How to Get Your Subscribers Eagerly Awaiting Your Next Email

Long distance relationships are rough, aren’t they?

When I was a senior in college I spent a semester down in Washington D.C., studying in a political science program and interning as a features writer for The Washington Times.

I was excited about the program, but the timing was lousy:

My future wife and I were just a couple of months into a budding relationship. I remember saying goodbye and feeling like I’d never see her again.

What allowed our relationship to continue to grow and strengthen during that time was staying in touch consistently.

Every night I’d climb up to the roof of our dorm, and we’d talk on the phone until my cell battery cried uncle.

And in the morning, I could hardly start working on my next story for the paper until I’d read the latest email from my sweetie.

She was holding down two jobs at the time, working as a technical writer by day and as a TV news writer on the night shift.

But as busy as she was, I knew I’d hear from her every morning as our workdays started hundreds of miles apart.

When it comes to building a “long distance relationship” with your email list, secret ingredient #2 is:

CONSISTENCY

Here’s a quick example…

One morning not long ago I peeked at my inbox and found this little gem from a subscriber named Andy:

Hey Josh

In the UK are clocks have changed to daylight savings already.

When your email drops into my inbox at (what was) 2:30pm I read over a hot cuppa.

I was just wondering where your email was, then I realised that US haven’t changed daylight savings yet!

Now THAT’S how I want *my* subscribers to feel about my emails! Unfortunately, at work we’ve decided to go for a ‘monthly update’. Oh dear…

I’ve been sending these emails 5X per week for going on 10 months now.

Like me or not, you know that every day at 10:30 a.m. EST I’m going to pop into your inbox for a little chat.

Over time, I become a predictable, comfortable part of your day.

And even if you’re too busy today to read what I have to say, that’s OK—you know I’ll be back tomorrow.

Now, should everyone send daily emails like this?

I don’t believe it’s for everyone or every business (although far, far more businesses would benefit from it than you might think).

Maybe for your audience and your personality, 1X per week is the perfect amount.

Or maybe 2X per week would work better for your business.

Whatever the frequency, the key here is CONSISTENCY.

Now believe it or not, consistency is NOT something that comes natural to me.

I struggled for years to get on a regular blogging schedule.

The only reason I’ve been able to stick with these emails is by making them a daily habit, the first thing I do when I start my work day.

If consistency is something you struggle with, timed autoresponders are a great “hack.”

Then you can write whenever you’re feeling inspired, but your emails still show up on a predictable, consistent schedule.

So, if you want to build a strong relationship with your list:

Pick a schedule for emailing that makes sense to you.

Commit to it publicly.

Then buckle down and get those emails written!