Think about the email lists you’ve eagerly joined. Why? Who did they belong to?
I’ve happily joined the email list of podcasts that inspire me.
I’m happy to be part of my friend’s email lists… provided that they don’t email me too often.
And, I just happily joined the list of a favorite author. I want to know the second her next book comes out, so I can preorder it and get my hands on it.
What would it take to make someone eager to join YOUR email list? Or mine? When I think about what draws me in, it comes down to…
- Content that hooks. Whether the content is novels or a podcast or beautiful things that my friends create, I have to already be hooked before I’m willing to get emails.
- The promise of updates. Once I’m hooked, I don’t want to miss anything. I’m so invested in the content that I want news right in my inbox.
- Expecting reasonable content volume. If I’m excited to join an email list but then start getting emails every damn day, I am unsubscribing immediately.
That’s about it.
It comes down to content that hooks. How do you create that?
Content that Hooks is Not for Everyone
The key to remember is that if your content truly draws in some people, it will turn off many other people.
And if you want to draw in people with whom you’ll get along, the content that will hook them is the same kind of content that will hook you.
What hooks YOU? This is where I get a little scared. I think to myself, yeah, but the stuff that I love… there’s no way I could produce that. I’m too inexperienced/uncertain/it would be too much work/time, what if no one else even likes it anyway.
I have to sink into my empathy. I have to give myself a lot of time. You guys, I haven’t written to my email list in an embarrassing number of months because I’m scared I don’t have anything worth saying to them! And that’s because I haven’t given myself time to create with empathy, and imagine what I would want to hear, and then write that.
Content that Hooks is Consistent
But back to content that hooks. Magnetic content is consistent. I don’t sign up for an email list because the author wrote one book I like, or had a podcast but hasn’t posted a new episode since 2016.
I sign up because I’m reading a series, or I get new episodes weekly, or I want to make sure I don’t miss the next in-person event.
Your Content that Hooks
Think about it. If you were to create the kind of content that would reel YOU in, what would it be? What would you be sooo excited to receive in your inbox?
This post is part of my 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days series. View the rest here.
