I subscribe to A LOT of newsletters. My fave way to get my day going and my brain flowing is to scroll through them every morning - most of the time, it’s a quick breeze-through and I delete many of them straight away. BUT if something catches my eye, I leave it in my inbox for a deeper dive later…and if there is something that seems like it will be useful for my own audiences (hey, that’s you!) I will either slack myself a link or star the email to read when I’m ready.
As a marketer, I’ve always believed in the effectiveness of a well-written, carefully curated newsletter sent with careful regularity - no matter the product, the service or the industry, I KNOW it’s an important part of pretty much any marketing mix.
So, when I cracked open Ann Handley’s newsletter this morning, ready to savor it because it’s one of my favorites and she’s a genius…I read it twice and then gave it a star - because I knew I needed too share it with you, the Real Estate community I love to help, because I know that some of you doubt the importance or effectiveness of an e-newsletter sent by Realtors to their people, and I’m here to convince you!
Subscribe to Ann’s newsletter, Total Annarchy.
Excerpt:
Three years ago this week—in January 2018—I decided to start this newsletter.
Why? I wanted connection—not one-to-many social media connection, but me-to-you direct connection.
Three years ago, I also realized a fundamental truth:
The most important part of the newsletter is the letter, not the news.
There were other, secondary reasons I thought of later—some much later.
I wanted the joy of making something that was 100% mine.
I wanted to understand how to build momentum with an email list (and truly understand, from the inside-out, what works).
I wanted to experiment, to play, to have fun. I wanted to feel a little more alive.
Does that feel like a ridiculously tall order for an email ferpetesake? Especially that last one?
If I wanted to fee alive... wouldn't it be less work to—I don't know—throw my hands in the air and hang out of the sunroof of a speeding vehicle LOL?
So here we are, 3 years later. I've written to you 78 times, never missing a single newsletter in my every-other-Sunday fortnight rotation. Not breaking the chain was important to me—more on that in a sec.
This list grew 2150% in 3 years, from 2,000-ish to 45,026.
So let's talk what I've learned, what matters in marketing, how to build an audience, and what's next.
Three years ago, I couldn't have imagined how deeply necessary connection would be now, in 2021's babyhood. (Hard to imagine that 2021 is still just a mewling newborn, considering how much drama and strife its little round eyes have seen already. But it is.)
Seven things I've learned:
1. Quality matters more than frequency. With some exceptions.
It takes me 8-ish hours to write and publish this newsletter. Is that a lot? I don't know, really. But it's how long it takes me.
That's why I publish only every two weeks: I can't chew up every weekend. Just every-other.
How often should you publish? I get this question a lot. There's no right answer. But for most people:
At a minimum, your newsletter should publish no less frequently than every two weeks (a fortnight). If you can manage it, publish it every week.
Monthly is too infrequent. It's too much time; subscribers will forget you. It'll be too hard to build momentum.
2. 'Write only when you have something to say' doesn't work.
The problem with that approach is that you will find excuses to not write.
It's an out. An alibi. You will decide that whatever you have a mind to say isn't very insightful after all, no one will miss you anyway, and you might as well sit on the couch inhaling Bridgerton.
And the problem is—you will be right. No one will miss you, because they won't haven grown to anticipate you. And you won't have trained yourself to gather and hoard ideas.
The gray squirrel outside my window right now doesn't sit around on his couch waiting to feel motivated to step outside and scratch scraps of decomposed acorns and other debris out of the hard winter ground; he heads out and digs around anyway.
The gray squirrel is spirit animal of newsletter writers. Be the gray squirrel!
Set a schedule. Stick to it. Don't break the chain. I am proud of you, Gray Squirrel, trawling the lawn out there in the cold morning light!
Some of my most popular newsletters (as measured by most read, most forwarded, most commented back) were written when I "had nothing to say." Like this one. And this one.
3. Looking up from your phone is the best way to find things to write about.
There's another reason the gray squirrel is the spirit animal of the newsletter writer: She's a world-class hoarder: She collects and stashes stuff away for when she needs it.
Writers collect and hoard ideas: seemingly unremarkable things that happen throughout the day, conversations overhead in line at the post office, a side comment by a colleague.
Look for connections between those ideas. Play out something you witnessed to a preposterous end.
Look up from your phone. Snap to. Pay attention.
Creativity comes when you are being pre-creative, as James Altucher says. Take intentional steps to notice things.
4. The fuel for your newsletter is not technology; it's writing that's entertaining + informative.
None of the rest matters if you don't get the writing right. The tech matters. The optimizing is important. But the writing matters above all.
The reason people will read it, love it, refer it... hinges on just one thing: What you say, along with how you say it.
Is that 2 things? Well, is a package of 2 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups two candy bars? Or is it one really superior one?
5. An email newsletter is not a distribution strategy, it's a relationship-builder.
When I talk about the importance of writing, I'm not talking about elegant prose and artful imagery. I'm talking about your honest voice. Your personality. Your point of view. That's what I mean by "letter" vs. "news."
You are showing who you are and how you think—not just what you think. Because although the second might attract an audience, it's the first two that will build a long-lasting relationship between reader and writer, between you and me.
Keep reading Total Annarchy.
Of course, as a Real Estate pro, there are thousands of different ways to create, publish and distribute an e-newsletter. To be honest, as long as it’s genuine and fresh and has relevant, valuable information, it doesn’t really matter that much how you do it - the WHY is the magic.
At West + Main, we create an e-newsletter every single Friday - it’s filled with news and info and listings and events and pretty things and interesting things and all the things. Our agents can send it as is, or they can customize it…but the most important thing is hitting that Send button every Friday.
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We also, as part of our commitment to serve the greater Real Estate community, publish a newsletter just for Agents.
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If you have questions about your e-newsletter strategy, or want to talk about how West + Main’s e-newsletter might help you nurture and grow your Real Estate business, contact me. I can’t wait to hear from you!
