Red Dog News

Increase Your Email Open Rate By Improving Your Subject Lines

Just like a direct sales letter, the subject line of your email is usually the most important part of getting your readers to actually read your email. If you have a compelling subject line the chance of your email improves dramatically.

According to a recent MarketingSherpa.com survey, 40% of email marketers said testing changes to just their subject line had a high impact on their return on investment (ROI). 45% said subject line changes accounted for a medium ROI and only 15% said that testing changes to their subject line results in a low ROI.

For every email you send you’ve got room for about 50 characters in your subject line so use them wisely to improve your open rates. Below are some tips to help improve your subject lines:

• Test the subject line: Take a look at email campaigns you’ve sent in the past. Which subject lines worked the best and gave you the highest open and conversion rates? You might find that for a particular topic there’s a general trend or subject style that resulted in higher open rates.

• The subject of importance: Try and put as much important and relevant information into your subject lines as possible. For example, if you’re sending out an email about a special offer make sure the product name and details on the offer appear in the subject line in a clear and concise format such as “$40 off ACME Widget—Today Only.”

• Personalize the subject line: If you have details about your contacts then you can use them in your subject line to get their attention. A subject line containing the contact’s first name can sometimes out-pull one that doesn’t.

• Avoid spam keywords: Most email servers automatically filter out any emails that contain spam keywords in their subject line – Words such as free, stock, eBay, password, mortgage, etc all trigger spam detection software so keep them out of your subject lines at all times.

• Trigger curiosity: The best way to improve your open rates is to pique the interest of your contacts. A compelling headline that entices them to open and read the contents of your email can do wonders for your conversion rate. Headlines that trigger curiosity can sometimes work well for example: “Hi [First Name] – I have a question for you.”.

• Make the offer clear: If you’re making a special offer to your contact then be upfront and include it as part of your subject line. People love bargains and special offers so let them know about it before anything else.

• Emphasize the benefits: We use this technique for our newsletters. We always use the format of “Newsletter – [Benefit]“. In our case, benefit is always the title of an article contained in the newsletter, such as “Company Newsletter – 10 Tips for Better Subject Lines”. It works every time

• Easy identification: Make sure your contacts know the email is coming from you. Deceptive subject lines can confuse people so always try and including your company name in the subject line. Also, make sure you set the “From” attribute of your email to include your name and your companies name, such as “From: John Smith <john@acme.com>”.

• Exclaim nothing: Avoid using excessive punctuation at the end of your subject lines. Google bans punctuation from AdWords ads for a reason – too much hype can annoy and confuse people.

I hope this helps you wade through the lists of everything you are expected to learn in order to produce a good, efficient, and results-oriented email campaign.

Good luck!

When winter comes, most of us usually hunker down in our bunkers and grouse about how difficult it is to get out and shoot. We complain that it is too cold. Too wet. Too foggy. Too snowy. You name it, and I know I have used it as an excuse. How about you?

Well, winter doesn’t have to be a hide-behind-the-door season. In the images below, which I found on Digital Photography School, you can see that those photographers didn’t let inclement weather get them down. They put on their “high-water” (and warm) boots, struggled into several layers of clothes, grabbed their kit, which probably has way too much equipment in it, and out the door they went.

  
Top row, left to right: glitterdarkstar, emigeuz65, NatashaP, lyn, Kenny Maths.

I try to have my camera with me most of the time. What I have found that works for me is to carry my camera in my Think Tank Retropective 30 shoulder bag. It is big enough to carry one camera with a good lens attached, as well as carry my usual assortment of notebooks, magazines, datebook, and a variety of other things that are ABSOLUTELY necessary to my survival. By limiting myself to one camera and one lens, I have discovered that I am more discerning in my image-capture selection.

So, no excuses, now! Get out there and shoot!

I have just as much of a challenge with this as, I am sure, many of you. What am I talking about? Getting the message out… to prospective collectors, to prospective galleries, to your fans, etc.

This whole computer thing was supposed to make it so much easier for us all, with ease of storage, no paper piles on the desk, and so much more efficiency. All it has done for me, however, is to create a whole new world of challenges, as well as a whole new world of opportunity. Granted, there are many articles on how to work more efficiently, and how to get more done in less time. 

As many of you know, I read a lot, I mean really… a lot! One of the magazines I subscribe to is Entrepreneur. This magazine used to be pretty schlocky, with most of its content geared toward franchise owners and “wanters.” In the last few years, however, its content has shifted to include more articles on the ins and outs of small business, and how (of course) to create a more sustainable business. In the most recent issue (January 2012), the article that caught my eye was titled, “Cultivating Visibility.” The premise of this article is most of us need help in how we approach the daunting landscape of Social Media. The author (Chris Brogan) has narrowed down your targeted efforts to five areas (left): Email, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and (of course) your blog. Here are some examples:

• Email: Email marketing is still alive and well. Be brief in every message, and have only one “ask” in each email.
• Twitter: Point people’s attention to what or who might help them. Sometimes you, often others.
• Google+: It’s a multi-faceted social network heavily searched by the number 1 search engine in the world. Get on this now.
• YouTube: It’s the number 2 search engine. Make search-term ready videos for your company or business.
• Blog: This is free search juice for your website, and helps your community learn who you are at your home base.

Granted, I haven’t dropped everything to get on the bus for this one. I do understand their collective, as well as their singular, importance. I do plan to spend at least one hour each and every day on each item on the above list.

Is this post of value to you? Are you already using the above in an efficient and orderly manner? Let me know how some or all of the items on this checklist are working for you.

You should really get down to your newsstand and pick up a copy of this issue. Included articles I have already dog-eared: Belly up to the widget buffet (about Facebook page options); Power pay (mobile payment systems); Your money (the tyranny of clutter).

You have the desire. You have the talent. You have the drive. People have told you that your work is very good. What’s next? An online show? Perhaps a show at your favorite gallery, downtown?

This is probably when you need to slow down and assess the possibilities, as well as the realities. Even though your friends and family say your prints are beautiful, they are the people who are closest to you. And maybe they are not the best judges of what is gong to sell online, as well as in a gallery setting.

If you think you are ready for a show, well then, by all means have a show! But don’t waste time, effort, or money doing all the work necessary to do a show at the above venues. In my experience, if you are just starting out in the exhibition game, go slow and easy.

Select about 10-20 pieces of your best work. Make sure it is framed and matted beautifully. Clean out your garage, or that spare room at the back of your house… and have a show! This is probably the best way to begin your fine art career.

Invite friends and family (of course), as well as a couple of gallery owners in town. Place announcements in local papers. This is, however, about the best way to get a variety of people to attend your premier: put together an email list of all those who have emailed you in the last couple of months, and send them a note about your show. Whether they live in your area or not doesn’t really matter. You are simply getting ”on the map” of letting people know you are serious about your work.

One artist I work with began her exhibitiion career by being in a three-person show at a friend’s house. She sold some pieces, and then we discussed what to do next: galleries or not? She decided that she did not want someone else to take 50% of her efforts, and chose to do annual exhibits. This past weekend she had her sixth annual exhibit and sold 10 original paintings. Granted, it wasn’t an overnight success story. It has been a steady build of creating an effective email list, nurturing collectors, and producing the work that keeps people looking forward to her annual shows, which are held in studios, warehouses, factories, community room, etc. 

In the next post I will offer a list of ten items that will help you get ready for your first show.

If you are on the “slow and easy” path, let me know how it is working for you.