what most coaches, consultants & experts get wrong about email newsletters

Reading books is my favorite way to intake information.

And I can trace so many of my goals & life decisions back to specific books I read.

• Influence inspired me to get into copywriting
  
  

• The 4-Hour Workweek introduced me to the idea of becoming a digital nomad
  
  

• I Will Teach You To Be Rich convinced me to start investing in index funds
  
  

• Save the Cat made me want to write screenplays

Which is why I’ve always wanted to write one of my own.

Only problem is…

I used to think “writing a book” meant getting a publishing deal and pumping out a 300+ page tome on a given topic.

Not exactly a breeze.

Even for someone who can write fast like me.

Luckily, I started writing for a new client a few years ago who turned this idea upside down.

He’s a ghostwriter & publishing coach who specializes in short books.

In fact, his first book took only 10 days to write.

And was less than 150 pages long.

Yet it sold well even though he self-published it (with zero marketing, I might add!) and got him a publishing offer from Simon & Schuster.

Crazy, right?

That’s when I realized how narrow and limiting my definition of a nonfiction book was.

It was preventing me from moving forward.

And on something that was important to me & my business, no less.

I bring this up because I see lots of coaches, consultants & experts making the exact same mistake with email newsletters.

In their minds, an “email newsletter” is a long, content-driven email sent once a week.

Nothing else qualifies.

But this definition is narrow and limiting.

Just like how I used to think about nonfiction books.

So what is an email newsletter, really?

It’s an agreement.

A contract between subscriber and publisher…

Whereby the publisher agrees to broadcast content on a regular basis and the subscriber agrees to receive it.

That’s it.

The newsletter itself can be short or long…

Sent weekly or daily…

Include a pitch or not…

And be driven by news, content, or storytelling.

As long as that basic agreement is in place, then it qualifies as a newsletter.

So don’t let someone else’s definition constrain you or your business.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

I’m gearing up to publish my recent book (Email Storyselling Playbook) on Amazon.

Thanks in large part to my client redefining what a nonfiction book could be.

The plan is for this to be the first of many :)

Now, it probably won’t happen until after the holidays…

But I’ll let you know once it does so you can grab yourself a copy.