Build the perfect body for your emails

Most emails sent today are HTML which carries an extra benefit – the hyperlink.

This little fella allows you to direct your reader to a website for further information or an opportunity to immediately buy or sign up to an offer.

But if your email is to be interesting you will need to make sure it is appealing to your reader.

1. Be friendly. Write as you would a letter – use a salutation, if you can, personalise it with the recipient’s name. This adds a personal touch and begins to build a relationship. Always remember to close it in a professional way too.
2. Communicate in a glance. A solid wall of text isn’t going to be very appealing. Use headings and subheadings to allow the reader to see at a glance what information the email holds.
3. Don’t make them wait to the end. You will want to include within your email a link to your offer, but don’t leave it until the end. Buy incorporating it within the email several times you are allowing your reader to click through to it as soon as they have made their buying decision.
4. Short and sweet. There are times when you’ll want to communicate a lot of information to your reader, but sending an incredibly long email is a no no. Give them a taster of what you want them to know and then ask them to click for more information. That link can them take them through to your website or blog where the full article is shown.
5. Benefits and features. As in your website copy and sales letters, make sure you add in your features and benefits. You don’t have to include everything, just the most important ones in relation to what you are writing about.
6. Don’t forget the opt-out. Always, always, always include your opt-out link in all your email communications.

Finally, don’t forget, your emails don’t always have to sell.

To enhance your relationship with your customers use them to also share information that might be useful to them. By giving away free hints and tips you’ll help build trust and credibility and strengthen your relationship.

I collate the feed from each of the Blogs I susbscribe to, together in a feed aggregator which for me is Google Reader. This handy little tool means I can pick and choose which Blog post to read at any particular time through a single web page without having to keep revisiting each Blog site that I subscribe to to check for updates. In this way feed aggregators are a great time-saving application.

So Much Choice

However, when faced with so many Blog headlines in my Reader, I have decision to make: which particular post, if any, do I read first over another? As you’ve probably figured, its the post’s headline that helps me decide. Think about your daily newspaper, which article’s do you read first? The ones where the headline grabs your attention right?

Motivate Your Readers

So if you regularly write posts for your own Blog, how do you make sure people are drawn to your posts and are suitably motivated to read them?

The answer is good headline writing.

So with this in mind, here are my  top 10, dead cert headline writing techniques for good, attention grabbing headlines for your Blog posts:

1. Who Else Wants [blank]?
   Starting a headline with “Who Else Wants…” is a classic sales strategy that implies there is already an existing desire for something and tends to prompt an “I do” or “Me too” response.
   • Who Else Wants a Successful Website?
   • Who Else Wants a Higher Paying Job?
   • Who Else Wants More Fun and Less Stress Whilst on Holiday?
2. The Secret of [blank]
   This one is used quite a lot, but that’s because it works. Share insider knowledge about a particular subject and translate it into a benefit for the reader.
   • The Secret of Successful Marketing
   • The Secret of Dressing for Success
   • The Secret of Keeping Solvent in a Recession
3. Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
   Simply identify your target audience and the benefit you can provide them, and fill in the blanks.
   • Here is a Method That is Helping Homeowners Save Money on Insurance
   • Here is a Method That is Helping the Self-Employed to Lower their Tax Bills
   • Here is a Method That is Helping Bloggers Write Better Post Headlines
4. Little Known Ways to [blank]
   A more intriguing (and less common) way of achieving the same thing as “The Secret of…” headline above.
   • Little Known Ways to Save on Your Gas Bills
   • Little Known Ways to Build Visitors to Your Website
   • Little Known Ways to Lose Weight Quickly and Safely
5. Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All
   A classic formula that identifies either a painful problem or an unfulfilled desire that the reader wants to remedy.
   • Get Rid of Your Time Wasting Habits Once and For All
   • Get Rid of That Bad Breath Once and For All
   • Get Rid of SPAM Once and For All
6. Here’s a Quick Way to [solve a problem]
   People love quick and easy routes to solving a niggling problem that they may have.
   • Here’s a Quick Way to Get Over a Hangover
   • Here’s a Quick Way to Make More Money
   • Here’s a Quick Way to Manage Your Employees
7. Now You Can Have [something desirable] [great circumstance]
   The is the classic “have your cake and eat it too” headline — a great motivator.
   • Now You Can Quit Your Job and Make Even More Money
   • Now You Can Lose Weight and Still Eat What You Want
   • Now You Can Own That Dream Car for the Same Cost as Your Old One
8. [Do something] like [world-class example]
   This one uses high achievers or celebrates that people may aspire as examples of where the reader ‘can be’ if they read your post.
   • Speak French Like a Native
   • Party Like Guns and Roses
   • Tweet Like Stephen Fry
9. Have a [or] Build a [blank] You Can Be Proud Of
   Appeals to vanity, dissatisfaction, or shame.
   • Build a Design Portfolio You Can Be Proud Of
   • Have a Smile You Can Be Proud Of
   • Build a Network You Can Be Proud Of
10. What Everybody Should Know About [blank]
    Big curiosity draw with this type of headline as it acts almost as a challenge to the reader to go ahead and see if they are missing something.
    • What Everybody Should Know About Writing Great Headlines
    • What Everybody Should Know About Variable Rate Mortgage
    • What Everybody Should Know About Employing Staff

So there you have it, ten great tips for writing attention grabbing headlines for your blog posts. What’s stopping you?