There is so much advice about how to grow subscribers for your newsletter. I think I’ve bookmarked most of it, but I haven’t actually adhered to much of the advice.
I’ve done some of the traditional techniques to grown my list such as writing white papers to capture leads, but I’m not sure it’s doing anything to help my business.
While more people on my list helps spread my content, I don’t know if actually brings me in any additional business. I’m happy that lots of people subscribe and I invite you to subscribe as well. But I’ve yet to have a case where a person I’ve never met subscribed to Spark Notes*, reached out to me, and then purchased my company’s services. I’d like that to happen, but it simply doesn’t.
What does happen is people I’ve met before through conferences, trade shows, and I start to build a relationship, and part of that relationship building requires me maintaining a twice-a-month communication via my Spark Notes* newsletter (see most recent issue). We try to supply them with tips and advice and show them some really cool stuff we’re doing at Spark Media Solutions. It’s simply a way to keep our brand and name top of mind and showcase what we’re doing all while providing some value to the reader.
If Spark Notes* is to succeed as a relationship and brand building effort, I’m going to have to focus more on the content of the newsletter, even more so now than I have before. As fellow journalist Christopher Null said to me, “If you just focus on great content, everything else will fall into place.” That’s what I’m hoping for.
For more, read “I could just unsubscribe from your mailing list, but I’d rather be a jackass.”
Creative Commons photo attribution to Christopher S. Penn.
