One of the most common questions that newsletter publishers have is: “How do I get my newsletter read?” After all, people get lots of stuff emailed into their inboxes and they don’t have time to read everything. So how can you get them to select YOUR newsletter to read? Sure, you probably provide consistent value that entices readers to open your newsletter week after week… but how do you get them to open up your newsletter the first time? Subject lines are one of the only determining factors that people have in deciding whether or not to open an email. They’ll combine the information they get from the subject line with the clues they get from the sender line to decide.

So emails from DR. NABU ABINIDAB, ESQ with subject lines that say “FOR YOUR UTMOST CONFIDENTIAL ATTENTION ONLY” are likely not going to get opened. (I hope). But emails by sources that are trusted (such as a newsletter distributor) still need to vie for the limited attention of the reader. They may see it’s from you… but do they have the time to read it? Ultimately, what your subject line needs to do is convince them that it is worth their time to read your newsletter.

If you’re well known and you deliver great value, you don’t need a fancy subject line. Jeffrey Gitomer’s email newsletter is fantastic and comes with the “say-it-like-it-is” subject line along the lines of “Jeffrey Gitomer’s Sales Caffeine issue 593″.

For the rest of us regular folk, we need subject lines that are perhaps more compelling. A few ideas include:

* Ask a question that will later get answered inside the newsletter. For example: “Do you know which stocks to invest in THIS month?”

* Make a compelling statement that requires the newsletter to elaborate. For example: “The 3 Stocks You Need to Buy Today”

* List the subject matter of the newsletter in a compelling way. For example: “Ice Cream, Pizza, and Pepsi: We Talk about These Three Investments.”

There has been a lot of thought and study that has gone into subject line success: People are always trying to figure out how to make sure that subject lines get through spam filters and how they can convince people to open the message.

Here is a really cool tool to help you validate your subject lines and alert you to the potential you have that your newsletter will end up in spam:

LocalNews.Biz: “Validate Subject Line”.
http://www.localnews.biz/subjectline/validatesubjectline.asp

And here are a few helpful resources. The experts don’t all necessarily agree but you’ll find enough guidelines here to make your subject lines more effective.

MailChimp: “Study of Best and Worst Open Rates on MailChimp”
http://www.mailchimp.com/articles/email_marketing_subject_line_comparison/

Web-Source.net: “How to Write Effective Email Subject Lines”
http://www.web-source.net/web_development/email_marketing.htm

Washingtop Post: “Write Effective Email Subject Lines”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/01/AR2009090103079.html

Jakob Nielsen’s UseIt.com: “Microcontent: Headlines and Subject Lines”
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980906.html

iMediaCollection.com: “The Art of the Subject Line”
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/6909.imc

EmailStatCenter: “Subject Lines”
http://www.emailstatcenter.com/SubjectLines.html

photo credit: HowardLake