Following on from that I wrote a quick 7 point list
showing the reasons why writing narrow email messages
will increase you response rate and make your communication
more effective

1)  Narrow Messages Are Easier To Read

A narrow  message  allows you to scan through it  quickly.  Your message can be absorbed in a single glance. The foveal vision in our eyes can only see detail in a small  area of the screen; Everything on the periphery is ignored. Peripheral vision is designed to detect movement.  Always be  respectful of human physiology.

2) We Are  Conditioned  To  Read Newspaper Columns And Magazine Print

Our  brains are already trained to read things in this format so make your messages feel  familiar, Observe the style of your favourite print newspaper or magazine and replicate it in your messages

3) People Have A Limited amount Of Time And  Attention

By making your message brief and to the point you are respecting peoples time. If you don’t grab peoples attention in the first 3 seconds you will lose them so summarize your whole email in the first sentence so busy people can decide if they want to read further

4) Mobile Devices Will Be The New Way People Consume Information On The Internet

Ipod,  Iphone, Nokia N95,  Amazon Kindle;  A whole new generation of technology is awaiting  adoption by the mainstream, look ahead and make sure you can communicate across the platforms of choice

5) As People Get  Older Their Eyesight Can Degenerate

The number of older people using the internet is increasing.  Don’t alienate a huge potential audience. Use large sans serif fonts  and  choose 14 or 16 point text. For someone with poor eyesight a well formatted email made up of short sentences is much easier to read than a huge block of text

6) You Can Take Total Control Of Your Formatting.

Using hard carriage returns ensures your message will be read exactly  as you intended it to be on any browser and in any device.  If you are using embedded hypnotic commands and emotional triggers this can be crucial to their effect and overall impact

7) You Want People To Take Action

You want people to read your  message  and know  what you want them to do next. Top marketers usually  convey the essence of their entire message in the opening sentence followed by an immediate call to action. they include several links at different places and  they use services like tinyurl.com to make their links shorter and more attractive.

Share With Your Friends
If you enjoyed this post please share it with your friends, you might also consider subscribing to my full RSS feed so you never miss a future post

Follow Me
Be sure to check out the rest of my blog
http://www.iandavidchapman.com
And follow me on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/iandavidchapman

This post was inspired by a Marketing Online Live Podcast  from Paul Colligan and Alex Mandossian. I Love Ed Dale in case you were wondering and hope he has a good sense of humour

Technorati Tags: alex mandossian, Ed Dale, email marketing, Longform, ShortForm

This article explores why
The width of  your
Email messages is so important
And will explain why
Changes in technology are
Forcing marketers to  change
The way they communicate,

The Gurus Style
Have you ever noticed that the
Top  Internet Marketing
Gurus  format their emails
In a  similar way?

Do you understand
Their  Reasons for  doing this
Or do you just think they
Like writing in short sentences?

Have you ever wondered?

Why they are making their messages
Briefer and more direct?

Why Skinny is Better Than Wide?

As you start to  change
the way you communicate
your  messages will

Have More IMPACT,
Get opened more often
And your readers will listen
To what you have to say

Some experts like Alex Mandosian
Claim that 25-40 characters is the ideal
Width and that you need to end each
Line with a hard carriage return. If
Someone sends him a message that isn’t
Formatted in the style that he expects
It just goes straight in the trash

Others like Ed Dale don’t bother so much and  go for up to 70 Characters. Anyone who has ever watched any of Ed’s videos will know that he likes to ramble on a bit, So I guess the people who follow him have got used to his style of presentation and enjoy his  emails.

Just How wide is 25 Characters?

Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

And How Wide is 40 Characters?

Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

As you can see it varies so choose
A width that is equivalent to
25-40 repetitions of the letter “a”

What Happens If  You Are Too Wide?
If you choose to write long sentences with really  wide paragraphs and not include any formatting  and just continue  without any regard for the fact that people will find it more difficult to read what you’ve written and if you are one of the few people who actually read a paragraph that is so long and doesn’t even pause for any breath  by the time you get to end you have forgotten what the author was talking about because you are concentrating so hard to read all the words that they’ve written that you can’t actually understand anything and by the time you get to this far  in the paragraph you are already so bored because the author hasn’t been able to get to the point and express what they meant to say  and ended up  repeating themselves . If they don’t  get to the point and express what they meant to say  and end up  repeating themselves you might even decide to press the back button on your browser and go and give your attention to something that is a little easier and doesn’t make you work so hard and if you have managed to stay this long then you must either be a die hard fan or just one of those people who doesn’t like to miss any details,  I would guess that maybe only 20% of my readers  actually made it this far down the paragraph and the rest skipped to the next bit

Did You Skip That Last Paragraph?
If you did then you are like most normal people,
When you see a big mass of text you tend to ignore it
And skip on to the next bit, you probably read the
first two sentences and maybe the last

Write In A Way That Is Easy To Digest
Its easy to lose interest  and
decide that its time to leave
If you want to engage people you have to
Write in away that makes it easy  to digest
Write in  small chunks and
Make sure  that it’s well formatted
and includes bolded subheadings

Change Your Habits Now
Where will the Internet be in 5 years time?
Things are changing so rapidly that you
Need to start adopting the right habits
Now and not sometime in the future

Technology Is Leading The Way

There is a whole new generation who will consume
The internet via  handheld devices like the iphone,
Ipod, nokia N95, Amazon Kindle etc.

You only have to notice the increased use
Of micro blogging platforms and video sites
to understand the way thing are moving

Will  your message and content translate to this
New medium or will you just become part of
The background noise?

Size Limitations
These devices tend to have small, narrow screens
so you don’t want to force people to scroll
across to be able to read your message.

The Essence Of Your Message
If you have a call to action and include a link,
place it where it can be easily seen  straight after
The opening sentences. You can grab more
people this way. Those who want to read more
can scroll down.  Those who don’t can still get the
Essence of your message in a quick glance.

This post was inspired by a Marketing Online Live Podcast  from Paul Colligan and Alex Mandossian

Technorati Tags: email, email marketing, Longform, marketing, Online Marketing, ShortForm

Great wisdom has been known to come from the mouths of babes. So if you’re seeking the keys to good email marketing, you might look in the same place. And you wouldn’t be wrong.

Small One, the toddler, holds the keys to good email marketing in her grubby little fist. We asked her to share them with you, and since she knows the importance of sharing with friends, she gave us a sticky thumbs up.

Throw Tigger Out of the Tub

It’s bathtime, and Small One is collecting water from the bathtub faucet in her cup. Then her Tigger toy floats into the cup, interrupting her hard work. She’s harvesting less water with each scoop.

Small One knows how to handle the problem. “No, no, no!” she scolds, and Tigger is cast out of the tub.

Instead of water, you’re scooping up a flood of subscriber response. If something in your campaign dams the waters, get rid of it!

Find out what works and what doesn’t by keeping an eye on your reports. Subscribes, opens, clicks, complaints, sales and unsubscribes show you what to keep around and what to throw out with the bathwater.

Clean Up Your Messes

Grapes smash into the carpet as Small One experiments with the effects of stomping. Then she notices the mess. She runs to Mommy, points to the grapes and carefully pronounces, “Uh-oh!”

This is the day Small One learns how to use the “tash an” (trash can).

We all make mistakes. We may send out an email with broken fields or accidentally send to the wrong list. We don’t realize the problem until we see the mess it makes.

If this happens to you, ‘fess up and clean up. Follow these tips from the Email Zoo on apologizing with penance and panache.

If You Mean Banana, Say Banana

Mommy asks, “Want to eat?” Small One says, “NO.”

Mommy asks, “Have some breakfast?” Small One says, “NO.”

Mommy asks, “Time for food?” Small One says, “NO.”

Mommy asks, “Banana?” Small One says, “NANA. Yumm.”

When collecting subscriptions to your newsletter, be very specific. Are you offering a free chapter of an e-book? A 5-lesson series? All of the above, plus a lifetime of promotional emails?

When you spell out exactly what you’re offering, you’ll get subscribers who want exactly that.

Bark at Your Canine Friends

When Small One sees a small friend (or a large friend, or a stranger), she merrily calls, “Hewwo!”

But when Small One sees a dog (or a cat, or a squirrel), she knows better. She greets them with, “Wuf, wuf!”

In the same way, speak your subscribers’ language. Some of your readers may revel in gobbledygook specific to your topic. Others may not even want to deal with the word “gobbledygook.”

So find out what wording works. What do you know about your readers? For inspiration, check out Chris Brogan’s advice on simplifying your language.

Come up with a few options, then split test them in your broadcasts and web forms. Eventually, you’ll get a good feel for what works.

Dance to the Music

When she hears Beyonce or Jason Mraz, Small One can’t help bopping and swaying. She grooves with passion, and it’s infectious.

Think about your business. What about it makes you want to dance? How does it bring you joy?

Take this example from Woot, the “one day, one deal” e-store. They got excited about their recent acquisition by Amazon, so they broke the news with a tongue-in-cheek rap to let customers share the fun.

When you get excited about your brand, readers will feel the thrill, too. So write your emails to the beat, and watch as others join in the dance.

What’s Your Kid-spiration?

What other ways can we learn about marketing from little munchkins?

Share your ideas below!

Technorati Tags: auto responder, aweber, email marketing, toddler

This video is the first 15 minutes of a 45 minute tutorial I made for my Traffic Voodoo clients.

It not only reveals my “email subject line rules” that every email marketer needs to follow in order to create compelling email subject lines that get opened…

I also give you two of my most recent, highest open rate email subject lines that have helped me make several hundred thousand dollars… in less than two weeks… steal them and use them in your own business… my gift to you.

Check out this video:

This epic blog post was taken from: http://www.undergroundtraininglab.com/1963/steal-my-best-converting-email-subject-lines-for-free/

Technorati Tags: Email Campaigns, email marketing, email subject line rule, internet marketing, Jeff Johnson, Online Marketing, Subject Lines, Traffic Voodoo, Underground Training Lab

First off, here’s a bit about my background.

I have a six-figure opt-in email list that I’ve built from various niche markets. So every subscriber opted-in; they gave me permission to send relevant information to their email inbox.

I’ve sent thousands of email messages with open rate tracking enabled. This has allowed me to comparatively review which email messages get opened and which emails don’t get opened.

Now remember, if you send your email list crappy spammy content then they’re not going to be opening your messages for long anyway…. and rightfully so.

Don’t do that.

However, if you have a track record of delivering valuable relevant content to your subscribers then these techniques will be beneficial.

Alrighty, so here’s a handful of my time-tested proven email subject title tactics that you can use right now to “get opened” more often.

Email Subject Title Tactics:

1. Punctuation (Mark The Spot)

Punctuation marks: quotations, brackets, hyphens, parenthesis, etc…

What’s so clever about all that?

Well, you can have a headline AND a call to action all in the same email subject title. You can have a ying and a yang. Plus your email message will be outstanding in a crowded inbox and much more likely to catch the reader’s eye first.

Here are some examples:

• “This is weird!”

• Six Pack Abs (No Crunches or Sit Ups)

• Solar Hybrid Supercar [PIC INSIDE]

2. The Promise of Visual Value: “Video”, “Picture”, “Clip”, etc…

I’ve found that most people just love opening emails with some sort of visual element in the subject title….period. This works across the board, no matter what your product or niche may be.

Go to Digg.com or Youtube.com to find popular niche related subject tiles that have “Video” or “Picture” in the title. You’ll find tons of great eye-catching ideas for any niche market.

Of course, it’s important to follow-through and deliver a video or picture that’s relevant to your subscriber’s interest. Make sure it’s something that they’ll find informative or enjoyable, preferably both.

Here are some examples of how to use visual elements in your email subject titles:

• Video Message w/ Kenny Powers

• JEDI YOGA (VIDEO CLIP)

• O_O (Seminar Pics)

3. Use Market Buzz Words To Spark Interest

Go to Google Insights or Google Alerts to find market buzz words that are targeted to your niche. These buzz words will spark your subscribers interest and propel them to open the email.

Be the first to tell them breaking news related to their market.

Here are some examples of using market buzz words in your email subject titles:

• YouTube in trouble?

• iPad (New Dieting App)

• Jeff Bridges’ guitar lesson

4. Cliffhangers – The Force Of Curiosity

Curiosity has opened a zillion and one emails. Use cliff hangers in your subject title to spark the interest of those scanning through their inbox.

Here are some universal examples:

• You know this guy?

• Never will happen again. EVER.

• LOOK (this is a good one)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

OK, that’s all for now, but I promise to share more with you very soon!

There are ways to increase your email open rates that have nothing at all to do with subject titles. Keep an eye on this section for more on that topic.

Stay tuned,

Mitch Sanders

P.S.- Use this information for the purposes of legitimate online marketing.  Make the Internet a better place for everyone.  In other words… be cool.

Technorati Tags: build an email list, email marketing, open rate