Why You Need an Email Newsletter4 min read
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I’ve been publishing an email newsletter each Tuesday for almost 24 years. Has it worked out for me? Well, let me count the ways…
First of all, virtually ALL of my clients were first subscribers to my email newsletter.
Second, writing this newsletter every week has made me a much better marketing coach who can offer even better ideas to my clients.
Thirdly, see one and two! What else is there?
I do two kinds of marketing: Passive and Proactive.
Passive marketing is being in front of your prospective clients to build the know-like-trust factor. Social media, content marketing, videos, interviews, and especially newsletters are all passive marketing.
Social media, online articles, videos etc. are now competing with millions of others. But newsletters are the King of passive marketing because they go directly into your prospective clients’ email boxes.
Proactive marketing is reaching out directly in various ways to prospective clients. And in my experience, the very best proactive marketing is giving presentations and webinars.
Passive and Proactive marketing collide in my business because when I want to do a webinar, I send the announcement to my email newsletter list. How easy is that?
In my most recent Marketing Action Group Program, most of the participants had been on my list for several years.
Just think, all of them visited my website at some point. If they hadn’t signed up for my newsletter, they never would have attended my intro webinar or joined my group.
So, what’s stopping you from sending out a regular email newsletter?
Two things: Technical barriers and writing barriers.
Technical barriers are relatively minor. You sign up for a mailing email list service such as AWeber, Mail Chimp, or Constant Contact. You set up a template for your newsletter. You put a form for your newsletter sign-up on your website. Done.
If you’re a technophobe, no problem. Find someone on UpWork to help you. It will cost you almost nothing and will be done lickety split.
Writing barriers are more serious. You may be thinking, “What should I write, I have nothing to say, I’m not a good writer, I’ll run out of ideas, or People will hate my writing.”
Let me give you a few ideas…
Topics: Write down a long list of all the problems, issues, and challenges your clients face. There are hundreds of them, believe me. And simply write short articles about how to solve those problems. You know, like this one.
Style: Conversational. I write a lot like I speak. And after I’ve written my article, I read it out loud to make sure it sounds natural.
Length: These days I try to keep it at about 500-600 words. I can write one in about an hour. This doesn’t need to be an ordeal.
Style: I keep it simple, as you can see. Nothing fancy. But I do use a larger font (18pt) so it’s easy to read on all devices. I use bold here and there for emphasis.
Subject Line: How-to subject lines are usually the best as they promise a benefit and are easy to understand. Be clever or funny at your peril.
Website: Post your email newsletter article on your website as a blog post. One article, two ways to make it visible. Again, this is technically very easy to do. And lots of people can help you with this.
Regularity: Weekly, bi-monthly or monthly. As long as it comes out like clockwork. I love writing it weekly. I think of ideas in the shower on Monday morning.
Writing skills: Buy a copy of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style (I did) and brush up on your grammar and punctuation. Not rocket science. Then hire an editor for the first several months. Write your first draft and then the editor will clean it up. When I used an editor, it cost me about $25 per issue. You can afford that!
Research: When I have an idea for an article, I often do a Google search to see who has written a similar article. That gets me started.
Graphics: I put a picture at the top of every article. Optional, but nice. I use a great service called https://123RF.com. About $2 per picture.
That’s enough to get you started. And if not, look up “how to write an email newsletter article” and “how to start an email newsletter” on Google and you’ll find even more.
No more excuses. I can think of no other marketing activity that’s more important to keep you and your ideas in front of your prospective clients.
Just do it!
Cheers, Robert
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