Writing my newsletter is one of the most joyful parts of my business—not only because I love writing, but also because it connects me to you, my readers. Business can be a lonely thing, and I’ve learned that my words can be encouraging to someone just when they need it.
Creating connection between yourself and your newsletter audience is also a great way to turn subscribers into fans.
In this post, I share 3 of my favourite ways of connecting with your newsletter audience. I also share how my popular self-paced course Small business newsletter magic helps you to do this and much more
Join the newsletter club for more like this
Sign up with your email address to receive strategies, experiments and tips to create a slow, gentle and profitable business–no hustle, no hacks.
Make it personal
Showing your personality in your newsletter is a great way of connecting with your audience, and of showing that there’s a human behind your newsletter. And you don’t have to be more personal than you’re comfortable with. We all have boundaries, and you can honour those and still be authentic.
There are certainly things I don’t share, but I’m showing up completely as myself in my newsletter. I’d say that those of you reading this newsletter regularly, get a good sense of who I am—of what is important to me, of what I like to do.
💌 In the first module of Small business newsletter magic I help you add personality to your newsletter. Check out an excerpt from the module here.
Making your newsletter personal
- share an anecdote, or a story: my clients Amy Alpert and Celia Cain, PhD are both great at sharing anecdotes that tie in with larger stories;
- share favourites or something that you’ve enjoyed: not only is it a joy to share something you enjoyed, it also creates a point of connection (“they like reading thrillers too!”).
There is a slower, gentler and more profitable way of running your business.
Discover your way of doing your business with my 1:1 mentoring support.
No hacks, no hustle.
Instead: marketing and launching that is slow, gentle and gets results. Clear boundaries and priorities that encourage you to live a life next to your business. Accountability and support to help you create the live and business you crave.
Ask your readers a question
Asking a question in you newsletters is a great way of encouraging connection—even if your readers don’t reply. I ask questions in most of my regular newsletters, and even include one in my welcome email to which new subscribers can reply.
A question is an invitation for people to respond and tell me their thoughts, but also a way of making people think and reflect. This also goes for suggesting experiments, for asking readers to notice something, like Zabby does in her Nature Notice Board.
Share a resource
If you write a newsletter, or have signed up for other people’s newsletters, you’re no doubt familiar with lead magnets, also called freebies.
A lead magnet is a free resource (sometimes also a discount) that subscribers get in return for their email address. For us as small business owners, it can be a way of growing our newsletter list.
But even more so, a lead magnet or freebie is an excellent way of creating connection, of giving people a taster of what working with you or buying from you is like—and that’s why free resources are also a great thing to share with your current audience.
The main job of your lead magnet is not to grow your newsletter list. It’s to give your audience a taster of the work you do.
When it comes to lead magnets, I get asked one of two questions most frequently:
- Do I need a lead magnet in order to grow my newsletter list?
- How do I create a lead magnet? I don’t know what kind of lead magnet to create (especially those running a product-based business).
The answer to the first question is short and simple: you don’t need a lead magnet to grow your newsletter list.
Growing a newsletter list is not about developing the perfect lead magnet: it’s about being really clear about the purpose of your newsletter, and making it easy for your potential audience to sign up to it (as I also explore in Small business newsletter magic).
If you feel stuck for ideas on creating a lead magnet, these are some of my favourites:
- What do you enjoy talking about when it comes to your business? If you’re already writing a newsletter, which topics are most popular?
- What do you get the most questions about? For example, marketing without social media is something I’ve been doing myself for almost 4 years, and I get so many questions about it that I created a free email series on moving your business away from social media. If you have a product-based business, you might get questions on how to care for your products.
- Do you have an existing resource or product that you can share in full, or in part? Do you frequently share resources with clients and customers that you can turn into a lead magnet?
Free resources like lead magnets are also an excellent way of nurturing your existing audience, and giving your current readers a little extra love—and helping them decide whether working with you or buying from you is right for them.
Remember: you are creating connection even if no one replies. Dealing with the feeling of writing into the void is something I offer lots of encouragement on in Small business newsletter magic too—it’s normal to feel this way, and even if no one replies, I can pretty much guarantee that someone has enjoyed your newsletter, and has been moved by it in some way.
💌 The lead magnet workshop goes deep into creating lead magnets: from deciding whether you need one, generating ideas for both service-based and product-based businesses, using lead magnets to grow your newsletter list and any waitlists, and how to share it so people can discover it. The workshop is included in Small business newsletter magic, and is also available for paid subscribers of my newsletter Female Owned here.
I’d love to know what resonates with you from this post.
Please feel free to share this post it with business friends, in your newsletter or elsewhere. 💛
I’d love to support you in all phases of your business. Providing clarity, focus and next steps is something that my clients tell me I’m really good at. If you’re curious about how we can work together through 1:1 mentoring, check out what I offer or send me an email–no strings attached. I have payment plans available, and flexible options for mentoring calls.
Join the newsletter club for more like this
Sign up with your email address to receive strategies, experiments and tips to create a slow, gentle and profitable business–no hustle, no hacks.