Image thanks to Andre Hunter on Unsplash
How’s your newsletter going?
Posted on 3/4/2018 by Karen
Over my 20 years in business, I’ve come across many a client who has keenly started their newsletters, with my help, only for Issue 2 never to happen. They go too big too soon, then crash and burn. Ideas for Issue 2 languish at the bottom of the in-tray and there’s always too much other business stuff to do, so they never get around to it. Sound familiar? Here are some tips to help you get that newsletter out there on a regular basis…
7 Newsletter Tips
1. Keep it simple — actually, this is my Writing Tip #1. Just write as you would speak, remembering to take out any swear words. A conversational style works well and is easy to read.
2. Keep it short and sweet — just enough information to tell people what’s going on, it doesn’t have to be War and Peace. Besides, who has time, these days? Think of it as a quick snapshot, like a movie trailer.
3. Break it up — have your newsletter split visually with clear subheadings so people can just quickly scroll down to find something of interest. Just like these 7 Tips. Even if they don’t read any actual content, they will remember the article headlines and may go back and read something of interest later.
4. Use images — a picture tells a thousand words. We are visual creatures, so using a photo or graphic to draw attention to your articles works well. You can take a photo yourself or check out unsplash.com, a great photo website that’s absolutely free.
5. Have a call to action — what do you want them to do after reading your newsletter? Get clear on that and write it at the end. You can also have links throughout so people can click from articles through to your website, facebook page, blog post, EventBrite, whatever.
6. Don’t send them too often — as you can probably tell, I’m a fan of ‘less is more’ which is perhaps why my first newsletter has taken me over 20 years to get out there! Don’t do that. People will forget who you are. But do have a good think about how often you should send it.
People are busy, inboxes are very full these days and we don’t want our newsletters to be seen as spam. If you get hordes of people unsubscribing, you’ve probably overdone it. Either that, or your newsletter is rubbish.
7. Need help? Talk to me. I’d be happy to brainstorm with you, coach you to give you more confidence in your writing, or edit your efforts. And if you really can’t be bothered or it stresses you out, or you just have better things to do than try and write it yourself, I can interview you, write your newsletter for you and even source some photos. I’d love to help you so please get in touch.
