Copyright 2006 Brian Anderson

Think about all of those e-mails you're probably getting on a daily basis with subjects like:

MAKE $75,000 EVERY WEEK GUARANTEED! EXPLOSIVE STOCK PICK AT $0.45!!!! newsletter THIS IS NOT SPAM! Do you open these e-mails? Probably not. The subject line makes it obvious that the e-mail is spam... that it's from someone you don't know... or it doesn't offer a clear benefit that makes you want to read it.

Now, how many of your legitimate newsletters and e-mails are mistakenly deleted by your subscribers who read your subject lines and assume it must be spam? How many potential sales could you have saved simply by rewriting your subject lines?

Here are three ideas that will help you write stronger subject lines that get your e-mails opened:

Give news: When you write your subject line, you can make an announcement or give news that your readers will want to hear. For example: My review of Corey's new course

Increase curiosity: Another good approach to subject lines is to make your reader curious about what's in the e-mail. For example: Here's my secret marketing weapon

Emphasize benefits: You can also write subject lines that emphasize how the reader will benefit from opening your e-mail. For example: Learn how to increase sales

Remember, too, that you'll always be most successful if you write subject lines that state a clear benefit and tell the reader exactly how they're going to save money, save time, make their life easier, etc., by opening and reading your e-mail. If you can state a benefit AND create curiosity, so much the better!

The key when writing subject lines is to emphasize benefits by considering your product or service from your customers' point of view:

How will they benefit from taking the time to read your e-mail? What will they learn?

Is your product or service going to save them time? Is it going to save them money? Is it going to improve their lives in some way? Write subject lines that emphasize these benefits and you'll dramatically increase the number of subscribers who open and read your e-mail.

Two other key points to remember when writing your subject lines are:

Keep it short and sweet: Don't let your subjects run any longer than 60 characters -- and make sure that the most important details are mentioned first so they don't get cut off.

If your subscribers can't read your entire subject line because it's too long, chances are they won't open your e-mail.

If possible, personalize it: A subject line like "Bob, here's the info you need..." is going to get a MUCH better response than simply "Here's the info you need" because the recipient assumes you know them -- and is therefore more likely to open the e-mail.

We've proven that personalized e-mail like this can increase the response you receive by as much as 64%! So don't take this technique lightly.