10 Meditations for Your Personal Note In Your Newsletter

Mail bag!

A business owner recently wrote in with a request (DM, this one’s for you, hon).

She kindly asked for some prompts to get her juices flowing in her personal note for her weekly newsletter.

I’m happy to oblige – and we’ll get to that in just a minute.

For those of you who are new around the neighborhood, let’s review on why you want to put a meaningful, real personal note in your newsletter in the first place.

We see a lot of hooplah on the interwebs about “making money through your website.” And while that’s a possibility, if you’re reading this, you are probably not an information marketer. What THAT means is that your business is rooted in good, old-fashioned human relationships.

Ready to hear me go off on Search Engine Optimization?

There’s a lot of hooey about how you have to have keywords and optimize your website so that search engine robots can find you and send you strangers who just want to buy the cheapest thing – doesn’t matter who’s selling.

I, on the other hand, believe that it matters a TON who’s selling.

And that who you are means that you don’t HAVE to charge firesale rates. Because you are awesome. And unique. And you do meaningful work.

I don’t care if the search engine robots find me.

I just want likeminded humans to.

And I want them to feel a surge of delight and relief coursing through every cell in their body when they do.

(End of rant on why most of us don’t need SEO. Our motto: “we write for humans, not robots.” I actually won a client when I told her that. Never underestimate the power of taking a stand, and fighting for it. It’ll come back to you in spades.)

Okay, so once the humans find your website, you need to have a way to keep in touch with them. Your awesome free gift entices them to entrust you with their email address – and that is your golden opportunity.

You have the chance to build a very real, sincere relationship with that person.

And one of the most sophisticated technologies out there to do this is the personal note at the beginning of your email newsletter.

Now, I’ve been told by some really busy people that I write a personal note that they not only read… they look forward to.

My approach isn’t a system or a “proven 7 step method.” It’s sloppier than that.

I just take a moment and say, “what am I thinking about or seeing right now that’s interesting to me?”

For those of you who want to prime the pump a little more, here are…

10 meditations for your personal note in your newsletter

• Common threads. What keeps coming up in conversations with colleagues and clients?
• Rants. What ticks you off?
• Love letter. What’s one thing you’ve seen recently that you adore?
• Habits. What’s one thing you’re adding to your day that really has improved your life?
• Outings. Where have you been? What have you seen?
• Reading. What have you read that struck you?
• Ideas. What’s the coolest thing you’ve heard this week?
• Conversations. Have you had a conversation that’s touched you?
• Letting go. What are you releasing that no longer serves you?
• Reaching out. What are you doing for or with your community?

This is not an exhaustive list (I just made them up). But the idea is to share a bit more of yourself – so that people actually see YOU and get to know you.

It can feel uncomfortable at first, or even vulnerable, to put yourself out there. Hey, I wrote my email newsletter and blog for a whole 9 months before anyone responded. And not everything you write will be your best stuff.

Doesn’t matter. As my friend Marcia the relationship coach says, “being in relationship is about relating.” At the end of the day, your goal is to relate to the people on your house mailing list, and have them relate to you.

What other prompts have you used to write your personal note in your newsletter? Post them in the comments below.

Mighty thanks to denise carbonell flickr photostream for the helping hand.