Newsletters – 5 Great Tips

Should you start a newsletter?  Will it take too much time?  Will you run out of things to say?  How long should the newsletter be?  How often should you send it?

First off, your aim should not be to just “get it out”, it should be to offer useful information.  Secondly, you should keep your newsletters short.  People prefer something they can quickly skim and then use if they choose.

I suggest you follow a format similar to any of the newsletters you enjoy skimming, er… reading.  Be honest with yourself – can you really keep it up weekly, or is monthly a more honest estimate?  I suggest you don’t put any extra stress on yourself by trying to get a newsletter out weekly, unless you plan to outsource it.

Your newsletters can have any (but not all) of the following:

1.  Tip of the week.  Self-explanatory.  Provide a tip to solve any of your reader’s problems, and make it as short and sweet as you can.

2. Top Ten.  You’re the expert.  List your top ten tips for getting out of debt, the top ten mistakes people make with their websites, or the top ten garden pests in the Northwest.

3. Three Ways to ___.  With only three items to list instead of ten, you can go into more detail on each.  Plus it’s easier to come up with three!

4. Compare before and after’s.   Case studies work well here.  Before they tried product xyz for their acne and after, or how their office looked before they tried xyz organization system and after.  Add pictures, especially if you’re in the weight loss niche.

5. Checklists.  When you’re explaining something new to your readers, they will really benefit from a checklist.  They’ll even thank you for it.

Again, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.  Look carefully at all newsletters you receive and figure out what you like and don’t like about them.  If you don’t get very many (yeah right!) then sign up for some more. Once you get your system perfected, it’s easy to follow each time.  My Cookin’ Kids newsletter has:
     a very short personal blurb
     a recipe
     a cooking tip from an expert
     3 short related tips by me
     a plug for my product
     sometimes an interesting link to check out
     sometimes a short article
     a request for feedback
Each thing is short and sweet and my readers can get through it fast if they want to.

Related posts:

1. Great Info on Article Writing
2. Tips on Creating an Ebook