September 20, 2010
ACE Newsletter
5 Ways to Get More People Reading Your Email
Newsletters
by M Theresa Brown
Hi
Friend
In our recent
Seminar, we touched on the topic of creating interesting newsletters.
There are many
programs available which make it easy, affordable and convenient to send out email newsletters,
in quantity, and without it being labeled by the Internet as spam.
We use
Streamsend to send out over 1200 email newsletter for our Art Business each month. Google or
research newsletters that you receive and like, and you'll see the names of others such as Constant
Contact, Mail Chimp, aWeber, etc. Do your research and see which ones fit within the parameters
of what you would be doing. In the past, artists spent hundreds and thousands of dollars
annually on postage for newsletter distribution. In comparison, the cost of monthly newsletter
programs, taken in context, is nominal :-) In other words, the $20.00 a month it now costs
us to send out 1200 monthly email newsletters would be...oh, around $500.00 + a month in
postage!
The other, HUGE
advantage is that through these programs you can see the results! Not only can you can see who
opened your newsletter, but which areas were viewed most often, which links were most popular and all
offer easy opt in or out subscriptions for readers. Faulty and duplicate email addresses are
weeded out automatically and that is a huge plus!
Here are 5
things that you can do to capture and maintain the interest of your audience.
#1 Make your newsletter helpful and
worthwhile.
Nothing says BORING like a newsletter that is all about
you! A common mistake is to think your newsletter is all about promotion.
Nothing screams SALES like a "ME, ME,and all about ME" newsletter. If that is what
you're doing, then you might as well just be sending out advertising because that’s how your
newsletter readers are taking it. The biggest thing you can do to get more people reading
your email newsletter is to make it helpful and worth their time. Content has to be
useful to your readers.
The point of an email newsletter is NOT to use the whole
format to promote your art. Just as the concept behind Facebook is to promote a
relationship, your email newsletter is also about forming those relationships with your
prospects. The idea is to have interesting tips and topics that create a bond or a
following of your art and your journey. Think of it as sharing a cup of coffee with a friend.
What would you talk about or share?
There is nothing wrong with letting your readers know
that you have a new workshop coming up or a Gallery opening or an open house at your
studio but add a little something extra such as a mini-art lesson or a captivating
story about your walk in the woods that inspired your latest painting.
Make the content of your newsletter something helpful they can
use and they’ll open it every time. Need ideas? Take any or all of these ideas and tie it in
with your artist's life:
- funny video
- crossword puzzle
- word game
- charity/rescue/donation of the month/quarter,
etc.
- garden/wildlife/pet tips
- interesting facts you didn't know
- jokes
- add another voice speaking-your dog, your paintbrush,
your sculpture
- how to video of you creating something each
newsletter
- recipes
now you think of something!
#2 Share your artist's life in your
newsletter.
The artists who are selling their art successfully are
doing so because they have mastered the art of sharing a little of the "artist
mystique" with their collectors. Writers learn early in their careers that
"Words tell, stories sell." Artists are no different.
People view your art or buy it because both the image
and the story behind the image spoke to them. That's you! A newsletter is no
different than a blog in that respect. People will open it and read it because they find
it entertaining, educational, or useful. To make it more entertaining, use your artist's
voice. Be you. Be natural. Give the reader a tidbit of the life they envision an artist
lives.
In your art newsletter keep the tone light and
warm and fuzzy. Stay away from serious and introspectively depressing news and thoughts!
There's enough of that in the news!
Remember, there are millions of images of art on the Internet.
What can YOU do to take the static image of your artwork and turn it into an interesting event?
Which brings us to number 3!
#3 Use Photos and images in your
newsletter
There is simply no way an artist can send out
any newsletter without images! Include your art, you at work, an image of
something that inspired you. Only use the very best images of your work. Everyone
knows the journey from studio to Internet diminishes the WOW factor from your original
art but do what you can to compensate for that!
Add videos, photos of work in progress, photos of an
inspiring trip....add visuals!
#4 You need to have a
call to action
The interesting thing about readers of
all ages is that you discover shortly that you have to tell them what to
do! Seriously. Make it easy and convenient to do so. Asking your
readers to do something is a "Call to Action." A call to action can
achieve results that a sales letter never would simply because by the time you
ask for a call to action, your readers know MORE about who you are through your
ongoing chatty and friendly style and newsletters :-)
A Call to Action can be as simple as
asking the reader to go to a link. Do not assume because it is
in convenient blue, that they will click on it! Tell them what and why
they should click on that link and what they will find that will benefit
them.
Do you want a poll of recent art work
from your readers? Then ask them, ”write back to me and tell me what
you liked or did not like about my sculpture/river/glass, etc., series of art."
People love to give their opinions! Let them know that you value their opinions
and find them truly helpful :-).
Do you want them to buy your
art? Then tell them! "Click here to purchase my art."
Sure, occasional strangers might do it, but the readers who have been
following your newsletters, feel by now that they know you and are far more
willing to buy your art.
You might also want to alter those Paypal
buttons to say something like "Collect my Art!" or "Add this to my art
Collection" or some chatty sentence that is YOU.
#5 Be
consistent!
If you are putting your
newsletter out here and there, you’re losing readers.
And you’re not alone. Most newsletters are not consistent in
their release schedule. Get a schedule. It can be
once a quarter, on the first or fifteenth of the month, or every
Wednesday. Just pick something and be consistent with it and
you’ll improve your readership response.
Use the same heading each time so that
readers know it's from you!
Bringing it all
together
It takes perseverance and
dedication to write your newsletters. So make each one
count by maximizing your response rate. Most of all-stick
with it! Follow these four methods, and not only will
you start getting more response to your newsletters, but you
will have a format/template to follow to make it
easier!
If you want more tips and
techniques for promoting your work, join us at
ArtCareerExperts.com and us on Facebook.
ACE
Forums: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtistPaycheck
Want to learn
more?
If you are
serious about learning what it takes and what you need to do to start, grow or expand your art
business, we can help! Steve and I are proud to be keynote speakers at the nationwide Art of the
Carolinas, Nov 11-14, 2010 in Raleigh, NC. http://www.jerrysartevents.com/artofca20.html
Our 3 day workshop
begins on Thursday evening and all details are here: http://www.jerrysartevents.com/theresabrown1.html
All the former barriers
and walls to an artist's success are slowly crumbling and the sooner you embrace the changes and learn
to expand your horizons, the sooner you will see success! We can help. Not only have we broken all the
rules pre-ordained by the art world for twenty years, we continue to break the rules in order to
further our success! We love to share, encourage and teach serious artists what it takes to enjoy the
life of an artist!
Until Later,
Theresa and Steve
You now get a
instant audio download when you invest in the Art For Sale CD set with Ebook. Still only
24.95. You still get the 2 CD set containing the audio book and the ebook shipped to you, but now you
can also download the audio files along with the ebook at the time of purchase. No more waiting for
CD's to arrive in the mail.
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