Selling in newsletters... best way?

[hdpt00]

I have been building my newsletter and am ready to send my first email. It is double opt-in for a very specific niche. I am going to try and push a couple products to see if people will bite and buy something.

The list is still small (~25) but I want to see how successful this method of selling can be. Can anyone give me some tips in terms of pushing a couple products and possibly the best day to send it out. I'm thinking send it out soon in case someone orders it for christmas.

Any help would be great, thanks!

[pleeker]

hdpt00, I wish I could provide a real citation for this, but I don't recall where I saw it ... but I read about a year ago some stats that suggested mid-week is the best time for sending out newsletters. Mid-week, as in Tues.-Thurs.

We started up a newsletter earlier this year and chose Wednesday, and I've noticed that two other newsletters I read most often also come out mid-week (one Weds. and one Thurs.).

Good luck.

[hdpt00]

Any recommendations in terms of how to phrase what to buy, etc. These things range in price from $6 - $50, but typically you buy more than one thing at a time.

So basically if I can get someone to buy one of the $6 things they'll usually end up spending $50 or so total. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[pleeker]

I would think you'd use similar "calls to action" that you might use on a web page, but the newsletters I write are more information and not product pitches, so I don't speak from experience.

Here's a good thread about "call to action" verbiage [webmasterworld.com].