Blog

Part One:  Planning

I grew up in a gardening family. Every summer I was enlisted to help in my parents’ and my grandparents’ gardens.  As an adult, I am happiest when I have a garden. Tending plants has been a lifelong learning experience, and the lessons apply to everything from tomatoes to email marketing.

Plan Your Framework in Advance:  You wouldn’t toss seeds willy-nilly into your garden plot, so don’t shove your content into your newsletter without first creating an editorial calendar.  This framework will lay out your timeline, sending frequency, type of content you’re sending out, etc.  A master schedule ensures consistency in sending, avoids duplicate content, and makes it easier to cross-link posts.

Be Realistic:  Every year I want to plant more.  With limited space and time available, I have to make choices about what my priorities are.  Do I want to grow enough tomatoes to can for my entire winter or do I want to grow a variety of foods to enjoy over the summer?  The same applies to how often you can send out an email newsletter and the amount of content you’ll be able to reliably produce. Just how creative can you get talking about the same subject?

Create a Schedule of Maintenance:  Weeding, pruning, watering, trellising and harvesting all have to be done on a regular basis.  The easiest way for me to ensure that my garden is cared for is to have set times when I tend to the garden and see what all needs to happen.  Extra visits occur as I see fit.  Finding time to sit down and look at email marketing metrics, create new content and schedule newsletters ensures that you stay up-to-date.