I track my email stats like clues, and one pattern embarrasses the marketer in me: my most-opened newsletters are usually the ones where I share personal things. Not the trip launches. Not the beautiful promos. The one where I talk about what actually happened this month, the travel mishap, the lesson, the thing that made me laugh in an airport.
“Those are usually my most opened ones when I share personal things.”
Why the personal paragraph wins
- People buy trips from people. Your subscribers see promotions all day; a genuine paragraph from a human they follow is scarce, and scarcity gets opened.
- It trains the open habit: subscribers who open for YOU open the launch email too. The personal issues subsidize the promotional ones.
- It compounds trust invisibly, by the time a reader books, they feel they know you. That feeling was built one honest paragraph at a time.
Claire's own numbers
The framework, step by step
- 1
People buy trips from people
Your subscribers see promotions all day; a genuine paragraph from a human they follow is scarce, and scarcity gets opened.
- 2
It trains the open habit
subscribers who open for YOU open the launch email too. The personal issues subsidize the promotional ones.
- 3
It compounds trust invisibly — by the time a reader books
they feel they know you. That feeling was built one honest paragraph at a time.
Claire's own framework from this essay, in the order she teaches it.
Source: Claire B. Soares, from her own travel business and live trainings.
Where the line sits
Personal doesn't mean private. The share should be a story with a floor under it, the mishap you've already survived, the milestone, the opinion you'd defend at dinner. Never the crisis you're still inside, never other people's business, never health details you'd regret in print. My format: open with the personal paragraph, then flow into the useful content, destination, tip, trip of the month. One paragraph of you, then the value. Readers come for the paragraph; the business rides along.
Common Questions
What makes a travel newsletter get opened?
The personal paragraph. Claire's most-opened issues are the ones sharing something real, not the polished promotions, because subscribers see promotions all day.
How personal should business emails be?
Personal, not private: the mishap you have already survived, the milestone, the opinion you would defend at dinner. Never an unresolved crisis or anyone else's business.
What is a good newsletter structure?
Open with the personal paragraph, then flow into the useful content. Readers come for the paragraph and the business rides along.
Written By
Claire B. Soares
6× Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist, Certified AI Consultant, and founder of Travel AI University. $3.4B+ in enterprise travel software sold to Google, IBM, Boeing, the federal government, and the DoD; $16M+ in luxury travel sales with Up in the Air Life.
About Claire
