Creating An Effective Newsletter
Author: Thomas Fairholm

Creating a successful newsletter can be extremely rewarding.
Subscribers and customers respond with glowing feedback, online
sales jump and your customer relationships and brand loyalty
deepens. Here are some useful tips that might help in creating a
successful newsletter.

Define Success

Ask yourself "What is the purpose of your newsletter?" A
newsletter is a substantial investment of company resources in
terms of time and energy, and you need to define in as tangible
terms as possible the purpose of your Newsletter.

Voice and Personality

Establish a voice or editorial personality – whether newsy,
serious, gossipy or funny – that is synergistic with the image
you want to portray and connects with your audience. Remember
that email newsletters aren't email promotions designed to
stimulate immediate action. Sales and promotional copy don't
suit e-newsletters. Nor does the traditional tone of broadcast
corporate communications.

Think of your newsletter as a one-on-one conversation. Just
imagine sitting in a coffee shop talking informally with a
customer. That's the starting point for your approach--a more
personable and appropriate "human" voice will come naturally.
Drop the jargon, drop the sales pitch, be as honest as you can,
and talk like a human being.

You can have as much or as little personality as is
appropriate. Consider adding a brief editorial, a comment or
two, an editor's note, a couple of lines of commentary, a touch
of opinion; adding a little human element here and there. Sign
editorials, give authors a byline, or list some names down in
the administrative section of each issue to which your readers
can relate to.

From Line

Whether a person's name, name of the newsletter or company name
– determine what will resonate best with your readers and stay
with it.

Subject Line

"Vol. 1, Issue #8" or "Company News" are not enticing subject
lines. They are certainly consistent and simple, but they don't
tell your readers anything that will motivate them to open your
email. Your subject line is your calling card - entice your
readers with the most interesting or intriguing information in
your Newsletter..

Style/Format

Establish a format and layout of your Newsletter that is clean
and simple, with elements of the Newsletter (table of contents;
"Tips", subscription information, etc. located in the same spot
each issue).

Content

Figure out what your readers want and give it to them. Seek
continuous improvement by obtaining reader feedback and
monitoring click-through rates to determine what types of
articles are most popular.

Another dilemma that we all confront is too much information
and too little time. The newsletter's job is to keep readers on
top of trends and the latest developments in the industry. Aim
for articles and feature stories to meet one of the following
criteria by including either: major industry occurrences,
forward thinking industry ideas, education on issues or new
techniques, or business opportunities.

Whether your customers work out of a corporate or home office,
employees need answers to questions and tips for improving
business activities. E-newsletters provide you with an
opportunity to point out work inefficiencies, and share relevant
best practice. When you create a newsletter, try changing your
focus from selling products and services to solving your
customers' problems. Think about what they need and give options
they don't know exist

Frequency

Determine how frequently your readers want to hear from
you/receive your Newsletter – and what you can commit to. As a
thumb rule, a weekly newsletter is ideal. However, don't launch
a weekly newsletter if you are not absolutely certain that you
can distribute a quality Newsletter every week. A fortnightly
newsletter is a good option too.

Timing

Test and pick a day and time that works best ...and stick to
it. Readers should almost be able to set their watches by the
receipt time of your Newsletter.

Make it Viral

Provide information readers can act on or that stimulates
reaction – forwarding it to friends and peers, stimulating
purchases or requests for additional information. Make it easy
for readers to forward articles and information to peers and
friends. Provide a "Forward to a Friend" link that enables
readers to forward the Newsletter with a personalized note.

Search

Make it easy to find articles of interest and back issues.
Provide a table of contents and links to articles within the
newsletter and to resources and past Articles on your site.

Printing

Consider providing "printer-friendly formats" on your Web site.


Personalize

At minimum address the reader by name. The most successful
newsletters have a human being associated with them...and a
personality. If possible, your Newsletter should be "written by
a person" at your company...not the company.

Write in layman terms with simple vocabulary

Not everyone has the vocabulary that you and editors do. Use
words that are easy-to-understand, and if you do use technical
terms, provide a definition that people can relate to. There is
nothing more frustrating then a definition that makes less sense
than the word itself.

Test

Test the Newsletter on few email addresses to check for errors
and other issues – before sending to the entire distribution
list.

If you lack experience in print media, seek out assistance if
you know someone in the field. If not, don't worry – the above
mentioned basic principles apply. Plan to research your material
thoroughly and avoid factual or editing errors, as they will
make you seem less credible.

Add hyperlinks and include updates on old material should new
information surface. The typical form of newsletter is a one-way
communication where you provide information to customers, such
as product updates and announcements. You have the option of
formatting your e-mail by including colorized text and a variety
of fonts, but not all e-mail software supports HTML mail.
Consider writing your newsletter in plain text or offer two
mailing lists- one for plain text mailings and the other for
HTML e-mail.

Make sure you Include:

1. Table of Contents
2. Hyperlinks for customers who want more information for a
featured topic
3. Exciting secrets or tips related to your product or service
4. Contact information

E-newsletters can take up a good amount of time if not managed
correctly. The use of a list server or autoresponder service is
a good option. It will automatically manage a list of e-mail
addresses. Once you send your newsletter to the list server, it
distributes the letter to the stored addresses. If you opt to
use another method, make sure you have a plan for handling
incoming and outgoing mail when your customer base increases.

In conclusion, your newsletter can serve as an extension of
your business that will reach out to your customers. It will
allow you to maintain regular contact with them and serve as an
effective and rewarding addition to your marketing arsenal.
These tips should help you put it all together and help you
create an exceptional newsletter.


About The Author: Thomas Fairholm, your Income For Life guy,
can show you how to launch your very own money making website
today that's 100% ready to take orders and pull in massive
profits for you right now ... guaranteed!
http://www.IncomeForLifeSite.com/pip.html