Hey Reader!

You know how I usually start this email with a personal story? I entertain you with some morsel of reality or a banal incident from my life?

And you are wildly entertained and deeply touched? 🤣🤣🤣

Well, the news is bleak AF this week, and my body is stiff and sore, and honestly I’m not sure what I could possibly find to say that’s even mildly entertaining without going to the dark side.

But I do know what I want to say about newsletters.

That there is a point to all these words. That there is a reason you hit send every week. That this isn’t just some random assignment given to you by the gods of the internet.

And that there are reasons for doing it beyond “everyone else has one, I’d better have one too!”

If you aren’t sure why you’re sending a newsletter, or thinking about sending a newsletter, or not sending a newsletter but feeling guilt/shame/remorse/boredom about it, here is at least a grain of truth.

There are a bunch of different reasons to send a weekly email, but ultimately you’re aiming for fame or money. Or possibly both, because for most people fame is just a fancy path to money.

If you are in business, the goal of your business is to make money.

Hopefully your goal is to make money by helping people, but I can’t be blamed if mercenaries find their way to my mailing list.

So how do you use your weekly email to make money? There are several ways.

• You let people get to know you. Because wouldn’t you rather buy from someone you know something about? Whose words make you feel the feels you like to feel?
• You show them how good you are at what you do. You can do this by telling stories about your work, sharing useful tips, and adding in testimonials. (This may also be called giving them a taste of what it would be like to work with you, buy your stuff, read your book, etc.)
• You announce stuff: Upcoming events, classes, programs, podcasts, webinars, appearances and the like.
• You make offers. Repeatedly.

Now, this isn’t the only way to make sales.

There are plenty of other avenues you can drive down in the quest to attract customers and fans, and many of them are more personal than an email sent to a mailing list.

But Google “email ROI” and you will see a cascade of articles telling you that email has the highest return on investment of any marketing tool out there. And is reliably at least 10 times greater than social media.

Unless your name is Kylie Jenner or Hailey Bieber.

And I’m pretty sure it’s not.

Email marketing covers so many of the things you need to do to attract clients and make money, you’d be wasting a golden opportunity by ignoring it.

Or doing it without some sort of strategy.

So maybe when you sit down each week to write your newsletter, don’t sit there wondering what you’re going to write about. Ask yourself this: What is my goal for this email?

If you need help setting strategy for your newsletter, let’s talk. I can help. Hit reply and we’ll set up a call! Like any good pusher, I offer the first one free. 😉

xo, Julia

Five-Minute Fix

I recently ran into this newsletter fumble.

A friend forwarded me an email from a business owner because she thought I’d really like the content; sounds like this woman sends bangers on the regular.

Yes! I liked it! I wanted more!

But damned if I could figure out how to subscribe. I even went to her website in search of a sign-up. But the only thing on offer was a link to a freebie that felt complicated.

So I did not, in fact, subscribe.

Talk about a missed opportunity.

Do you have a subscribe button in your newsletter? Is it obvious? Like, if one of your very favorite readers forwarded your next issue to a friend, would that friend be encouraged and easily able to subscribe themselves?

If you don’t have one yet, add it.

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The Growth Report

This week I did some experimenting with social media. My goal is to promote my lead magnet at least once a week on the channels I cover, and while I’m not quite there yet I’m getting closer. 🙃

Result: 16% increase.

​The Pet Shop Boys know that making money is a good thing, and so does this email. Forward it to someone who's ready for riches.

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