How Gardening Made Me a Better Email Marketer: Part Three
Part Three: Taking Notes
Tending plants has been a lifelong learning experience, and the lessons apply to everything from tomatoes to email marketing. So far we’ve talked about planning and preparation and how to handle tough times. Today we’ll cover the value of recording your progress.
Keep Notes Every Season: One of the best things I’ve done is start a gardening journal. I sketch the layout of the garden and take note of weather, harvest, germination rates, etc. This proves immeasurably valuable when it comes to making plans for the following season. The same applies when creating email newsletters. Keep a list of the articles you’ve sent out and themes you’ve utilized. If you had any particularly well received calls to action, make sure you are recording that information as well.
Consult Your Notes: Notes are the most valuable when you actually consult them. Great times to look over your notes include when planning the following year’s course. You can also take note of what you’ve already covered or scan for topics you’ve never covered. If there are areas where you constantly note troubles, consider looking for help.
Seek Out Resources: Even though I’ve been learning about gardening since I was old enough to pull weeds, I still occasionally rely on other resources to improve my abilities. I’ve attended classes on soil building; purchased books on edible landscaping, permaculture, and food preservation; and frequently hop online to look up garden pests. There is so much amazing research going on in the world that it would be quite silly of anyone to stick only to what they know. Reading through other people’s notes can be as valuable as reading your own. As a marketer I think it is essential to constantly seek out resources to learn more. Whenever you come across some area where you’re having trouble, you can turn to those trusted resources for new ideas.
The basic needs of a garden and an email newsletter campaign are much the same: you have to pay attention, be responsive, and input time and energy in order to see reward. Thinking of your email marketing efforts as a growing entity may also help you to find new ways to encourage growth and respond to stress in the environment.