Simon Payn's Effective Customer Newsletters

237 Writers, One Book, Hundreds of Ideas

I know what it's like to herd writers to meet deadlines. But I've never had to mange 237 of them for a book project.

That's what Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton did to create The Age of Conversation 2. It features essays by 237 marketing bloggers, including yours truly.

The first edition of the book earned $15,000 for children's charity Variety. Let's see if this edition - which is bigger - can make even more.

The Age of Conversation 2 is available as a downloadable e-book at a cost of $12.50, of which $10 will be contributed to Variety.  Orders will be taken for a limited number of printed books in hardcover ($29.95, with $6.04 to charity) and softcover  ($19.95, with $8.02 donated to charity).

Click here to order your copy.

Here's a list of all the bloggers who took part:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G. Kofi Annan, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw and James G. Lindberg, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

A Marketing Lesson from Hazel Wheeler's 67-Year Diary

Hazel Wheeler found a diary at the age of 14. She went on to write entries in that diary every day for the next 67 years.

That fact, while astonishing, isn't the most interesting thing to be found in Hazel's diary, however.

Instead, it's the nature of the entries.

For example:

“John Lennon of The Beatles shot dead in New York. Got first Christmas card, from Roy and Vera.”

and

“President Kennedy was assassinated as he drove through Dallas today. Shot through the head. Baked macaroons and scones. Did knitting.”

Hazel has noted the biggest events of the past 67 years, but what is interesting is the equal prominence of the details of her everyday life.

Why is this important to anyone writing a newsletter?

Because Hazel demonstrates that the activities going on in her life are just as important as world events.

And that means your readers' daily lives are just as important - and often more important - than anything else you will communicate with them about.

So if you are going to connect deeply with your reader, you need to write about topics that relate to what is going on in your reader's life.

Something isn't important just because you think it is. It has to be important to your newsletter reader too.

New Product: Newsletter for Insurance Agents and Brokers

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Forget the Pulitzer. Does Your Newsletter Pass the Bathroom Jury?

This post contains a concept some readers might find distasteful. Reader discretion is advised.

Frankly, I don't care how many awards your newsletter might win for its design or its writing.

This is the thing: there's one criterion that is far more important: is it bathroomable? Do you customers take your newsletter into the bathroom?

It's said that the original Sears catalog was printed with a hole at the corner of each page so it could be hung in the bathroom. People would read it and when...err...done, they would tear off a page and use it instead of bathroom paper.

Hope the ink didn't come off.

If you can make your newsletter bathroomable, you've created a successful relationship-building tool.

Because....

• People consider its content worth reading.
• They consider it worthwhile keeping your newsletter in the house (instead of quickly passing it from mailbox to trash).
• The content is interesting enough - the newsletter is engaging enough - to keep the reader interested in those...special moments.

So how can you make your newsletter bathroomable?

• Make sure the content is about what interests your readers.
• Make the language easy to read.
• Include a mix of articles - informative, entertaining, intriguing.
• Include a puzzle or quizzes.
• Be certain your newsletter adds value to people's lives.