Do You Publish A Newsletter?
A newsletter can be a great promotional tool for your online business because it forms a bond between you and your readers. People who are attracted to your style of writing opt-in to your publication to keep track with your business. Newsletters are ideal for special offers available nowhere else on the Internet. You can say thank you to your readers for sticking with you by giving them small and large presents in the form of downloads, eBooks, podcasts and lots of other giveaways.
You could even hold regular competitions for a useful prize to give away. I must admit that I used to have a newsletter last year but when I changed the theme of my freelance writing site I sort of never gotten around to designing a new newsletter. Today I realize that this was probably a mistake because I also stopped building my list.
Lists are your bread and butter in online marketing and regardless whether you are a freelance writer, an Internet marketer or else. You need a list if you want to build relationships and by using response marketing (through the list) people will learn to trust you.
When readers connect with you on an emotional level they are much more inclined to buy from you opposed to being a fly-by website visitor you might never see again. By positioning your newsletter on the site as an irresistible offer you increase your chances of getting more subscribers.
The classic mistakes of new newsletter publishers
One common mistake of new newsletter publishers I see done all the time is the format in which these people deliver their newsletter. If you think HTML is cool, then think again. While your newsletter might look pretty and all, most people who use the Internet still don’t have broadband.
But even worse, many email providers have strict guidelines for email delivery and more often than not your carefully designed HTML email newsletter never reaches your audience because of those strict screening methods.
If you study all the popular marketing gurus online you notice one common behavior: they all use basic email newsletter delivery and not a flash looking HTML template. If it works for them it will also work for you.
Increase your visibility
Edwin Huertas at Early to Rise says it best when he writes: “Boring is better! You see, the most important thing about an e-mail newsletter is not how “pretty” it looks or how “flashy” the design is. The most important thing is the content. The innovative ideas and useful techniques that made readers subscribe in the first place.”
It is much more important to focus on the actual content of your newsletter than the design. I guess the same has to be said for blogs, websites and everything else that is published online.
I must admit it took me a little while to accept this truth but in the end I realized that design really doesn’t matter unless you are a visual artist and need to impress your audience with your artistic website.
Does this mean you should let your blog or website go to bits by not making it at least pleasing to the eye? No, certainly not. But what I’m trying to say is you rather focus more on your content than on your design.
The alternative to HTML newsletters
Instead of delivering your newsletter in HTML format you could deliver it online in the form of a website. If you join an online social media platform like Ning for example you could easily setup a private access site for your subscribers only. Yes, you will get people who would share that login link with others which can’t be avoided, but in the end you would have a captive audience all in the one place.
Alternatively you could also publish your newsletter on your blog or website and password protect it to subscribers only. At least this will still allow you to design them all pretty with pictures and what not. Plus you automatically get repeat visitors to your site and they will most likely stick around to read something else.
The most sensible option
The most sensible option by far is to publish your newsletter on your own blog or site and password protect it. Or another popular option is to give RSS subscribers extra content regular readers can’t see. This is done through Feedburner.
Either of these two options are common with online marketers. Even more popular these days is email delivery of RSS feeds. But to manage your list and send special offers you still need a reliable and respected autoresponder such as Aweber. Nothing goes beyond the double opt-in security such a provider offers you in terms of security and protection against spam claims.
Unfortunately we are in a sensitive era where people don’t even blink their eye to drop your email into the spam box, even if they have previously opted-in to your newsletter.
Closing thoughts
I’m seriously re-thinking to publish another newsletter on this site. I want to somehow reward my most ardent readers – you – with special offers, giveaways and competitions. By building a closer bond with you I can hopefully help to enrich your life while building my list as a nice by-product.
Monika
About the Author: I'm a passionate freelance writer and problogger. To further build my business I'm also in the process of building my own niche empire which pays me residual income.
Passive Income | Apr 29, 2009 | Reply
I guess I really don’t get it – what exactly is the difference between someone subscribing to my feed via email and a newsletter I send out? Most people subscribe via social media such mybloglog or via a RSS reader anyways. I agree about building up trust and people will buy from you but why go the exclusive content route: that just means fewer people to buy my vastly overpriced IM product ?
RT Cunningham | Apr 29, 2009 | Reply
Monika, you hit the nail on the head with this one. I need to set up a newsletter on my business site (not my blogs) because I see it as a way to keep participation active. I have no need to sell them anything because they have already been sold.
Writer Dad | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
I have one newsletter set up, but it isn’t designed for sales, it’s just for creative writing. It’s been successful, but it’s certainly time for me to take it to the next level.
Barb Sawyers | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
I have my own newsletter and also create them for clients http://www.stickycommunication.ca. I disagree with your assertion on not using html for two reasons
1. most people, especially businesses, do have a high speed connection, at least here in Canada
2. email service providers have excellent delivery rates, which they report on
However, I agree that content trumps graphics. What’s more, I use text in the banner, which shows in the preview pane, because that’s all people with Outlook or BlackBerries will see in those critical first seconds.
I use similar content for both email and blogs. The email is pushed to people I know. The blog helps me make new friends. So you really need both.
Monika | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
@ Lis: Good question and the way I see it is that newsletter subscribers are your real fans. Yes, they will be a smaller group because as I see it, most people subscribe all too easy to blog updates and then complain why their RSS reader is so stuffed. I also feel that by sending out a newsletter to a smaller group of people it is easier to build up trust because if you give them bonus content they are much more likely to stick around.
Having said this, the same happens in some measures when you publish to your blog or website. In the end though, newsletters have and always will be a marketing platform to sell yourself. I don’t mean this in ways of a “pimp yourself out” fashion, but more so to pre-sell you, your business your product – without selling. I hope this makes sense.
Monika | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
@ R.T.: You actually see it as I meant it to be. Yes, you do sell yourself but in effect, people only let themselves be sold to once they trust you anyway. Giving your existing customers more bang for their buck is a great way to build that trust on the backend.
Monika | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
@ WD: Sean, maybe you misunderstood me when I mentioned the sales aspect. What I mean is that newsletters are an excellent promotional tool that help to build trust. I hate selling myself because I can’t stand it when I’m sold to in a very offensive way either. Therefore I strongly believe that newsletters are doing the promotion for me in the background. A wise man once said: “To fish in the pond you first have to feed the fish until they become content and sluggish”. Or something like this. Anyway, I think you get the meaning.
Monika | Apr 30, 2009 | Reply
@ Barb Sawyers: I guess on the html front we have to agree to disagree for now. However, I appreciate your input and why you disagree with me. I’m also not opposed to learning new things and therefore I will look at what you have to say in your free ebook download. Thank you and I look forward to looking over your info.
annette young | Jun 22, 2009 | Reply
I have a weekly newsletter for writers and I send it out in text and html format. The subscriber gets to choose so from that, I take it they are able to read the contents ok.
I have never had any negative comments from subscribers, I am however considering publishing it online as well.
Monika | Jun 22, 2009 | Reply
@ Annette: I guess you are giving your subscribers a choice which is always the best solution anyway. Let people choose what THEY like best. Great idea! I shall take this into account myself if I ever go that far. Thanks for visiting. It’s always nice to see new “faces” here.