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I think Marian has a terrific “voice” and tone in her newsletter. It’s very personal and enthusiastic and you immediately get a sense of who she is. I also like that it begins right away with useful information (e.g. “The One Bag Commitment”).
In terms of improvements, the first thing I’d do is make the typeface bigger — it’s TINY!
Second is to give it a real name, not just “Adventures in Good Company Newsletter.” That’s all about the company rather than something that the reader may be interested in. So name it, like it’s a magazine.
Lastly, while it has a great, personal tone, it doesn’t appear to be “from” anyone. There’s no name or signature within; it just starts out talking. New readers and prospective clients need more context, so make sure to sign each newsletter with your name and title.
Thanks for playing Marian!!
– Michael
We migrated these Field Trips from Facebook and didn’t want to lose the comments, so we’ve posted them below:
Susan Weiner:
Hi Michael,
This is helping me mull over tweaks to my newsletter. Thanks!
Leslie Swaim-Fox:
Hi- I’m just peeking in! I would have liked links to the bag, cubes, and Chico. That might give you something to track (who is opening the links) and as a reader I was interested. Nice newsletter!
about 2 months ago · Mark as Irrelevant · Report · Delete Post
Leslie Swaim-Fox Oh – I mean’t to ask – is there some legal issue with linking to commercial enterprises that confuses things or is that an okay thing to do generally! Or is it negatively perceived as endorsing or advertising?
Susan Weiner:
Hi Leslie, I’m sure Michael will weigh in. I agree with you about links to the products in the newsletter. I wonder if Marian wanted to keep readers focused on her business. I think she’d enhance the value of her newsletter in her readers’ eyes if she provided the links that you suggest.
Marian Marbury:
Thanks fo rthe comments, Michael. I actually have experimented with using different titles for the newsletter and what I’ve found is that just using the title has the highest open rate, so I continue to use it. I also totally agree with other comments about including links to products I mention – I have done that in the past and am not sure why I didn’t this time, but I agree it makes it more useful. And I usually do sign it at the bottom, I’ll have to think about adding something at the top. Thanks, again!– Marian
Michael Katz:
Hi Everyone! I think Leslie’s suggestion about links is a good one. There’s no legal problem with linking to anything that’s publicly available (i.e. not a password protected area), whether that’s products or articles or whatever.
And it’s definitely helpful to people that when you mention something in the context of writing, you link directly to it. That adds a bit of three-dimensionality to the newsletter and makes it even more useful. Some people are concerned that this could lead to people clicking off and never coming back, but my view is that the door isn’t locked anyway, and providing value is the way to keep people returning, talking about you, sharing your newsletter, etc.
Thanks again everyone! – Michael