She likes pizza

and I'm glad she told me

I asked if she was a pizza lover.

She replied … in an email … that she likes pizza but wouldn’t say she loves it.

A simple exchange. Yet, so important.

You see, I asked that question in the first email my new buyer receives. And I explain why I want them to reply to that particular email.

So far, replies are coming in at around 80%.

Not bad. Sure, I’d love to have 100% of buyers reply. Those who don’t reply might do so if I offer an incentive - other than the assurance they’ll receive my emails.

I’m sure many are like me. They regularly check their Spam and Promotion folders. You see, we know that even long time contacts with multiple communications to an email address will still get sent to Spam or Promotion. We don’t know why. It truly would be awesome if we knew, wouldn’t it? We do know that if we check those two folders we won’t miss an important email.

And then there are some who simply don’t like anyone telling them what to do. I can be like that, too, so I’m not complaining…just acknowledging.

Why should you care about this?

Most Email Service Providers (ESPs) are limited with their reporting. Many, I’m learning, still say open rates and delivered rates are accurate! Ugh. Over the years the various governments around the world have been putting restrictions on ESPs - for the sake of our privacy. This means any reporting by an ESP is suspect.

Disclaimer: for those who want to dispute this by pointing out a specific ESP, I get it. There are exceptions.

This is why we look for engagement from our subscribers. The first level of engagement is the request that they reply.

The next level of engagement is to download another freebie. I’ll use an old lead magnet as a freebie. They click to get it, my ESP sees engagement and my reputation score improves.

How else can you engage your subscribers?

If you have a group on Facebook, Skool, Circle, or any other group platform, you can send them there.

You can ask them to share your email - that’s a great way to show your ESP that your subscribers are engaged.

I’m sure there are more ways you can engage subscribers. Know any? Spill the beans, my friend. Please.

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And now for a personal note.

I’ve been writing this weekly newsletter since June, 2022. Actually, the first issue was published June 22, 2022. And at that time I was writing it 2x a week.

After 53 issues I decided to write a book - Email Copywriting Secrets: How to Write Killer Emails That Get Results.

It was quite fun watching it hit #1 in Direct Marketing for a few weeks.

I thought, then, that I might publish a second volume. And since then I’ve realized that no, I really don’t want to. Not now - maybe later.

And now, here I sit. Having faithfully written a newsletter at least 1x a week, and am a month shy of doing it for 2 years.

I wonder if it’s time for me to stop.

Engagement with you … my subscriber … has dwindled to zero. I ask for comments and get none. I ask for shares and get none.

Is it because of substack deliverability?

Is it because you’re ignoring my emails?

Is it because you’ve subscribed but really just aren’t interested anymore?

Is it because you’re not seeing/learning - what you expected?

Or is it something else?

I don’t know … I’m not you. And if you don’t tell me there’s nothing I can do to change your experience with me.

So here I sit, wondering if maybe it’s time to simply stop writing this newsletter.

Tell me why I should keep writing this.

Okay, that’s it for the moment. Have something you’d like to say or share? I’d love to hear it. Leave a comment.

Talk soon -

Charlene Burke

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