Best resources to learn about email newsletters

If you publish email newsletters for profit, absolutely read this Case Study to pick up some tips on how SmartBrief was able to make sales in a lousy economy.Includes details on how they grow their lists, pick marketplaces to launch in, manage editorial, and sell ads.

Right up there with "kill your darlings" and "write what you know" is the classic advice to write for just one person. Kurt Vonnegut called this the "secret of artistic unity." He believed that "every successful creative person creates with an audience of one in mind."

It was fall 2005, and Ben Lerer and Adam Rich, both semi-recent graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, were ready to send out the first installment of their email newsletter, a New York City guide for guys entitled Thrillist . Rich turned to Lerer. "How do we send it?" he asked.

Chances are there's an e-newsletter (or ten) in your inbox right now. Hmmm. Is there an opportunity there? Do you see a burning need for, say, a lifestyle recommendation engine for young urban males? Daily financial tips and inspiration for independent young women? Trusted, seasoned advice for entrepreneurs from other entrepreneurs?

By Amanda Maksymiw published December 22, 2011 In their latest book, Managing Content Marketing , Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose explain that content marketing is an excellent way to build passionate subscribers to your brand. And what company wouldn't want that?

A lot of people will tell you that sending newsletters isn't worth the effort. They'll say it's time consuming, expensive, and doesn't provide enough of a return on investment. I disagree. Newsletters are a versatile and inexpensive way to reach your audience and deliver a targeted message.

Many dismiss copywriting as something that ad agency people do. Truthfully, all of us need to pay close attention to copywriting if we want to achieve our business objectives. The goal of a "regular" text is to inform or entertain.

Email newsletters are more important than ever. If you want to reach potential and existing customers, they're a great way to spread the word about upcoming projects, company news, and other business-related information to a large audience.

Best Practices in Writing Email Subject Lines The best email subject lines are short, descriptive and provide the reader with a reason to explore your message further. Trying to stand out in the inbox, by using splashy or cheesy phrases, will invariably result in your email being ignored.

At the beginning of the year (2010), I started a newsletter here on SPI and used an eBook I wrote, eBooks the $mart Way , as a free gift to help generate more leads. Three months later, I now have over 2,250 people signed up for the newsletter and it averages about 30 new subscribers a day.

We recently posted a presentation on best practices in email marketing. These tips are contrary to what you might hear from so-called email marketing experts and stem from stats that we've analyzed within our email ad network.