Create a Penpal

Connecting dots by any means necessary

Summer vacations are the best! We used to head up to Wisconsin when I was in elementary school and migrated to Disney as we got older. It seems like a backward move but it really just came down to economics. The mouse is an expensive habit.

I used to get so excited to go on a trip. I mean — “so excited”! The night before I couldn’t sleep and when I woke up all I wanted to do was get on my way.

Once on the airplane, I was very inquisitive with those sitting next to me. I didn’t know you didn’t talk to the people on an airplane — I just figured we were both doing the same thing, so why not say hey!

On more than one occasion, I made a friend. We would chat and chat, exchange numbers and tell each other we would IM (instant message) when we returned home. And you know what, 80% of the time — we did.

I’ve always been the type of person to keep in contact with just about everybody. It may not be a deep friendship but an occasional hello and how you are doing goes along way.

When we lived in Tinley Park, Il, we had a great State Farm representative. He came recommended from a friend and his name is Mark. I didn’t think much of an insurance sales man as most of them seemed to pitch you on everything all the time. Then, when I had to use insurance (get in an accident), they would chuck a fit about my driving and rates going up.

Mark wasn’t like that which is why I want to mention him.

He did our car insurance and I attempted to send him more business. Mark also took over our life insurance (which he still has even though we are in Australia — not sure how that works).

What my wife and I loved about Mark was our birthday phone calls. Without fail, every year, Mark would give me a ring to say happy birthday. It was a lost tradition but something that was really nice.

I don’t know about you but there are some years you don’t want people to know your birthday. Then, there are some years you wish more people remembered your birthday. Mark would call whether it was the year you wanted it to be your birthday or the year you didn’t.

The connection he made won us over to the point he is still my life insurance agent although being 9,238 miles away.

So let’s look at how you build connections with your audience through email.

1. Scan through your inbox and look at what is marketed to you. Take a good, hard look at what you actually open. Think about “why” you open it and at what “time” it was sent. If you want to connect with your audience, look at what resonates with you. You are creating culture with every decision you make, so choose carefully.
2. After you’ve done your own collective research, update users with new features. We’ve recently added the NBN broadband to the space. This is huge for our area as the previous 2 places where we lived both had a combined download speed of 3mbps (mega bytes per second). The NBN is offering nearly 40mbps.
3. Tone is everything. If you’re married you understand tone is as important as oxygen. The wrong tone will cause death with your spouse. Craft a tone that is friendly, human and interesting. Once again, look through your inbox to see what resonates with you. I’d also highly recommend reading more books. If you don’t know the tone you want, then read and research the tone you’re looking for.
4. ABC — Always Be Creative. And when I say this, it’s also regarding the creative process of adding value. If you’re not adding value to users, then you’re wasting their time — which means your taking value. Emails should be used to add value with new productivity apps, office hacks, time management help. I would recommend matching local business professionals to supply Free workshops and materials for them. Treat users like family instead of like $$$.
5. Collective response or collaborative consumption. Include users and allow them to define the business model. Think of Airbnb, Kickstarter, Etsy and others. The whole model is built on users collaborating to create the business. An email format to begin this dialogue asks questions of users. Would you like a day pass for a friend? Would you like to create a Thursday Pot Luck lunch? Does anyone have art they would like to decorate the space?