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Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that simply because clients have signed your contact list that they are going to read everything you send them. Your emails and fliers must not only be well written, but they must also be eye catching and attractive. The format must be user-friendly and must require as little effort from your readers as possible. Otherwise your newsletter is little better than the spam that gets deleted on a regular basis.
When it comes to text, less is more!
Paragraphs should be small, consisting of only a few short sentences. Always separate your paragraphs by at least two spaces, and even more for subject changes. It’s also not bad idea to put important ideas in a single, concise sentence separate from other paragraphs. Give plenty of white space (two or three spaces) above and below these power sentences. They will help to highlight key ideas.
Give your Text an Extra Umph!
Depending on your target audience, you can do a lot of things to liven up your text.
- Insert “Emoticons”: Those little text derived faces can add a lot expression to a line when you’re trying to be funny or personal. Here are a few examples:
:-) Happy ;-) wink :-0 surprise :-( sad
- Insert Emotive language: Spoken language is full of words and non-words that add a lot of emotion. Their written equivalents can be very effective if used correctly. Some examples include ‘ooh,’ ‘Whoa,’ ‘ha,’ and ‘yeah.’
Avoid the Overuse of Capital Letters
Particularly in email, capital letters are difficult to read. Because lowercase letters are more common our eyes are better trained to identify them. Rather than using capital letters to add emphasis to a word, try italics, or putting the word in “quotes,” or surrounding it with *asterisks*.
Don’t forget that what you write, particularly what you write in your email, represents you and your business. So just as you take care to shine your shoes and press your shirt before you meet an important client, always be sure to touch up your writing before you send it out to your clients.
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