How He Creates His Following
If you’ve never heard of him, it’s my distinct pleasure to make the introduction.
According to Wikipedia, “Chris Brogan is an American author, journalist, marketing consultant, and frequent speaker about social media marketing.” On Google Plus, Chris himself describes his work as, “Working with professionals to do the work they want, craft a clear vision, a plan of action, and build a network of support.”
His peers proclaim that “If Chris Brogan does it, you should do it, too.” So I want to share some very interesting insights from and about Chris.
Chris’ Email Newsletter
Some say that email newsletters are outdated, overlooked in crammed inboxes, and stale. Not Chris. But then again, he doesn’t do it the outdated and stale way. His newsletter comes every Sunday morning. That’s right. While the ‘experts’ advise that you send emails on Tuesday morning, Chris flies in their face, with his going out on SUNDAY. Why? I think it’s because no one else is doing it. They’re not. His is the only one I get on Sunday. Guess what? I read it.
Here is the intro from a recent post:
Hi Lisa!
“We all admit to having trouble with aika, Lisa. Only, you’d call it “time.” Pull up your coffee or your tea, and let’s chat this up. By the way, my tea today is an organic blood orange pu’ehr from David’s Tea. (not a sponsor or an affiliate link – I just like them)
“Our ally, Pasi, in Finland, translates these newsletters and some of my blog posts to Finnish for his audience. Today, I saved him one word. : )
“I want to start with a little story. My son, age 6, is going through something that’s causing him physical pain. I tried to explain that the pain he was feeling was only going to last a very brief amount of time, and that’s when I realized that he doesn’t really have an intellectual sense of time, only a primal understanding of it. More so, learning how to explain this to him gave me understanding about you, and about me.”
Making it Personal
You may have noticed that Chris used my first name. Twice. He also made it feel like a cozy chat, with soothing tea. He told me something interesting, and something personal about himself. Chris’ strategy is to make his weekly newsletter into a personal friendship that helps me feel more (appropriately) intimate with him, so that I’ll want to read the next one. Brilliant. It works.
Chris also ends with items like this:
AND FINALLY
“I’m grateful for everyone I know. I’m glad that I’ve had the pleasure to meet and spend time with tends of thousands of great people over the years. I intend to do this for the rest of my life. I look forward to getting to know more about you, to hear more about your challenges, to help in whatever ways I can. I will create as much useful information and give you as much support and caring and help as I can conceive.
“But I might not follow you back on Instagram, and I might not see every life event as it goes by. You’re still wonderful. You’re still valuable. And I count you as an ally.
With respect,
–Chris…
“No, there are no social sharing buttons. If you like this newsletter, please press forward and share it thoughtfully with a few friends (allies!). I value the personal connection we have here. Hit reply any time you’d like.”
________________
When was the last time you felt special by reading a newsletter?
______________
.. _____ ..
——————
For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.
——————
ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:
Ms. Chapman’s new book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is now available at:
- Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
- Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com