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Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, tools, ideas, and tips from the masters. Every week, I introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books.Â
Today my special guest is Michael Katz. Michael specializes in helping professional service firms and solopreneurs develop effective email newsletters.
 Since launching Blue Penguin in 2000,Â
Michael has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week Online, Forbes.com, and other national media.
 He is the author of four books and has published more than 500 issues of “The Likeable Expert Gazette,” a twice-monthly email newsletter and podcast.
Michael, what a pleasure it is to welcome you to the show.
And, thank you for being this week’s guest expert and mentor.
Newsletters and Emails
[2:01]
Newsletters were presumed to be dead. However, this isn’t the case. Today, Newsletters still exist and are being used by businesses. Back in the late 90s, newsletters were in the form of paper. Then years after, it became electronic through email. The rise of social media was thought to end the era of emails. Michael shared how he waited for something to replace an email, but nothing came.
[4:29]
People often check their emails for new messages. Michael mentioned how he saw a statistic saying that 99% of people with emails check them at least once a day. Due to this, email is something that can still be used until now. This may have an advantage for businesspeople.
Benefits of Newsletters
[5:29]
Businesses have problems with visibility. Newsletters help with that. In newsletters, people will most likely remember you if you keep on publishing. They will be constantly reminded of who you are. This has been proven in Michael's personal experience. A woman approached him and still remembers him despite their last meeting five years ago. The woman signed up for Michael’s newsletters, and the constant publishing made her remember who he was.
[7:12]
Newsletters also give you the opportunity to share all the important details. The average newsletter could take up to 600 - 800 words. This space can already be used to introduce yourself, promote your business, or share useful information.
Newsletter Format
[8:03]
There’s no real proper format for a newsletter. You can have a variation of your own. For Michael, he begins with an introductory note. This part establishes a personal connection with the reader. The next he would put is an article. It is an article where it will make the person read it because it is interesting and knowledgeable. Aside from that, you can also share some personal information about yourself that will help to get to know who you are.
[9:49]
When it comes to graphics, email newsletters didn’t have it back then because they don’t have the ability to do the graphics. Meanwhile, to this day, you can now do graphics from a variety of pictures. Graphics can be used to make your newsletter.
The Connection Between Your Personal Story and Your Business
[11:41]
Connecting the business side story and personal story can be quite tough. You need to learn it. Michael doesn’t know where he got that technique. If you can successfully connect the two, it’ll be memorable.
[14:15]
The newsletters of Michael’s clients contain 25% stories and 75% information. In order to do this, Michael takes the stories from his clients, and he’s the one who will think about how to connect the information and the story.
Opened a Loop, Information, Closed the Loop
[17:13]
There’s a standard writer’s technique where you can start the story at the beginning of the newsletter, cut the story short to discuss the information, and then close the story. This way of writing is seen as satisfying by most people.
Finding a Topic
[18:02]
Michael mentioned that the magazine analogy is useful. You should focus on writing for your audience and should not revolve mostly around you. You’re trying to promote your business to your audience. You must determine what’s your body of knowledge and who’s your audience. Make a list of possible questions and answers, and then you must pay attention to how these are explained to clients.
Write Once, Distribute Often
[19:53]
When the content of a newsletter is published, it will not get re-published to any social media. However, it is possible to take an excerpt of it and that’s the one that will get posted on social media or blogs.
Quotes:
·     “I do a lot of storytelling course on this where you have to give me enough information when you tell a story that I can place myself there, I can picture what you're talking about.” – Michael Katz
·     “You're doing it because you're trying to promote your business. Most of us are not writing newsletters for the sake of writing. You have to do some workaround.”
·     “Newsletter should feel like I just had a cup of coffee with you. As much as possible, try to capture your voice.” – Michael Katz
Learn more about Michael Katz:
https://bluepenguindevelopment.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljkatz/
