Do Open: How a simple email newsletter can transform your business (and it can) (Do Books Book 15)

by David Hieatt

If you respect people’s time – and I don’t just mean by saying you do, but you actually do – then you will think hard before you send them a newsletter. You will do your best to make it super-useful. To make it truly inspiring. To make it deeply relevant. To make it as simple as you can. As beautiful as you can.

They will, by your actions, be able to tell that you respect them by only sending something worthy of their most precious asset: time.

For every distraction we get caught up in, it takes us another 20 minutes to get back into the flow of where we left. Distractions take more time than the distraction alone because they leave a residue, and it takes time to regain our focus.

Rarely will a newsletter simply try and give them something useful, something inspirational, or an interesting bit of new information. And if it did, it would stand out.

A great newsletter works by you sharing how you think about the world, and not just what you have to sell in this world. Remember, it’s not all about you.

All roads should lead to newsletter sign-up. Because having a slower conversation in a crazy fast-paced world has become more important than ever.

So, your job is to be the guardian of a long-term relationship. And the best way to have a long-term relationship is to stop thinking short-term. Think about how you build this relationship over a ten-year period.

Here are some questions to ask about those who you benchmark: — What is it they do well? — What is the essence of what they are doing? — How often do they send out a newsletter? — How balanced is it? Give vs. Sell? — Are they giving value? — What could they improve on?

How do you build a community? The best way is to make them feel something for what you do. Reply to their comments. Have a dialogue. Have a conversation. Show you care. And they will show that they do too.

It is better to mean a great deal to a smaller community than meaning next to nothing to a huge community.

12 TOOLS FOR GROWTH Sign-up page Opt-in pop-up Welcome email Competitions Write blogs Twitter cards Guest posts Forward to a friend PR Create content Learn to write hooks Offline events

Dr Hakim Chishti studied the roots of several languages including Persian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic and Urdu. From doing this he discovered the importance of Emotional Marketing Value (EMV). His research found that there are basic underlying harmonics in language that are always interpreted with the same ‘emotional’ reactions. Where dictionary-based meanings can be mistaken, the sound tones themselves are always interpreted the same way in our emotional response. This means that emotional language creates a very predictable response, something that can be very advantageous to marketers.

The Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) is a score that looks to assess how a group of words follow these emotional harmonics, and how likely they are to elicit an emotional response from a reader.

The Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer (aminstitute.com/headline) is a tool based on the research that is made freely available by the Advanced Marketing Institute.

THREE EMOTIONAL TYPES 1. FACTUAL Words that are especially effective when offering products and services that require reasoning for careful evaluation. 2. EMPATHETIC Words that bring out strong emotional reactions in people. 3. SPIRITUAL Words that have the strongest potential for influence and often appeal on a deep emotional level.

This study found that people share things for five common reasons: — To reveal valuable and entertaining content to others — To define themselves to others — To grow and nourish relationships — For self-fulfilment — To help spread the word about brands and causes they like or support