Newsletters are meant to be consensual

I was having a familiar conversation in one of my small groups, about the length and scope of content in your newsletter.

On one hand, you do want to give enough to be impactful. On the other hand, you don’t want to flood someone.

Sometimes this question revolves around whether it’s stingy to hold back, to give just a little to “tease” folks into wanting to buy more.

For me, it’s not about teasing, it’s about consent.

When you subscribed to be on our email list, you weren’t signing up to be coached by me. You didn’t agree to in-depth work. You just agreed to receive content from us in hopes that it would be helpful to your business.

While it’s true I don’t write the shortest emails all the time, because there is often nuance in what I’m saying, I’m also mindful that you didn’t agree to do a whole workshop in the middle of your inbox.

When I’m supporting clients to create content for their audience, when that’s right and helpful for their business, most often I’m helping them make the focus of the content tighter, the topic smaller, the scope narrower.

Some of it, of course, is to help keep them out of overwhelm, from getting caught in trying to create a book, or an hour-long instructional video for their newsletter.

But, a lot of it is also about this matter of consent, and this matter of what Sean d’Souza of Psychotactics calls “consumption.”

I want you as a reader to be able to actually make use of this article, to put it into effect in your business. I want your business helped. I want you to feel helped, and I want you to not feel overwhelmed.

And, I don’t want to step over any boundaries in this more distant kind of relationship. As a reader, I’m not going to pretend that you’re already a client, or that you’ve given consent for anything but newsletter-size input into your business. I don’t want you to wade into this content, and suddenly find yourself in a multi-hour workshop. That would feel strange, and… it wouldn’t work. You’d just delete and move on.

The good news is that by paying attention to the consent you’ve given, it also helps me with any overwhelm about how much I need to put into any particular piece of content, whether it’s written or a video.

If you’ll allow me, I invite you to try this on for size:

1. First, see the hearts of your readers, of your audience, and see that they are not yet paying clients. See if you heart can feel/be aware of the relationship that is there.

(Yes, you may have paying clients in your audience. I hope you do! And they are already receiving from you in other ways.)

2. What’s a small issue that your audience is probably dealing with? Maybe it’s the equivalent of a question a client asks that you might answer or work through in about 5 minutes or so.

The topic of this newsletter is a good example.

3. Write, or do a video, or however you express yourself, stating the question, taking a few moments to give some context to why the question is important, and then walk your readers through how to be with it. Do this as if you are talking to a client.

This is not the only way to create content, but it’s definitely one way that can create a lot of ease, by focusing in on a much smaller scope, and remembering the level of consent you’re given.

Very often in business, if we just remember to be human, to care for one another as we are being asked to, it makes things better for the other person, and easier and more sustainable for you as a business owner.

With love, Mark Silver, M.Div. Heart of Business, Inc. Every act of business can be an act of love. www.heartofbusiness.com

P.S. Humility is a powerful spiritual quality, and yet an unhealthy humility keeps many business owners from writing or speaking powerfully about their work.

Is this you or someone you care about? We invite you to watch this free and surprisingly short prerecorded webinar, “The subtle, spiritual art of bragging about your business.” Mark teaches an approach that remains humble and yet gives you access to a power and confidence in speaking about your business… without hype.

Sign up and the link to the recording will be emailed to you for you to watch at your convenience.