Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Take a Breath and Hit Send

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I was talking to a friend last week and while we were together her newsletter popped up in my inbox. I commented that I got it- and would read it later. Then she said that it had STRESSED her out and she spent almost 2 hours on it that morning.

I know that I talk about newsletters all the time, and when I’m not talking about them, I’m harassing a client to send me their content so I can get their newsletter set up and sent out. But your newsletter shouldn’t stress you out.

Here’s what: We all have typos, we all half-ass our content sometimes, we all have days we aren’t inspired. It’s OK. If you don’t tell people you have a schedule for your newsletter, you don’t have to stick to it! Last month my client emailed me and said she didn’t have a good topic for the month so was going to skip it. That’s great- not if she does it every month – but hey sometimes you need to take a break to get inspired.

Don’t stress out about your newsletter, or your content. I heard Keri Murphy speak last week, and as she spoke about the importance of video, she also talked about not sounding like a robot. No one speaks perfectly. We all pause, use the wrong word, or say ummm one too many times in our daily life. it’s OK, actually it makes people like you better, you’re human.

So take a breath, relax and hit send on that newsletter or post.

Your Email is Hurting Your Brand

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imagesThe other day I tweeted the following:

what is my responsibility to tell an adult they can’t write an email for $h*t and it’s hurting their business & brand?

Improper email etiquette is one of my bigger pet peeves. Here’s a few ways to make sure your email isn’t hurting your brand…

  1. Don’t FORWARD information: only my mom and mother in law can forward stuff en mass. And even then it’s usually deleted.
  2. BCC line. I gave YOU my email address, I didn’t give the 75 other people in your network my email address. Nothing will make me delete emails from you faster.
  3. “Open this attachment.” We all want people to click the link to read more, or open the attachment for more details. But give me the basics in the body of the email you thoughtfully crafted (“I’m excited to invite you to my workshop on June 2nd at 10 AM in Bellevue, more details and a link to register are at this link/in the attached flyer”)
  4. Asterisks, exclamation points & emojis- STOP IT!!! (see what I did there?). Alright I am the first to say that I do NOT understand emojis. And unless you’re a tween girl, they aren’t appropriate. Just because your AOL account allows them, doesn’t mean they are business professional. Sure, use images in your newsletter or blog posts, but I don’t need hearts and smily faces in my business correspondence.
  5. Your Email address: if you can own your own business and can afford the $10 URL, you can afford to set up a business email address. [email protected] (or AOL, Gmail, etc.) is not appropriate. [email protected] shows me you are in this business for the long haul and I might listen to what you have to say.

These simple tips will help save you from yourself and may even help you grow your business in the process!

3 Things I Hate About Your Newsletter

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ydc-newsletter-banner-2-14I’ve been doing a lot of work on client newsletters lately. Sprucing them up, editing content, making sure the formatting and layout are clean and match their individual brands. Here’s a few things I’ve noticed about newsletters you may want to think about before scheduling your next one…

  1. It’s Totally Canned. Sure, you have resources available to you through another company or you’re in direct sales and have a template to follow. That’s great, but make sure you personalize your newsletter. Make it look like you spent more than 30 seconds forwarding it along. I have a friend who’s in direct sales, and she doesn’t have much wiggle room, but there’s always a personal note at the top of that and often an upcoming event she invites folks to.
  2. Don’t over think it. Write your newsletter, sleep on it, read it again. If it all still sounds good to you, go ahead and schedule it to send out. I can rack up a pretty big invoice for a client because they’re over thinking every piece of content that went into it. Relax, we’re all human, and we like to see when others are too. Hit the spell check button, and maybe run it past a friend to make sure you aren’t nuts in your content, but my guess is it’s just fine. Don’t over think it.
  3. Brand it! “my monthly newsletter” isn’t a great subject line. update it monthly. Make sure your colors are the colors in your logo (yes you can use the color codes!) Make sure all the fonts are the same and the same size (or correct variations). DON’T YELL AT US. Your newsletter should be an extension of the work you do, it should feel like an extension of everything else you send out and do. Spend a little time setting up a good template, a PROFESSIONALLY designed header and making sure it looks like something you’re proud of. If you do this once, you’re set moving forward, I promise.