over the last 12 months, and we are all much more aggressive with the delete key than ever before. But, let’s put that into some perspective. A good E-Newsletter sent to your house list will still be opened by over 50% of the people it’s sent to. That’s 5?, 10?, 50? times better (you pick) than the percentage of people who read your newspaper ads; respond to your direct mail; or accept your unsolicited phone calls.

The fact is, for the small business owner, an E-Newsletter represents the first time in history that she’s ever been able to cost effectively communicate with her entire customer and prospect base over and over and over again. Not only that, but thanks to the inherently democratic nature of email (i.e. the big boys don’t get any more space in the email inbox than the rest of us), an E-Newsletter gives us the opportunity to not just compete with, but outperform our much larger competitors for the attention of readers.

Yes, SPAM has taken some of the shine off of this diamond. But make no mistake, it’s still a diamond.

A Final Comment

You may be waiting to launch your E-Newsletter until everything is “just right.” Until your mailing list is large enough; until you’ve stockpiled enough columns so you’ll never run out; until you’ve hired that new marketing person; etc., etc.

I’ve got news for you. No matter how much you plan and prepare, things are going to go wrong even then. So don’t worry about it, just get in the game.

Three reasons: First, because the cost of error online is exceedingly low. If you make a mistake – or simply change your mind! – you can fix it. Nothing about your newsletter need be permanent, from the name to the look to the content. Every issue is an opportunity to start fresh.

Second, because time is your enemy. Relationship marketing (of which, your E-Newsletter is a tactic) is a long term approach. The sooner you get started reaching out to your circle of contacts, the sooner you’ll see the results.

Third, because experience is your friend. You can do all the research in the world, but until you’ve got a living, breathing newsletter of your own, it’s just a theoretical exercise. There’s only so much insight to be gained intellectually; the real “A-ha’s” occur when you get behind the wheel and drive it yourself.

Bottom Line: These five fears are common among burgeoning E-Newsletter publishers, but on closer examination, not all that daunting. To quote author Julia Cameron in her terrific book, The Artist’s Way, “Leap, And The Net Will Appear.”

Copyright © 2003 Michael J. Katz. All rights reserved. Michael J. Katz is founder and Chief
Penguin of Blue Penguin Development, Inc., a Boston area consulting firm the helps clients
increase sales by showing them how to market to their existing relationships, and that
specializes in the development of electronic newsletters. He is the author of the book, E-Newsletters That Work.

28 West Elm Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748
www.BluePenguinDevelopment.com
508-478-6258_

Content is King!

If the maxim “location, location, location” expresses the three most important concepts for business real estate, then for coaching ezines, it is “content, content, content.”

Ezines only work when they are read, when people subscribe, and they tell their friends to subscribe because your ezine delivers something of true value.

There are some important steps to consider when deciding on content. The most important questions to answer are:

1. Who are your readers?
2. What do they want to know?
3. What do you have or know that they want?
4. How can you create value for them?
5. How can you create connections and relationships with readers?
6. How can you inspire action on their part?

Good content engages the reader, gets their attention and builds relationships over time. Readers come away from your ezine with a good feeling about you and your professional services. Good content will also implant an underlying message that inspires action. Readers want to know more, or finally take some steps about a particular concern or need they’ve been thinking about and you’ve been talking about.

The action you are looking for is some sort of contact, an email, a question, a phone call. This is an opening for you to deepen the relationship. This is the reason ezines are effective. The reader should be calling you, not the other way around.

Your content should always be:

1. Useful: so what if a study shows some amazing fact? Tell them what that can mean to them. What should they be doing? Always remember, WIIFM: what’s in it for me (your readers)? Spell it out for them.

2. Interesting: not ho-hum, heard this before. Tell your readers something they don’t know!

3. Consistent: published regularly. They expect to get it every month. If they don’t, what kind of impression do you think you create?

4. Personable: reflects your voice and personality. People have a lot to read, so don’t give them academic articles without putting something personal in it. They want to get to know you or they wouldn’t have signed up for your ezine. Tell them what this topic means to you personally and how you apply it in your life and work. But please, keep this reasonably in balance!

Your ezine must stand out in inboxes full of spam, advertising and fluff. You can do this by providing quality content and writing from your heart. People don’t tolerate either being bored or overwhelmed by too much information. Make sure you create quality content that includes both interesting information, practical steps, and authenticity. When you communicate your enthusiasm and energy for your topic, people will believe that this is really worth reading and thinking about.

By the way…

If you have trouble writing good content for your ezine, don’t let that stop you. Ezines are too important
to be skipped. Instead, look for ways to get good content from other resources. You can buy it or borrow
it, providing you use appropriate credits and respect copyright laws.

Look for my next blog soon about easy ways of creating interesting content without having any particular
writing talent at all! (Hint: if you know how to talk, you can write!)

See you soon,

Patsi