Less writing, more marketing.

Hey you!  Yeah you, over there texting on your iPhone while watching a YouTube video in your Facebook feed on your tablet with eight other browser windows vying for your attention.

Your emails are too long.

Yes, that one too, but I’m talking about your e-newsletters.  The ones that go to your entire mailing list.

Turn the tables for a sec.  How many non-personal emails do you read in their entirety?  Take a step back from that, even – how many emails do you even open?

When you do open, you scan. You rarely read.  You notice a few keywords.  Once in a while, you click.

It’s time to start composing your e-newsletters the way people read (or don’t read) them.

What do you want the recipient to do?
Tell them, and fast.

Where do you want the recipient to click?
Bold it.

What do you want the recipient to read?
Post a teaser to the article and if they want to read the rest of it they can go to your website.  Bam!  More web traffic.

Why is this so long?
We don’t need an annual report, just one or two pieces of info and what we’re supposed to do with that info.

Bonus! Next step: compose your emails the way email services work.  Name your images descriptively so that when images are turned off in Gmail, people see what they’re missing.  Make sure the first line of the email is compelling so that in message preview, before the email is opened, people are moved to open, click, read, REACT.

(Also, your blog posts are probably too long.  Write less & spend the rest of the time promoting what you wrote so more people read it.  That’s the whole point, right?)