• by Lisa Harmon , July 22, 2008

We subscribe to the Email Insider because we're looking for the "killer app," the next big idea, the new game changer. We want to know which day of the week to send and the hottest tactics for holiday.

A colleague recently sent me a copy of Tim Sanders' book "Love is the Killer App,"  which I promptly opened and devoured within hours. For those of you who haven't read it yet, (A) you should and (B) it's modern day Dale Carnegie: a prescription for advancement in business by -- quite simply -- being nice and smart.

Tim says: "Love is the killer app. Those of us who use love as a point of differentiation in business will separate ourselves from our competitors just as world-class distance runners separate themselves from the rest of the pack trailing behind them."

Don't worry: This isn't touchy-feely, flowers-and-candy love. Sanders is talking about business love. Bizlove, he says, is "the act of intelligently and sensibly sharing your intangibles" -- your knowledge, your networks and your compassion.

With that definition in mind, how can we show our subscribers the love?

(1) Share your knowledge. Whatever your industry, your subscribers sign up to receive email from you because they want and expect to get knowledge that is both relevant and beneficial. This oft-forgotten fact gets some fantastic focus in ExactTarget's recently published white paper, Subscribers Rule. The first step in understanding what's relevant and beneficial is to ask. Create a subscriber preferences center like BabyCenter's or The New York Times' .

(2) Share your networks
As email marketers, we have the uncommon ability to bring together uncommonly large groups of people, whether our subscribers number 400 or 4,000,000. While these days we tend to pair the word "social" with "network," email does provide us with occasions to bring our subscribers together, whether it's including customer reviews in our messages, featuring extraordinary subscribers, or just recognizing and thanking all subscribers  for their time and attention.

(3) Share Your Compassion
The inbox can be a cold and overwhelming place, crowded with deadlines and demands. What if we think of every email we send as an undercover bizlove letter? How can we appropriately communicate caring? Some brands scream "I love you!" from the rooftops), but you don't have to wear your heart on your sleeve. The opportunities to deliver warmth are everywhere - from remembering a birthday  to creating a satisfying visual oasis in an otherwise uninviting inbox.

I know, I know. "Love rate" isn't a metric your organization measures. But as ders says, when we share our knowledge, networks and compassion, we not only add value to the lives of others, but to our own.

Show me the love and I'll show you the money!

Bizlove,
Lisa

P.S. Got any stories about showing the love and seeing the money?