Guest Post. This is a guest post written by Jim Kukral, author of “Attention! This Book Will Make You Money.” Pay attention, he is right on the mark with this post.
Blast is a word you need to take out of your vocabulary. Nobody wants to be blasted. If you want that, go hunting with Dick Cheney.
No, your readers want you to give them what they signed up for. They want helpful, problem-solving information that they were promised when they joined your email list. Blasting them with things that they didn’t ask for is a sure-fire way to get a ton of unsubscribes.
Here’s a few ideas to improve your email success.
Personalize every email you send. NEVER send an email with the dreaded “Dear Valued Customer/Reader” opening. When someone reads that they know that it’s a chain letter and they immediately put it in the mental spam folder. Instead, use your mailing program feature to include the person’s name. You do have an email program that can do that for you, right? You are collecting more than just email address, right? At least get their first name. It’s VERY important.
Don’t oversend. There’s a big temptation to send a lot of emails all the time. The truth is that if people hear from you “too” much, they begin to ignore you. Think about it. All those newsletters you signed up for that you get each day in your inbox that you no longer look at. That can happen to you.
Speaking of newsletters. Stop sending, or promoting, newsletters. Nobody wants to read a newsletter anymore. People want quick, helpful, problem-solving information sent to them, not large, heavy emails with 20 different stories.
For over 15-years, Jim Kukral has helped small businesses and large companies like Fedex, Sherwin Williams, Ernst & Young and Progressive Auto Insurance understand how to find success on the Web. Jim is the author of the book, “Attention! This Book Will Make You Money“, as well as a professional speaker, blogger and Web business consultant. Find out more by visiting www.JimKukral.com. You can also follow Jim on Twitter @JimKukral.