This is the top of my monthly e-newsletter that I sent out in June. We send these out at the end of each month to re-cap what has happened in the past month at Melissa Jill Photography.
Today I'm continuing my series on Workflow for Photographers and sharing another one of my "bells & whistles" -- one of the added extras that can really help take your business to the next level. If you want to browse the rest of the workflow series to get caught up, click here!
For the past 8 years I have blogged an average of 3-4 times per week. I put a TON of work into my blog. And it's well worth it -- blogging has done wonders for my business. I've taught entire workshops on how valuable it is. But only about 50% of Americans read blogs. How do we as photographers reach out to those who aren't in the habit of following blogs and keep them connected and engaged with our brands?
The monthly e-newsletter is a great solution. It's my way of delivering the goodness of my blog in a pretty little package straight into their inbox. I've been sending out monthly newsletters for 7 years now and I still get people commenting on a monthly basis that they receive them and love them. This simple tool is SO valuable for keeping you and your business at the forefront of people's minds.
If you're a photographer, it may seem like just one more thing to add to your list of things to do. But here's the secret: There is no unique content in my newsletters. It's all basically copied and pasted from my blog posts that month. So people who read my blog on a regular basis will be bored. But, it's not intended for them. It's intended for the people who DON'T read my blog.
Throughout the newsletter, I give small teasers along with beautiful images, all intended to entice the reader to click on the links that direct them to the full posts on my blog. My hope is that they catch up on my blog once a month and then find themselves checking in on the blog on their own -- without the nudge of the newsletter. It's all about creating blog readers and customer evangelists out of those who have shown interest in me and my business.
So, who do we send the newsletter to? Initially, I added my family and friends to the list. We add any clients, vendors and wedding planners we work with along with wedding guests who sign up on the little half sheets of paper that we put out at receptions indicating they want to see the photos online. Individuals also have the ability to sign up to receive my newsletter on my website. So we get a good number of photographers signing up there as well. Over the years, our newsletter database has grown to 5000+.
There are a number of great e-newsletter services out there. We have used Constant Contact and Emma in the past, but currently use Infusionsoft -- and really love it. The great thing about Infusionsoft is that it does SO MUCH more than just email newsletters -- it's a super powerful tool that I'll try to share more about in the future. Infusionsoft allows you to easily format your email newsletters to fit your branding. All of these services help you organize your database and also make it easy for people to opt-out of receiving your emails if they'd like.
If you don't already do so, I'd highly recommend sending out a monthly newsletter. It's a great thing to do to maximize the reach of your blog, build your brand and increase and solidify your network. If you'd like to sign up to receive my monthly newsletter, you can do so here!
Today I'm continuing my series on Workflow for Photographers and sharing another one of my "bells & whistles" -- one of the added extras that can really help take your business to the next level. If you want to browse the rest of the workflow series to get caught up, click here!
For the past 8 years I have blogged an average of 3-4 times per week. I put a TON of work into my blog. And it's well worth it -- blogging has done wonders for my business. I've taught entire workshops on how valuable it is. But only about 50% of Americans read blogs. How do we as photographers reach out to those who aren't in the habit of following blogs and keep them connected and engaged with our brands?
The monthly e-newsletter is a great solution. It's my way of delivering the goodness of my blog in a pretty little package straight into their inbox. I've been sending out monthly newsletters for 7 years now and I still get people commenting on a monthly basis that they receive them and love them. This simple tool is SO valuable for keeping you and your business at the forefront of people's minds.
If you're a photographer, it may seem like just one more thing to add to your list of things to do. But here's the secret: There is no unique content in my newsletters. It's all basically copied and pasted from my blog posts that month. So people who read my blog on a regular basis will be bored. But, it's not intended for them. It's intended for the people who DON'T read my blog.
Throughout the newsletter, I give small teasers along with beautiful images, all intended to entice the reader to click on the links that direct them to the full posts on my blog. My hope is that they catch up on my blog once a month and then find themselves checking in on the blog on their own -- without the nudge of the newsletter. It's all about creating blog readers and customer evangelists out of those who have shown interest in me and my business.
So, who do we send the newsletter to? Initially, I added my family and friends to the list. We add any clients, vendors and wedding planners we work with along with wedding guests who sign up on the little half sheets of paper that we put out at receptions indicating they want to see the photos online. Individuals also have the ability to sign up to receive my newsletter on my website. So we get a good number of photographers signing up there as well. Over the years, our newsletter database has grown to 5000+.
There are a number of great e-newsletter services out there. We have used Constant Contact and Emma in the past, but currently use Infusionsoft -- and really love it. The great thing about Infusionsoft is that it does SO MUCH more than just email newsletters -- it's a super powerful tool that I'll try to share more about in the future. Infusionsoft allows you to easily format your email newsletters to fit your branding. All of these services help you organize your database and also make it easy for people to opt-out of receiving your emails if they'd like.
If you don't already do so, I'd highly recommend sending out a monthly newsletter. It's a great thing to do to maximize the reach of your blog, build your brand and increase and solidify your network. If you'd like to sign up to receive my monthly newsletter, you can do so here!
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