Bronto Blog

I just started reading Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better penned by Gina Trapani, the founding editor of the blog Lifehacker.com. The book is described as a mashup of a computer user manual and a productivity system. It is neatly segmented into 11 chapters and 116 “life hacks” (workarounds or shortcuts that overcome the everyday difficulties of the modern worker). Chapters range from “Control Your Email” (Hack #1 - Empty Your Inbox; Hack #3 - Craft Effective Messages) to “Automate Repetitive Tasks” (Hack #61 - Automatically Back Up Your Files Online; Hack  #65 - Make Google Search Results Automatically Come to You).

I’m only a few chapters in and have already found parallels between managing your own inbox and managing the inboxes of your subscribers. Think of it as personal emailer meets email marketer.

Similar to what any email marketing expert would tell you, Upgrade Your Life stresses the importance of composing a good email. The 3 suggestions they provide under the “Composing a New Message” section can easily be applied to an effective email marketing message:

1. Determine Your Purpose
2. Use an Informative Subject Line
3. Be Succinct

Looking at each recommendation in detail… Read the rest of this entry »