How To Create Email Newsletters By Abbie Drew Aug 16, 2006

Email this article  Printer friendly page

Recently, I've been reading about the woes of publishing email newsletters. People have begun to say that email newsletters / ezines, are not worth the effort.

Well today, I would like to contradict the negative press you may have heard on creating email newsletters. In fact, I have to flat out say don't believe it! Email newsletters remain one of the most effective strategies for staying in touch with customers and prospects.

What's more, email newsletters are easy to create and distribute. The time you invest to regularly publish an email newsletter, I assure you, will generate more sales and profits for your business.

If you've yet to start up an email newsletter, believe me the process of publishing an email newsletter is not overwhelming when done properly. Or if you've been struggling when you try to create an email newsletter take a minute and review the following 5 step guide.

Here are the 5 key components to creating a successful email newsletter.

Step 1: Focus on a targeted topic.

While this may sound basic, I can't tell you how many newsletters I see which are unfocused. A lack of focus causes subscribers to loose interest and unsubscribe as they have no idea what to expect. So pick a specific subject, in your business' field and stick to it!

What's a good targeted topic, you ask? Any subject related to your business about which you know a lot and are interested in learning more.

The more narrow the focus of your email newsletter the better. For example an email newsletter on marketing is too general, even an email newsletter on Internet marketing is too general. If you publish an email newsletter on marketing you need a targeted subject such as email marketing, search engine marketing, pay-per-click marketing, affiliate program marketing, etc.

Step 2: Select a schedule.

When you start publishing an email newsletter select a conservative schedule. Perhaps once a month, every other week or at most weekly. I would recommend you do not send a daily email newsletter as you're likely to burn yourself out.

Choose a day of the week or day of the month that you'll publish your email newsletter. And then publish on those days. Consistency is critical in developing trust and rapport with your subscribers.

In addition to selecting your publication schedule, you need to set aside time to create your email newsletter. Thus if you publish every week on Friday, then assign Wednesday or Thursday to be the day you create your email newsletter. Once you've established a day as "email newsletter day," make no exceptions, always create your email newsletter on that day. Everything else should be scheduled around it.

Step 3: Design a standard template.

Every issue of your email newsletter should have your standardized look or your style with consistent sections. Your newsletter's format will allow your readers to recognize your publication when it arrives. In addition, a standardized format makes your email newsletter easier to read as your subscribers will come to recognize where each of your various sections resides.

For ideas on what kind of sections you can put into the template of your email newsletter, look through both offline magazines as well as other ezines. Here are some types of sections you could consider including: Welcome Note, Positive Quotation, Letters to the Editor, Poll, Contest, Reviews, In The News, Sponsor Messages, Question & Answer, Weekly Joke, Interesting Stat, Main Article, Monthly Interview, New Products/Services, etc..

Put into your template just a handful of sections that you'll include in each and every issue of your email newsletter. Layout which section will go where.

I'd recommend you start publishing your email newsletter as a simple text message. Thus each section will be on top of the previous section. Separate each section with white spaces and some characters of your choice. (e.g. ^^^, &&&, ***). Set the line width of your template at 65 characters across.

Once you've created your template, save it in a word processing document as you'll use the same template for each issue. When it's time to create a new email newsletter, you simply open up the template and copy and paste in the content for each section.

Step 4: Find good content.

Depending upon the sections you've selected to be included in your email newsletter, you'll need to make sure you can acquire content to fill those sections.

Reader feedback sections will need to be sent in from your readers. (It never hurts to ask friends or associates to contribute if feedback is slower than you'd like.)

Quotes, jokes, and statistics you'll find with a little research. Using your favorite search engine seek out sites which carry the type of information you'd like to include. Once you've found some good sources ask the site owners how to gain permission to reprint the information. In many cases all you'll need to do is note the original source when you publish the item in your email newsletter.

News stories, reviews, interviews, welcome notes, these are sections you'll write yourself after doing your own research. Again, use the search engines for your research. Regularly contact people with experience in the subject field of your email newsletter and ask them for interviews. You also can contact businesses with product/services you'd like to review. You'll be amazed at how often you'll hear yes to your request.

Lastly, if you include feature articles in your email newsletter, you can write your own, you can hire a ghost writer or you can use the articles of others. (For a good strategy on how to write your own feature ezine article, check out the tip in today's SOHO Help Desk.)

As for reprinting other's articles, when ever you come across an article you'd like to include in your own email newsletter, write to the author and ask for permission to reprint it. You also can find sites with collections of articles available for reprint. Here are a few:
http://www.amazines.com/
http://ezinearticles.com/
http://www.ideamarketers.com

Once you've established sources for finding content, it's simply a matter of returning to those sites when it's "email newsletter day". Of course as you surf the net on a day to day basis, always keep your eyes open for good tidbits. Then bookmark the sites or copy and paste the item of interest and get the permission you need to use it. Then you'll have it ready to go when "email newsletter day" arrives.

Step 5: Use an email list host provider for distribution.

One of the most difficult aspects to creating an email newsletter, I found in the first few years of publishing DEMC, was list management and distribution. In the early years of Internet marketing, there simply were not the email list hosting providers that are available today.

Now, there are a number of affordable email list host providers which take the hassle out of distribution. They handle the management of your list so you don't have to think about it. Email list host providers eliminate your list's undeliverable email addresses, send out your email newsletter promptly and provide links and forms so your subscribers can sign-up, sign-off and even change their email addresses.

When you're ready to publish an email newsletter, get an account with an email list host provider. The provider will make sending out your email newsletter as simple as entering it into a form at a web site and clicking send.

(Tip: If you're looking for a cost effective email list host provider, be sure to check out the service we designed and built at SendFree - http://www.sendfree.com .)

Follow this 5 step guideline and you'll find creating email newsletters is actually not difficult at all. With a little planning and keeping your eyes open for good content, you too can enjoy the many benefits and profits email newsletter publishing brings to your business.

###
Abbie Drew
DEMC Editor

Check out other articles on this topic:

• Click Here