I just had an e-mail from one of our youngest readers.   I couldn’t read it – it was filled with “texting” and what I consider “Gang” slang.  I responded with a “What”?  He wrote me back, but it still didn’t make any damn sense.  The e-mail included a signature and I went to his website, and didn’t understand that either.

My kids came to the rescue and informed me that he want’s to know why he isn’t making any money with his websites, e-mail marketing, and why his sites are all being banned from Google.

Well since he was such a wealth of information, and his website is illegible to anyone over the age of “18″, I have to assume everything he does is in the same language of dumbass.

I don’t have any help for the fellow…. but if he was pushing teenager stuff and/or setting up social network sites for teens he would be writing to his market.  If he was pushing adult incontinence diapers – well none of us can understand his writing.

My point is that I write different for you guys than I do in some of my newsletters.  For example if you get the newsletters from blackhatdigest, I usually open with a “hey guys/gals” or something like that.  Why?  Well I feel like we are in some ubber secret society that knows more than your average internet users and more than most webmasters.  There are millions of webmasters out there who know how to build a website but don’t even have a clue how to make a dime, monetize, or get paid for their work.   I slip in little details about my life here and there (I bet some of you know how many kids I have, where I go on Vacation, what brand of soda I drink, etc..), but don’t waste your time with what I had for breakfast (super affiliate blogs for example seem to do a lot of this).  I write like your my buddy and I’m helping you out – probably the bhd newsletter and blog is my favorite thing to do.  Because I just ramble on my ideas, thoughts, what’s working – and I don’t have to worry about pretending to be anything else but me.  I keep up this blog to relax.  The rest of my day is work  -  this never seems like it.  Black Hat Digest was SUPPOSED to only be 30 posts (the 30 day guide).  Look at how big it’s gotten… hundreds and hundreds of posts.

I don’t worry so much about my grammar, spelling, etc… with you guys/gals  either.  I rarely get ragged on about it.  But when I write for my newsletter on toys *(that go out to teachers, gramma’s, mom’s, etc…), I get totally torn up if a comma is out of place.

(Really, imagine getting 10 responses pointing out your grammar mistakes – from strangers you are trying to sell to).

My kids run a few small sites and make money from them – talking like wookies.  I get a comma out of place and lose 50 subscibers

Point of the story:  Write to your audience – like they want to read it.  Use good grammar for adults.  Use slang for teens (get a teen to help), be personable if it calls for it, make connections if it’s possible,  etc…  Sometimes anything “extra” or that looks like fluff can hurt you.  I also maintain a small business list (I do seo for business – so it makes sense to market to them directly right?).  I’m not an expert on small business – but I am an expert on on-line marketing.  So I sure don’t talk about the ROI they get from their shelving systems, or what my dog ate for breakfast.  I send them little concepts that the internet can do for small business – I’ll expand on the idea quickly, and give them their solution at the end of it.

No fluff – no wasted time – just what they want with clear benefits.

Do the same thing with your sites, newsletters, and relationships with clients and you will do well.