Got Email? Get Focus. Get Read.

Perennial Toys CEO Holly Hitzemann told me that many of her key retail distributors never even saw an email announcing five new Perennial products. Imagine that. Perennial Toys, an eco-conscious, sustainable toy is in a unique position to capture attention: the company is green at a time when green is cool; the toys debuted during the popular Holiday toy season, when they might be of even more interest; and the vendors targeted were already doing business with Perennial.

The lack of attention to Perennial’s email highlights the unfocused lot that faces every entrepreneur. (I know it’s not just my own inbox that fills; add to that voice mail, to-do lists, deadlines, client information, and long term projects.) Clutter interferes with any message. In this case, a basic shout out failed to penetrate.

Communicating with any critical audience requires focus, concentration, and conscious deliberation to be “on message.” Perennial refers to it as bam-bam. Not a bad characterization, considering.

• Develop a clear, specific subject message.
• Cover one topic and one topic only in the email.
• Personalize the email if at all possible. It seems that the busier we are, the more important relationships become. Relationships equal sales. People like to buy from people they know and trust. In this case, “buy” may simply mean gaining knowledge, opening the email.
• Read “Effective Email,” an article featured on www.powerhomebiz.com.

Take a moment to relate to your business. What works for you? Are you filtering your information or getting filtered out?