Thanks for the pointers.

1. I think I’ll try sending shorter more frequent newsletters.

2-3. I’m going to try designing from scratch, rather than using the limiting templates of VR. That should help with white space, graphic size, section dividers, etc.

4. I’ll definitely punch up the headlines. If I’m failing there, yikes.

Great stuff.

Wade

1. This one went out on Tuesday morning. I have no set day to send it out, since it’s a monthly newsletter.

2. They probably are not trained, per se. Most of them have received at least 1 from us, we’re up to 10 sent since May.

Wade

1. I skimmed. And skimmed, and skimmed, and skimmed, because it was REALLY long. There are a whole lot of words, and I think you probably would do better to break it up and send more short newsletters rather than one long one. By the time I got to the “Career Choices” graphic, I wasn’t even reading headlines anymore.

2. Better defining your sections would help. Right now, your section heads get lost in the copy and overshadowed by big graphics. Having larger/underlined/otherwise-better-defined section dividers would make it seem a lot less intimidating to your readers. Better use of whitespace also would help with this.

3. Be careful with graphics. Any time I get an e-mail that requires me to “click here to see graphics,” I tend not to click, and if the graphics load slowly, I tend not to read. Make sure they’re reasonably sized and placed and pertinent to the accompanying story.

4. Make sure that your headlines are really engaging–even more so than with a regular post. “Fire your Web designer” is a good example of this; “An interesting case study” leaves me lukewarm. “Learn social media tips and tricks,” ditto.

Or, y’know, whatever.

1)What day did you send it. Deviating from the usual cycle can have an impact as does sending an email on Fridays.

2)How “trained” are your email readers. Is this email something they would be expecting, at least in terms of the type and format of the content? Have they already been receiving emails from you or is this a first time summary email for new subscribers?

~Jesse

Here’s the actual newsletter jpg (also fixed in post).

Try it again: I relinked it to a jpg screenshot of the newsletter.

1) The logo looks pretty large, which is great from a branding perspective. But I’d look at shortening it up, so it takes up less vertical space. Possibly arranging it so that the main headline can go to the right of the logo.

2) Stronger calls to action, particular just ask people to click, most of your links look like they’re just linked headlines. I’d consider dressing up the youtube screenshot too with some copy prompting a click.

4) Test, test, test – VR will let you segment your list for A/B splits, try at least two different layouts/subject lines/headlines for each go around until you get a really good handle on what works for your audience.