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It's that time of the week again – it's time to send an email to your list. But what to send?
The latest blog post?
Another sales pitch?
While it's great to have a template that you usually work from, sometimes you just want to change things up a bit. Here are 10 unique types of emails you can send to your list:
My Favorite Things: What are you loving these days that you think your audience would love too? Maybe it's a new business tool, a new cleaning product, or a new book. As long as it's related to what your audience follows you for, then it's fair game. Put together an email that shares what you're loving, and why you're loving it. (Bonus points if you can include a couple of affiliate links that can earn you some extra cash!)
What I Read: Sure, you're the expert in your field – but there are other people who share brilliant insights too. Curate some of your favorite content into a “What I Read” email with links back to their articles. This is also a great way to connect with influencers in your niche. When you're going to feature them, send them a message and let them know that you're going to share their content with your readers. Who knows – maybe they'll share something of yours or you can strike up a collaboration.
IMO (In My Opinion): Sure, your blog may be your blog, but chances are you still play it pretty safe. You may not throw out big opinions that could rock the boat. Your email list is a great place to start having those more honest conversations about your industry. (Just no bad-mouthing the competition!)
Behind the Scenes: It may surprise you to read this – but people buy from PEOPLE. That's what makes strategies like Instagram Stories so powerful – they show the human side of our favorite influencers. You can do the same thing with your email list (without having to show your soft underbelly to the whole internet).
Ask for Help: When you run out of things to write about, you've got a whole team of content brainstorming wizards at your fingertips. They know your target audience's pain points and what they need even better than you do – because they are your target audience. Send them an email and ask them what they'd like more of from you. You can either give them a survey or just open the door to let them respond with open-ended answers. Beyond ideas for what to send them, you'll probably get some ideas for some awesome new products.
Sneak Peek: You're probably thinking that I'm repeating myself here – that a Sneak Peek is the same as a Behind the Scenes. A sneak peek gives your readers an insight into what awesome things you're creating for them – before it's ready. If it's a product, you can offer them an early-bird discount to drive some presales and excitement.
The Bonus: Have you ever been at the coffee shop and the person in line ahead of you paid for your order? (Me either, but I've heard it happens!) You can do this with your customers too. Give them an extra freebie – maybe a lesson or chapter from an upcoming book, a template that's part of a bigger package that you're working on – but something that has no strings attached. Just a thank you for being on the list.
In Case You Missed It: Not everything you send has to be brand new. In fact, if you just had a huge increase in subscribers – maybe you launched a new freebie or ran a webinar – you probably have some killer content in the archive they haven't seen yet. You can pull some old content back out, write a fresh introduction, and share it with that big new audience of yours.
The Customer Story: Stories sell. If you don't believe me, just go ask Kay Fabella, the Story Finder. Plus, we love hearing stories about people like us. Feature one of your customers in an upcoming newsletter. It helps build your community and acts as a testimonial for you.
The Combination: Some things just go together – like diet coke and Skittles. Nothing says that you have to pick ONE of these themes for any one of your newsletters. You could do a combination of virtually any of these to create a compelling message for your readers.
What's your favorite type of email to send – or to read? Let me know in the comments!
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