I Did It: How Ann Handley revived the "dead" newsletter

Discover the way Ann Handley created her newsletter"Total ANNARCHY," and the creative method she used to make the work stick out all the others.

If you reach the top of a mountain after you've worked hard it is usually breathtaking.

The majority of people consider it to be the top goal in their lives and then decide to take a break after achieving nature's plateau.

When it comes to chasing your career objectives It could be similar.

However, this isn't the situation for Ann Handley .

Nope. This marketing guru continues to face new problems, despite having been a pillar of creativity and achievement already in her bag.

She's a renowned keynote speaker, partner and Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs, and the two-time Wall Street Journal best-selling author.

Not to mention, she's the Content and Digital Marketing specialist.

She had the courage in her to take on the challenge of turning a so-called outdated format into a robust newsletter, Total Annarchy , which resonates with her ever-growing readership.

The pleasure was being with Ann where she shared with us the reason, the what, and methods to create her newsletter.

Let's start by uncovering why Ann decided to produce a newsletter at all in the first place.

Ann's motivation for sending her newsletter

Ann's purpose for creating her newsletter is two-pronged. She first was looking for something that she could claim as her own again.

Following years of expanding her company in a leading position, she slipped out from the process of physically creating creative work.

"I wasn't touching anything anymore. Then when I came back to say, fifteen years, I was touching objects all day long," she fondly remembers. "I was producing the MarketingProps newsletter, I was editing content, I was contacting the writers to get their headshots."

In the hope of getting back into "touching" artistic deliverables, Ann was compelled to make a newsletter that would fill her desire to create.

"Just the feeling of satisfaction, or feeling that . . . I'm actually making something which is 100% my creation."

Another reason why she signed up to the fortnightly publication was she was looking to expand the areas of her interest, including her passion for writing.

"I always wanted to have a platform to pursue my passions, that are related to marketing . . . Content marketing, however, also writing." Ann claims, "I'm very passionate about writing, as you know. This is my real background, as well as my very first love."

So, she rekindled her passion for writing -through her Total ANNARCHY newsletter.

Where her newsletter is positioned within the existing arms of her successful business, it falls nicely within the middle of all three parts -- MarketingProfs, her speaking business, and her books.

"I think that it's sort of the nexus of those three aspects, which is in essence what the newsletter is about," the author says. "In each of these three areas, it affects the three elements of my professional experience."

How's that for a perfectly complementary creative work?

If you're curious about why Ann chose to use the format of a newsletter Ann explains that as well.

Why Ann decided to use a newsletter format?

The main reason Ann was drawn to the newsletter format is because of the challenges it presented, one of which was being accountable.

"Because people can unsubscribe from the newsletter, you will keep them from receiving another newsletter," she reasons. "And I appreciate that, because it forces me into an accountability that I find very difficult."

This isn't the only thing that caused a challenge.

The newsletter was being criticized by many as "dead". Ann had read a number of articles calling email newsletters "old-school" and a fashion of "done" as well as "over".

Naturally, she treated the claims as if they were her personal quest to reach the root of these massive assumptions and turning them on their heads.

"I love taking that to play with and playing with it. does it really work? Is this not the case or is it just being lazy?" she contends. "And this is where I like to apply my creative talents more widely."

When it came to deciding her newsletter's distribution frequency, Ann went with every other week for two reasons.

The first being the most practical -- she's always busy.

Ann made a choice to produce something of value in the knowledge that it will take some planning and time. Therefore, her schedule can't accommodate any an increase in frequency beyond that.

The other reason she went with sending a newsletter every other week is she was keen to try out the length of her newsletter, especially long-form emails.

"I also knew at the outset I was going to experiment with length," Ann muses. "I wanted to play with the idea that newsletters should not be too long, and that it will lose readers and people don't have the tolerance or patience to read long forms especially for email."

She argued that "it's just a bit too much to ask people to read long forms of something with more frequency."

Then, she opted to continue with the fortnightly distribution on Sundays every other each morning.

Why do we have Sunday early in the morning?

It's as simple as that, "because it's a very reflective time" Ann explains, "I think it's a good time to take a step back and look at the events in perspective for a way, which is precisely what my newsletter tries to accomplish."

It's not just that her newsletter attempt to do that, but it achieves it with flying colors. Ann often receives comments from her readers saying that they keep her newsletter in their homes for an early morning reading and an opportunity to start fresh for your week.

An exciting read is precisely what Total ANNARCHY delivers, even when you look at it in comparison to Ann's other books.

What Ann's newsletter has in common from her previous written works

In contrast to her most-sellers , Everybody Writes and Content Rules, composing her newsletter is a completely different approach in comparison to her earlier creative process.

For one, she writes with an personal approach and creates newsletters that are written with a specific particular person in mind not her entire readership.

It's not commonplace to make an effort to contact a specific avatar but there's something unique in writing newsletters for her.

"There is something that I liked about this newsletter," Ann shares. "The the fact that I'm writing it to a single person that is either watching their smartphone or is opening their email and is alone."

The shift in mindset of speaking to the reader in their own environment as they read her materials affects how Ann sends out her periodic newsletters.

"I think once I realized this it was a shift, it became super beneficial for me as a communicator" she reveals. "I believe it lends my writing an personal touch and also a kind of writing style that is short . . . since I'm thinking I'm speaking to a single particular person."

Which is why she refers to readers by single salutations like "hello or friend" and "hey, you," giving them a sense that she knows them individually.

Additionally, Ann also manages to address individuals within an audience that's made up of various demographics that ranges from sole proprietors, consultants to her daughter.

How? She calls them out in her subjects lines -- a technique she learned to do overtime.

If you glance at her first newsletter and the subject line " TA #1: New Year, New Newsletter ," is more general and addresses her readers all-encompassingly.

It's quite a contrast to her most recent newsletter, which has the subject line " TA #51: What's more important than an Annual Goal for the New Year A New Storytelling Template Things to Beware of/Things To Adopt to be a part of 2020 ," which captures the interest of a variety of people among her readers.

Not only does Ann concentrate on individual recipients, but she also reveals more about her authentic self and writes with a vulnerability that is meant to be a one-to-one ratio.

"It's really important for the creator to realize this -- there's one person on the other end and they're expected to be useful to those who are watching," she explains.

It is a principle that applies to all forms of artistic works.

"It's not about the creator It's not about the writer and it's not about the podcast -- it's about the value you're providing . . . the equation can be balanced if you see it as one person to one person," Ann coaches.

Not just is the newsletter Ann has created different from the previous newsletters she wrote and is also different in comparison to other newsletters.

What sets Ann's newsletter apart from others?

The thing that makes Ann's Total AnnarcHY different from other newsletters is the concentration upon the "letter" component, rather than the "news" part of "newsletter".

In other words, unlike many companies, she approaches her newsletter more like the traditional type of letter, rather than informational announcement on products or services.

"One of the revelations I was experiencing was the fact that this is actually simply a letter" Ann shares. "A number of brands and a large number of businesses and a large number of individuals, when they think about an email newsletter, they concentrate on the news aspect of the term."

In changing her emphasis on "news" to "letter," her entire thinking and communication style moved, too.

"It's an evolution in how you view the world," she explains. "I consider that it will alter how you talk to people, changes the way you promote yourself. It changes the way you think about your target audience."

To concentrate on the "letter" section of her newsletter Ann started a regular journaling routine.

"I write down things that have caused me to laugh, or things I come across which I find absurd or could be able to use it in the future," she shares. "That's really where a lot of these letters are derived from."

There's nothing more intimate than writing letters that are authentically writtenthat are based on personal journaling -- to individual readers.

Ann's sharing of her personal experiences doesn't end there, neither does her sharing of personal experiences. It's even one of the topics she discusses in her closing guidance for writers.

Ann's tips for other creators

If you want to build an unforgettable and distinctive business, Ann's advice is to build trust and to also create a sense of connection by being authentic and sharing who you are.

Put another way, your audience needs to both be able to trust as well as respect you.

"There are millions of options to achieve this, but I think that the intersection of two elements -- the trust and of the connection that you have with your customers is what is going to set your company apart," Ann explains. "And it's something that no one else can copy. There is no one else who can copy the same as you."

The majority of businesses focus on the factor of trust and end there.

"So there are many others who possibly be acting with the similar desire to trust," Ann warns. "But I think showing the person you are as a person, business, and also as a brand is also a massive differentiator."

Are you ready to add more of your personality into your brand?