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1. • CommentAuthoravermat
   • CommentTimeJan 10th 2007

    
   We are starting a newsletter for our website (accountingcoach.com).
   
   As of now, our plan for the newsletter is to update people on new additions to our website, and also a weekly email of the
   "Q&A" questions we write about in our blog (blog.accountingcoach.com).
   
   I am concerned with people losing interest in our newsletter and not opening our emails. I was wondering what kind of subject lines you have had success with, and also once they start reading the email, how I can get them to continue clicking to our website. I guess this is a pretty open-ended question.
   
   We will rarely try to sell any products, maybe a few here and there, our main goal of our newsletter is to get people returning to our website, and telling them about new things we have added.
   
   Right now you will see on our website on every page we have a newsletter sign up form, all it says is "Sign up for our free newsletter"...we get about 15-25 signups per 1,000 visitors. Should we be going about this a different way? As of now I am not too interested in forcing people to give us their email in order to view any of our content.
   
   I forgot just one question, so I guess my question is, I am worried about keeping our subscribers interested and converting them to revisit our website.
   
   Thanks for your help, this idea of answering 100 questions is something we could definately use for our newsletter.
   
   -Matthew
2. •  
     CommentAuthorvishen
   • CommentTimeJan 14th 2007

    
   First, your signup rate is very poor. A decent one would be 100 / 1000 visitors. (10%). You're not doing this right.
   
   To remedy this - follow the tried and tested formula. Long copy on the left. Signup box on the right with a compelling call to action.
   
   Your site suffers from an excess of creativity. Stick to what works - and dump your current design.
   
   Do this:
   
   1. Decide what your main goal is for the site (sell something? get a subscriber? open a account? etc). Write a clear piece of copy directing people to this #1 response. The copy can be long (10 - 15 pages is even ok). On the right of the copy, use a signup box. Read my article here on how to design the signup box.
   
   http://www.mindvalleylabs.com/articles/sign-up-form/?signup=yes&promo=3
   
   
   2. Next you need to boost open rates. To do this...don't worry about subject lines as much as the compelling offer you're making in the newsletter.
   By compelling offer, I mean - your newsletter must be something that will be off great value to the subscribver. Something that someone would almost one to pay for. To start - never use the word "newsletter". It implies - cheap info. Instead, label it an "online course". Promote it with a piece of short copy outlining it's benefits. For a great example. See how the people on this site promote their "online course".
   www.SilvaUltraMindSystem.com/products/unlimited/
   
   They have a killer open rate. And 7% of free subscribers end up making a purchase of $150 USD avg on their site within 1 year. The reason is that they made the newsletter into a 9-part mini course. And offer compelling value.