Make a benefits list. Just write down what you know your readers want to get out of life or in their profession. List what they need to make easier.



Making this list helps you:

- write benefit-laden headlines and articles

- choose article subjects that interest your readers

- increase sales (After all, readers respond when you focus only on them.)

By creating this list and posting wherever you write, you'll have a quick point of reference whenever you need to come up with an article quickly.

Here's an example of a list I made for accounts payable clerks:

- keep independent contractors separate from employees

- reduce paper

- keeping up with sales tax issues

- stay out of legal trouble

- checking expense reports against receipts

These are all things they'd want. Now you can use this to create headlines. Try to put the benefits in the headline first. Here are a few examples:

An Easier Way to Determine Worker Status

Small Steps to Going Paperless

Heads up: A/P Could Pay for DOR's Sales Tax Losses

Here's Poof Spot Checking Expense Reports Pays Off

It's best not to pull this list out of thin air. As much as you think you're close to your audience, and you know exactly what they're thinking, they can often surprise you with new interests. Here's how to stay current:

1. Start calling or e-mailing a select group of customers. You'll want to choose people who you speak with on a regular basis and who are opinionated. They are not hard to find. These wonderful gems are on every businessperson's client list.

2. Ask them these questions:

- What keeps you up at night?

- What's the toughest thing about your job?

- What's the one thing you would change about your job?

- Could you please describe your day from the time you sit at your desk in the morning until you leave at night?

3. Draw out their emotions. Once you have this info, look for any emotions the respondent has. Are they angry about new regulations? Tired of having to match invoices? Eager to remove paper from the accounting process? Loving a new kind of computer software? Use these emotions to write your lead paragraphs and headlines. They're the undercurrent that will keep your readers glued to just about everything that flows from your computer and into their inbox.

What You Can Do Now: Think of who you can ask today, so that you can start building your benefits list. It's the secret to the success of your e-mail marketing campaign.