4 Ways to Encourage Conversation with Your Email List

As you email your list, build relationships by encouraging 2-way conversations. You can build good relationships through email messages. The key is to communicate effectively by giving them something interesting to think and talk about. These strategies and tips can help you start very informative and beneficial conversations.

• Use a Good Reply Email Address – A good “reply to” email address encourages engagement and interaction, as well as identifies you (your business) as the sender. For example, “ask-us@YourDomainName.something” and “help@ YourDomainName.Here” are both friendly and encourage them to reply. All of these things add up to building more trust, confidence, and more sales. Avoid “do-not-reply” addresses because that typically implies that you don’t care what they need, want, or think.
• Be Open and Sociable – In the emails, you want to come across as open and sociable. Talk as if you’re speaking to a good friend and only one person is reading the message. This means you need to use singular pronouns, “you” and “I.” Personalize emails and make them friendly. Ask open-ended, topic-related questions. Invite them to respond, or visit your Facebook Group for more lengthy replies. You want them to turn to you for advice when they have a problem or need to talk to an expert they trust.
• Share Behind the Scenes Info – Share behind the scenes information. Make them feel like special friends by sharing exclusive “insider” information about what you’re considering, planning, and doing. You help members. Give them a chance to help you. That’s what friends do – they help and cheer each other on.
• Inform Them About Events – When you host or participate in an event, always notify your list members, before you do any official promoting. Your members expect and deserve to get insider information about you and your projects. How would you feel if your daughter sent her wedding announcement to the newspaper before she let you know? You’d feel hurt, unimportant, disrespected, sad, mad, and maybe angry. Don’t do that to your subscribers. Make them your top-priority to be their top priority.

Email should be a conversation, not a one-way message. Envision list members as friends who understand you, want to share things with you, and want to support you. Talk to them. Show them that you are one of them. Remind them that you want to help them and see them succeed. 

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I have a Facebook group for Christian authors, speakers, and coaches. It’s called The Christian Business Advantage, and each month I do a FREE training around the third Thursday of each month. Please come join our group, and you will learn tips and tricks for your business.