Setting up and publishing a newsletter for free is becoming
easier every day.
What to put in your newsletter
If your site is about scuba-diving, for example, and you know
enough about scuba-diving, naturally your newsletter will be
on the subject of scuba-diving. But what, specifically, can
you put in your newsletter?
Well, think about it from the subscriber's point of view. Why
would they want to receive your newsletter in their email? Simply
to receive a sales pitch from you on a regular basis? Hardly.
Probably they signed up because they know you are an expert
on scuba-diving, and they want to learn all there is to know
about this subject. They want to read about the latest scuba-diving
techniques, the best places to go scuba-diving, interesting
articles written by other scuba-divers, scuba-diving hints and
tips, and where to go to buy scuba-diving equipment.
Notice the last point in particular. Yes, your readers are also
potential customers, but only if you don't blatantly sell to
them! The ultimate aim of your newsletter is to make sales,
but you have surrounded your sales pitch with great non-commercial
content that the readers can enjoy. They will appreciate this,
and then, when the time comes, they will buy from you.
Some things to consider
Here are some questions to ask yourself when planning your newsletter:
Who will write my articles? If you are an expert in your field,
you may wish to write the majority of articles yourself. However,
will you accept article submissions from other writers? Likely
you'll find that you will need to write your own material at
first, but once your newsletter becomes established many people
will want to contribute articles.
Should I pay writers if I publish their articles? This is entirely
up to you and depends on your budget. You could offer a certain
amount for the articles you publish. Alternatively, you could
offer the writer promotion in your newsletter. For instance,
the writer could be allowed a small "signature file" at the
end of their article which promotes their own product, service
or website. That way you both benefit - you by getting free
content for your newsletter, and the writer by receiving free
publicity.
How many adverts will I allow in each issue? This matter requires
careful consideration. There are several advertising models
to choose from, and you might have to experiment to find out
which is the most suitable model for your newsletter. The two
most popular models of newsletter advertising are:
Classified advertising
Sponsor advertising
-
With this model, the advert appears near
the top of the newsletter, often with a brief message from
the publisher saying, "Please visit today's sponsor." Other
adverts may appear throughout the newsletter, but they are
surrounded by articles and other content, not other adverts.
Prices for sponsorship advertising is usually higher than
for classified ads, but advertisers may be willing to pay
extra for more prominent exposure.
Of course, it is entirely up to you which advertising
model you choose. The sponsor model might be preferable to the
advertiser, since their advert will not be competing with lots
of other ads in the same section; the classified model might
be preferable to some publishers as it allows them to sell more
ads at a lower price. As a general guide (but by no means a
hard and fast rule), marketing newsletters tend to use the classifieds
model, while joke mailing lists tend to use the sponsor model.
Other newsletters may actually use both models, depending on
their size and subject matter.
Once you start getting paying advertisers, don't be afraid to
ask them which model they would prefer to see. Would they be
willing to pay more for greater exposure, or would they prefer
to pay less to have their ad included in a Classified section?
One final comment: don't get greedy! I have subscribed to many
newsletters that turn out to be 10% content and 90% adverts.
Guess what happens to them? They are dumped in my email "Trash"
box without even being read, then I cancel my subscription fast!
Don't let the same thing happen with your newsletter.
Strictly limit the number of adverts appearing in each issue,
regardless of whether you use the sponsor model or the classified
model. If your newsletter becomes a popular resource for advertisers,
don't have more advertisements - simply raise the price! As
a general rule of thumb, no more than 50% of your newsletter
should be taken up by adverts.
What will be the frequency of my newsletter? Will you publish
daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, every six years? The more
frequent your publication, the more original material you'll
need to fill your newsletter.
On the other hand, you'll also be able to sell more advertising
space. Don't forget, many of your subscribers may not want to
read something every day about, say, scuba-diving. You can always
ask your subscribers how often they would like to see your newsletter
published.
Sending out your newsletter
You can send out your newsletter using your own e-mail program,
or you can use one of the many free mailing list services available
on the Internet. We would strongly recommend the latter option.
Once your newsletter reaches a circulation into the thousands,
it will become very costly and time consuming to send out mail
to your subscribers using your own e-mail program.
Format of your newsletter
Here are couple of tips on formatting your newsletter:
Line length. Always keep the length of the lines in your newsletter
to 65 characters or less. Many e-mail programs will not format
the text properly if you use longer lines. Your text may then
look like this in some e-mail programs:
Do not be surprised if you do not get an instant reaction to
your advertising. This is not particularly surprising as it
takes time for the message to sink in. People will soon understand
what you are trying to say.
A particularly good word processor for formatting your newsletter
is Textpad . It allows you to set the length of a line to whatever
length you choose.
Subscription/Cancel instructions. Make sure that you include
details on how to subscribe or unsubscribe from your newsletter
in each and every issue. Put them in a prominent place, either
at the top or bottom of your newsletter. Don't try hiding the
unsubscribe instructions - this will only make people angry,
and since they will inevitably start e-mailing you asking to
be removed from the list, this will only increase your workload.
"This is not sent unsolicited!" Sometimes people forget that
they have signed up to receive your newsletter. In order to
avoid accusations that you are "spamming" them when you send
it out, you may wish to include a notice similar to this one
at or near the top of your message:
This message is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this
newsletter because you signed up for it, or a friend has forwarded
this newsletter to you.
Now that you are ready to publish your newsletter, the next
step is to announce it to the world! |
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