"The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." - Terry Pratchett
"Words matter. Artists love to trot out the tired line, "My work speaks for itself," but the truth is, our work doesn't speak for itself" - Austin Kleon
We've covered a lot of important topics about email marketing, from how to start your list, to how to grow your list, to technical issues about how you should structure your emails. Now we come to the most important part - the actual process of writing and sending your newsletter.
Decide Upon the Topic or Story
First, decide what story you want to tell in your newsletter. Stories are what is important. Stories matter to people. In most cases, stories sell art better than anything else. Your story may revolve around new art, it may revolve around something you've been inspired by, or it may revolve around an event or exhibit you've planned.
Start thinking about what piece(s) of art you want to feature in your newsletter. Don't go overboard, just choose 1-3 pieces.
Remember to stick to one, and only one, topic or subject in this newsletter. Don't try to cover everything in one email. More than one topic will overwhelm your subscribers. An exception is if this newsletter is specifically a roundup of multiple posts. But those need to be done a certain way that we'll cover in another article.
If you have ideas for other stories you want to share, then jot them down for your next newsletter. Remember, email is cheap, so if you have multiple ideas, you can send multiple emails.
Draft Your newsletter
Start drafting the copy for your newsletter. Remember to stick to one subject. Don't try to cover everything in this one email.
Write as if you're writing a personal email to a dear friend. Write in your own voice. Don't try to make it sound too polished or like you're writing for The New Yorker. Write like you talk.
Tell your story and the story of your artwork instead of pushing for a sale. You want to emotionally connect with your subscribers, and nothing gets in the way more than asking for a sale.
Make sure you tell your story genuinely and be vulnerable. Remember to share your story, warts and all. The more you do, the more your subscribers will connect with you on a human level.
Engage your audience by asking them to do one thing at the end of your newsletter. Ask them for feedback on your story or feedback on your artwork. And when your subscribers take you up on your request, make sure that you respond back to each and every one that does.
Refine and Finalize Your Newsletter
Let your draft sit for a day or two and then return to it with fresh eyes to refine and finalize. Extra credit to have someone else proofread it, but not required.
Review and edit your draft now that you've had time to think about it. You'll likely have a few new ideas to add.
Decide what segment of your subscribers you will send this newsletter to (if it's not all segments) and tailor the message for that segment.
If it's for a workshop - only send to students and artists, not your collectors.
If it's a VIP insiders look at new work, only send it to your VIP subscribers.
If it's an announcement of an exhibit then send it to the whole list.
If you use FASO's ArtfulMail, many art-related segments are built-in and pre-defined for you.
Jot down a couple of options for subject lines.
Identify your one, single, compelling call to action.
The "call to action" is the step you want your subscribers to take. Remember, each newsletter can have only ONE call to action. Otherwise you will confuse your readers.
Prepare Your Newsletter to Send
Create a strong, compelling subject line
Don't use subject lines like "Fall Update", or "New Work" - Make them more interesting and compelling!
Layout your newsletter in your email service provider's newsletter composer.
Whether this is FASO ArtfulMail, Mailchimp, ConvertKit or something else, compose your newsletter in your newsletter software of choice and add your images and call to action. Remember, we recommend you have only one topic and one call to action per newsletter.
Make your newsletter look like a personal email - simple, white background, black text. Make it look like you're simply sending an email to a friend. Don't make it look a big-brand newsletter with a fancy header and unusual colors.
Only include links to your primary call to action page.
If your CTA is "View my new painting", then only link to the artwork detail page of that painting
If your CTA is "Comment on this article", then only link to the relevant blog post associated with the article.
There are times it's OK to break this rule. If you don't know what those times are, you're not ready to break it yet.
Send a test email to yourself. Check spelling and punctuation, design, font sizes, spacing, and working links. Repeat the cycle of edit, send test, review until you are happy with this newsletter.
Send Your Newsletter
You've prepared well, now send your newsletter!
After Sending
Link to the newsletter on your website (This is automatic in FASO as long as you tag it as "Public").
Share your newsletter on social media, if relevant. The easiest way to do this is often to create a blog post with the same content as your newsletter and then share that blog post.
Briefly review your open and click thru rates after 3 days.
Remove any subscribers that unsubscribed or bounced from your email list. In most software the removal of these addresses will be automatic, however, if you are keeping a separate list in external software, be sure to remove any bounced emails or unsubscribers.
If you follow this general outline as a guide for how to prepare and send your own newsletters, you'll be well on your way to delighting your subscribers and building a loyal following of fans.
Until next time, please remember that Fortune Favors the Bold Brush.
Sincerely,
Clint Watson
BoldBrush/FASO Founder & Art Fanatic
PS - Have I forgotten anything? Are there other topics around email marketing you'd like to see me cover? If so, please hit reply and let me know!
