If you’re reading this post directly on my blog (as opposed to in your email or in your RSS reader), you should have seen a pop-up announcing my email newsletter. You’ll see that pop-up only once, at least in theory (if it ever pops up again, the Escape key will close it), but you can always find the newsletter sign-up on my contact page.

Many of you receive my blog posts via email, but my newsletter is completely separate from that. My newsletter is for the group of super cool people who want to be part of my inner circle.

I’ve been on a number of different email newsletters, and I’ve seen firsthand what annoys me as a subscriber. So before I had a newsletter of my own, I wanted to come up with a better way of doing it. I definitely didn’t want to piss people off with my emails. (Though I did break one of my own rules with the subject of this post!)

Everyone says that all internet marketers need to have a newsletter. But I kept putting it off, because I hadn’t really seen a good role model among the lists I was on. The emails were just one sales pitch after another, or there were way too many emails, or they just weren’t interesting.

But I recently got some inspiration from a couple of good email lists.

Naomi Dunford and her discounts

When Naomi at IttyBiz released SEO School, she wrote a post about it that included a discount code meant for her regular readers. Later, when she released it to the general public, a bunch of people who don’t even read her blog just did a Google search for “SEO School discount code.” People who didn’t know who she was got the discount that was only meant for her fans!

To fix this the next time around, she started an email list. The idea was that whenever she came out with a new product, she’d tell her fans about it first, and let them buy it at a discount. That’s it. No regular emails, just discounts.

I thought this was a good idea because it gave a clear incentive to subscribe, and no one could honestly think they were being spammed (free money, duh). But I wasn’t sure that just doing discount emails would work for me.

If someone joined my list, and then I didn’t email them for a long time, they might wonder “Where the heck are my emails?” And then when I finally came out with a product six months down the road and sent an email, people might have forgotten about me by then. And then they’d wonder, “Who are you, and how did you get my email address? I don’t remember signing up for anything!” Still, this idea had potential for me.

Michael Martine keeping it short and sweet

My other inspiration came from Michael Martine at Remarkablogger. First he had Remarkablogger the blog, then he came out with his Remarkanotes newsletter. (Next he’ll probably come out with his Remarkaclothing line, or the Remarkafragrance for men.)

Michael sends out emails about once a week, so his subscribers don’t forget about him. But his emails are really short and interesting, so it’s more like getting emails from a friend than reading big long dissertations. His list is great for people who want a little something extra, but are short on time.

My newsletter for super cool people

I decided to combine these concepts in my own newsletter.

If you want to be in my inner circle, just sign up below. When I release a new product, you’ll be told ahead of time, and you’ll get a chance to buy it at a discount. (This also helps if you want to be an affiliate, so you can have a head start on writing a review.) I have a new ebook that will be announced to my newsletter subscribers soon, hopefully within a week, so this would be a good time to join my newsletter.

Aside from the discounts, you also get an email whenever I come across something motivational, interesting, helpful, etc. For example, the videos about Nick Vujicic and The Tea-Loving Caterpillars.

I sometimes write long blog posts, but my newsletter emails will be short. And they’ll be infrequent too, probably somewhere between once a month and once a week. Many of us who spend a few hours a day reading blogs sometimes forget that some people don’t want to spend much time on the internet.

And of course, your email won’t be used for any other purpose, you can unsubscribe at any time, and all that good stuff. So, if you want discounts and cool stuff, sign up for my newsletter!

(The form below might not work from your email or RSS reader, so you’ll have to sign up directly on the page. And you can always sign up on my contact page.)

• Mailinator: Let Them Eat Spam!
• How To Piss People Off With Email: A Complete Guide
• What Spammers Can Teach Us About Copywriting
• Blogging + Email = Conversion Blogging