The Case of the Incomprehensible Instructions

by Meryl K. Evans, Editor, eNewsletter Journal

This is a new column we introduced in the last issue, and this is the first submission we've received of bad copy. We want to track down the offenders and bring them to justice. Police the web, and bring bad copy in for a trial judged by a jury of your peers.

July is the middle of summertime in America, which means fireworks, camps, swimming, fun books and vacation, like the song says, “Summertime and the living is easy.” Though tempting, avoid going easy on newsletters and skipping an issue or two or three. It’s during this time when you’re more likely to have readers’ attention, since their plates are less full. Also, when you break a habit, it’s hard to start again.

I’ve been reading about publicity so I can show you how to boost subscriber rates and sell services. Jeff Crilley’s book, Fr.ee Publicity, is almost the perfect summertime reading. The only missing ingredient is that it’s not fiction, the popular genre for summer reading. The best no cost resource I’ve found on publicity is Joan Stewart’s The Publicity Hound. Her weekly newsletter includes several articles plus answers to a reader’s question on how to get publicity for a specific event or product. And every issue ends with a laugh, a dog joke ...

Heartiest congratulations to Jenna Glatzer of AbsoluteWrite.com, another fave newsletter, on her recent marriage.

What Do You Think?

Next month, we're covering Direct Mail Marketing. The kind of marketing with long copy and sometimes with yellow highlights. Here's an example from AWAI. What do you think of such marketing tactics? Have you ever sold or bought through this method? Tell me your experience.

P.S. If you forward this newsletter to a colleague or post it on a Web site, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of our $24.95 e-book, A Marketer’s Guide to e-Newsletter Publishing! Email me with details.

Shining a spotlight on your newsletter

by Meryl K. Evans, Editor, eNewsletter Journal

You click “send” and anxiously wait to see the newsletter’s success rates. That darn “number of subscribers added” number won’t budge, or maybe it changes a piddly amount.

[ Read more ]