When was the last time you opened a company’s e-mail because of the word ‘newsletter’ in the e-mail subject line?

::crickets::

That’s what I thought. To get your clients to open a newsletter from your business, it’s your job to be interesting.

Luckily, doubling your newsletter open rate is simple: write e-mail subject lines you would personally click on.

Don’t have a newsletter or e-mail list?  Click here to get started.

‘The Nancy Smith Summer Newsletter’ subject line about beach portraits becomes ‘I’m going to the beach! Join me?’ The ‘Aspire Consulting Newsletter’ from the local accounting firm becomes ‘Aspire to a beach vacation? We’ll help you get there.’ (Bonus points for puns using your business name!)

Subject lines people click on are typically personal, curiosity-inducing, and friendly.

Personal, meaning they don’t sound like a corporate entity addressing a boardroom. ‘Hello, valued customer’ screams corporate entity. ‘Hey there, lovely’ screams personal.

Curiosity-inducing, meaning they give the reader a hint of what’s inside and make the reader want to click to read more. The words failure, struggle, secret, bonus, surprise, and thank you are all curiosity-inducing. Who’s failed? What’s the struggle? Is there a secret? What will the bonus be? Thank you for what?

People like to be incited to curiosity, and ‘Holly Jane Photography News’ leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination.

Friendly, meaning they’re simple and not terribly formal. If you’re selling your virtual assisting services with words like “inbox control systems” (meaning Gmail apps) and “friendly consumer transmissions” (meaning customer service e-mails), you’re not being terribly friendly.

Go on, I dare you to write your newsletter to a single person you actually like, then challenge yourself to make readers open the e-mail by crafting a killer subject line.

P.S.  9 ways to sell without being salesy.

Photo // Love Knot Photo, Steer Your Ship San Diego