Ten tips for not getting trashed

This is your audience.  Really.

So what do you do about this situation?

Here are ten tips to avoid getting trashed:

1. Think before you send.  Do you have the right audience, right message and right time for that message?  Not sure?  Then freeze!  Put down the postal meter slowly and take your finger off that send button.  Don’t waste your time—or your audience’s.

2. Send to people who want to receive your message.  You could buy a ginormous list of cold prospects or focus on a carefully built list of people who care.  You’ll do much better with the latter group, who have given you permission to communicate with them.  They will be far less likely to consider you trash.

3. Focus your message on your audience’s interests, aspirations and desires rather than your own need for money.  It will work better.

4. Keep it simple - too many ideas and too much text will get you trashed. 

5. Get to the point in spectacular fashion, in the first few words.  The headline of your envelope or the subject line of your email needs to seize the audience’s attention.  Don’t ever bury the lead.  (A good trick that usually works - throw out your first paragraph.)

6. Offer something of value to the reader—helpful tips, for example.  Those are likely to be saved, not trashed.  People will think of you in a favorable way.

7. Segment and personalize.  The more the missive speaks to the receiver as an individual, the more likely they will perceive it as something other than spammy slop.

8.  Be different.  People are drowning in (e)mail.  Whether it’s the shape of your envelope, the tone of your message or the startling honesty of your subject line, a standout element is required.

9. Make the call to action so incredibly easy to do, people just can’t say no.  Strive for a one-click or one-second level of ease.

10.  Make it easy for people to unsubscribe or get off your mailing list.  Listen to Dr. Wilson and include an unsubscribe button—or a prepaid postcard allowing people to tell you they don’t want your mail or prefer different kind of communication (a feature you could advertise on the outside of the envelope).  Getting that kind of postcard would amaze and delight me!