Nicole, you asked for a question so here goes: How do I know if what I'm writing has any impact? I very rarely get any feedback even when I ask for some. How do I know if this is my target group?

Hi, and thanks for replying to my newsletter. Here are some tips I can give for making your newsletter list more responsive…

1. Try sending a text version instead of an html version, if appropriate. If you have a professional business, of course that wouldn't work, but if you're trying to build a relationship where you're recommending products and services, then it may get better results. One thing I learned from Alice Seba's email tips is that friends write in plain text, so people may tend to read that as if it were written by a friend, rather than as written by a business.

2. Write to one person, when appropriate. Rather than saying “Hi everyone” or “to everyone reading this” — act as if you're writing to just a friend.

3. When you ask for feedback and don't get it, offer an incentive next time. Say “as a thank you for replying to this survey, I'd like to give you …” or “send me your #1 question and receive …” That can help get people to act.

4. Track your links in your newsletter to see if what you're sending IS hitting the mark. If you do a redirect, you can check your stats to see how many people clicked through the link. That'll give you an idea if your offer was appealing to them or not. Then, tailor your future mailings to what is attractive to your readers.

For instance, in this post, I linked to http://www.showmomthemoney.com/email-tips.htm 
Now, in a few days, I can go into my stats to see how many of my readers were interested in receiving newsletter tips from Alice Seba. 😉 See how easy that is?

I hope that helps. Please keep the questions and comments coming!
Nicole