Newsletter or e-zine publishing is a leading communication and marketing tool for your web site and an important part of building a long-term successful online business.
For your business to gain benefits from your newsletter it must..
- Be focused on a specific topic of interest for your readers.
- Be original by writing your own articles. Be realistic as to how much time you can devote to the purpose of producing a newsletter. If you find you cannot write all your own articles due to lack of time, or for various other reasons, try to limit the use of acquired free content articles that your readers may have read elsewhere.
- Be on time a regular reliable publication is a sign of professionalism and credibility. If you find you are having to resort to using acquired content on a frequent basis it may be time to revise how often you publish your newsletter and perhaps aim to produce a monthly publication instead of weekly or bi-weekly.
Checklist BEFORE starting your e-newsletter…
1) Decide how many subscribers you want to have.
2) What is the purpose of your newsletter. Decide who you are writing for – what group or target market of people do you want to read your newsletter. This will help in determining your topic, the title and how and where you will promote your newsletter.
3) What benefits will you deliver to your subscribers. Will you write original articles with valuable information, occasional guest articles, helpful resources for your readers with links to sites, reviews, classified advertising etc.
4) How often will you distribute your newsletter – weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, occasionally?
5) How are your going to number each issue e.g. VOL. 1 Issue 1 (Vol. 1 indicates that it is the first year of publication, next year will start with Vol.2 Issue 1..2..3.. etc.)
6) Will your newsletter be distributed via email or as a webzine at your site? How will people sign-up? Will there be a form at your web site?
7) Will you provide a sample issue they can receive by autoresponder or archives for people to view before signing up?
8) What guidelines will you have for people who want to share your newsletter with others? How, or will, you accept article submissions to your newsletter?
9) Will you accept advertisers? How many subscribers will you have before doing so? How many adverts will you include per issue, what type, how much will your charge for running an advert? Will you swap adverts with other publishers?
Once you have answered these basic questions it is now time to start writing your first issue….
When your newsletter is complete it is now ready to send.
To get the message out that your newsletter exists and how interested readers can subscribe to receive it…
There are many ways of doing this:
- Directories
- Announcement lists
- Submitting articles for use with the resource box referring readers to your newsletter
- Ad swaps and paying to advertise in other newsletters available online related to your topic area.
- Pay-per-subscriber services.
If you currently are not using a newsletter as a marketing tool For your business then start publishing your own newsletter now to position yourself and your business for the future.
Jill is a home business person with a portfolio of easy to operate business ventures and owner of Net writing and Publishing success a site offering ways to advance your Career or start a home business through writing. This site can be viewed at: http://www.netwrite-publish.com
