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Dear ***,
 You know the importance of sending email communications with quality content, but with all you have to do, it can be a challenge to figure out what to write about or when to write at all.
If that sounds familiar, then this Hints & Tips is the issue for you. This month, our focus is on content, specifically what to write and what to do when you don't want to write. Our featured experts, John Arnold and Lisa Sparks, offer some great tips for producing quality content without spending a lot of time or resources.
Also, you can get your content questions answered by the experts! John, Lisa, and I, along with host Heidi Tobias, will answer your questions in a live webinar on February 26. Do you have a question you want us to answer? Send it our way.
We made some changes to Hints & Tips last month based on readers' feedback. We now offer two articles each month by different Constant Contact® experts as well as product tips and updates. Hints & Tips is designed to give you everything you need to succeed with email marketing. Please tell us what you think about the changes.
Lovingly (in light of Valentine's Day),
Editor, Hints & Tips e-Newsletters
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In this Issue of Hints & Tips
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 Writing Content People Will Beg For
Three ideas to keep your e-newsletter content fresh
By John Arnold, Constant Contact Regional Development Director, Colorado, and Author of E-Mail Marketing for Dummies
Contacting the subscribers on your email list is easy. Getting them to pay attention isn't. When people subscribe to your list, they share personal information with the expectation of receiving something valuable, if not awe inspiring. No pressure, right?
The good news is you can give them what they want and you don't have to be a professional writer to do it. In this article, I offer three ideas to make it easy to write content that is in high demand.
1) Be an Expert
If you own a business, you're an expert. At least, that's what your customers believe. Even if you don't think of yourself as a leading authority, you certainly know more about your business than your customers do. Use your newsletter as a platform to solidify your expert status by providing credible advice and information.
Share your knowledge with your customers. The easiest
topics to write about are the ones that you know well. Because you live
and breathe your business, you have insights and information that your
customers don't. Build your credibility by providing advice on timely
issues that can help them in their daily lives. For example, a company
that sells motorcycles might give their readers advice about riding in
the wintertime, while a tax accountant may include tips for preparing
taxes in January.
Get more ideas for writing content
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 When You Don't Want to WriteTips for building a robust e-newsletter with minimal writing
By Lisa Sparks, Constant Contact Regional Development Director, South Florida
Does the thought of writing email newsletter content leave your palms sweating like they did when you were in Ms. Smith's composition class? If so, then have no fear. This article offers three content creation ideas that require little to no writing on your part.
Best of all, they're quick and low-hassle techniques you can use to consistently create content your audience will love. If you publish on a regular basis, you'll be positioned as an expert in your field and the benefits of email marketing will flow your way.
Here's how to use these content creation ideas for your next email newsletter:
1) Collectible Content
Gather five articles from the web that are related to your industry and the interests of your subscribers. Provide a brief description of each article followed by the link to the article. This is a fast and easy way to fill your newsletter with quality content. All you have to do is share your opinion. It's that simple.
Get more ideas for e-newsletter content
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Give Your Email Communications a Longer Life
With Constant Contact's Email Archive option, your emails can be viewed online long after you've sent them. All this for just $5 a month. To add Email Archive to your SpeakUp!SM Email Marketing account, log in and click on the "Emails" tab, then on the "Archive" link.
Learn more about Email Archive |
On ConnectUp!
Read questions and advice from others like you on these forums:
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New to Hints & Tips?
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Bella of Cape Cod
Trendy, affordable jewelry store uses email marketing to bolster website sales and support local charities
Since 2004, Bella of Cape Cod has offered quality, stylish jewelry and accessories at fantastic prices, leaving customers chanting the store's tagline: "Can You Stand it?" Started by two stay-at-home moms, Catherine Bean and Megan Murphy, Bella of Cape Cod sells its wares for under $25.
Challenge: Competing and Communicating Year Round
Catherine and Megan started selling jewelry at house parties but soon discovered that the realities of work, family life, and Cape Cod's quiet off-season limited the number of parties they could hold. They came up with a fresh idea: "virtual" parties hosted by seasonal customers on the store's website. What they needed was a low-cost tool to market this new opportunity to their customers.
"We understood the value of customer communications. In fact, we collected our customers' email information from day one; we just didn't understand how to execute a successful email campaign," Catherine says. "When we did email blasts, they were very unprofessional-looking and the emails would bounce back because of our web provider's restrictions. We'd have to split the blasts into groups, which was time consuming and ineffective."
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Do you have an email marketing success story?
Share it with us, and you may be featured on Constant Contact's website or in Hints & Tips.
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"How to" Tips for SpeakUp!SM Email Marketing
Have you visited Constant Contact's Support Blog? It's full of all kinds of tidbits that will help you use Constant Contact more successfully. Read a few of the posts and learn something new about what you can do with SpeakUp! Email Marketing.
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What's New with Constant Contact
Valentine's Day Templates
February 14 is Valentine's Day. Show some love to your subscribers by sending them a Valentine's Day-themed promotion, invite, or newsletter.
View our Valentine's Day templates
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