Suddenly there are hundreds-of-thousands of newsletter editors out there, publishing a ton of exciting new Titles each month.
Maybe you’re editor-in-chief of one of these new publications 🙂
The newsletter explosion has come about because of a combination of two main factors:
1. Easy-to-use DTP software and short-run Digital Print has meant that printed newsletters are now viable even for small or tiny audiences.
2. Most significantly, the advent of the EZine (Electronic MagaZINE sent by email) has brought the cost of producing a newsletter down to virtually ZERO.
SO HOW ARE THESE NEW NEWSLETTERS PERFORMING?
The answer is disappointingly badly!
You see most newsletter editors know a great deal about their specialist subject and are probably able to write fluently about fishing, DIY, computers, their Church group or whatever subject their newsletter directly covers.
But does this make their newsletter a good read?
The answer is definitely – NO.
SUCCESSFUL NEWSLETTERS REQUIRE SOME EXTERNAL CONTENT
The trouble with most newsletters is that they *overkill* on such a narrow subject range, that even the most dedicated reader will eventually switch-off.
On the other hand, what all successful newsletters have in common is a degree of varied content. Now this *off-the-main-subject* content can be related to the actual newsletter purpose, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.
Think about this…
A TV Channel entirely devoted to covering one subject (Bloomberg covers just financial news for example) would still have a spot for the weather.
The lesson is clear you need to add good external interest and content to your newsletter to keep your readership truly enthralled.
BUT WHAT ADDITIONAL CONTENT SHOULD YOU ADD?
There are numerous articles or “fillers” that you could add to your newsletter. But here are some tried and tested examples that will always energize your publication.
– Add Something Light-Hearted. Make your readers smile.
People won’t forget that they were entertained by something they read in your publication and it will increase the chances of them continuing to subscribe in the future.
– Top 10 Lists. Or Top 20, 30, 40…. Everyone loves a countdown list of the hottest, longest, tallest, fastest, and so on. This will always make for a good and interesting space filler.
– Keep It Personal. Humans are interested in other humans. With the big drive towards everything in life coming from faceless global corporate organizations, you can reawaken genuine interest by ensuring that your readership knows a thing or two about you personally as the editor. Remember: Humans love human interest stories. Period!
– Votes and Polls. Let the people speak. Everyone loves to know what everybody else thinks. Help them discover by publishing the results of opinion polls or votes into all manner of subjects. A guaranteed good read for your subscribers.
YOUR GOAL SHOULD BE TO DRAW IN NEW READERS
By publishing a newsletter with a more balanced mix of articles you’ll achieve two important aims:
First, you’ll better entertain your existing readers. They’ll look forward to publication date and be glued to your newsletter for the future.
Second, you’ll encourage new subscribers by making your subject more accessible to a wider audience. In fact, the more specialist your subject, the more this is true. If your newsletter focuses 100% on your primary subject and covers nothing else, then you are unlikely to help draw new people into your fold.
Good luck, Michael Green
C How To Corporation. All rights reserved.
Michael Green has created an award-winning toolkit for budding newsletter editors everywhere. His “How To Write A Newsletter” toolkit is crammed full of copyright free articles, newsletter templates and a complete “How To” editors manual. Check it out right now at ==> http://www.howtoWRITEaNEWSLETTER.com
