Create a Newsletter That Your Readers Will Want to Read - Part 1 - Give Your Readers What They Want
| Category: E-zines: Writing | Date: 2003-10-23 |
An e-zine should have most, if not all, of the following characteristics:
1. Offer Valuable, Original Material
Offer solid, valuable information of interest and value to your target market. Readers want to learn something every time they read an e-zine. Give them meaty articles that they can sink their teeth into. Write about what you do and therefore are an expert about. Gather your best areas of expertise and start writing.
Your content must be fresh! Print articles and features that cant be found in 10 different e-zines. Include new informative articles that has never been published elsewhere. An original article by the publisher establishes him/her as a credible source in his/her field. A relevant article by an industry expert may be ok, but these are normally also available to all other e-zine publishers.
If you offer opinions, present supporting facts. Present your information clearly. Write your articles to grab your readers so they continue reading.
The content should also be relevant to the target audience. Health and exercise tips are nice, but dont include them in an Internet marketing e-zine! Likewise, any additional features you include - tip of the day, success stories, top ten lists, etc. - should relate to your subject.
For lengthy articles, consider two approaches:
Divide a longer news article into five parts, and running one segment a day for a week, with a teaser about the next days segment. This encourages readership by arousing the curiosity of the reader. This is an old journalistic trick which works well in this new medium.
"Be wary of conventional wisdom such as, "People only want short, bite-size chunks of information on the Net." We publish a twice-monthly e-zine thats often very long -- 10 to 15 printed pages -- and it brings in a lot of business. Give people valuable information on a topic theyre passionate about, and theyll read every word." Bob Serling, President, Stratford Marketing Group, Inc., http://www.bobserling.com
If you do not have an article on your site that you can use in your e-zine or do not have the time to write one, there are numerous sources of articles:
Visit "Free Articles You Can Use" at http://www.ibizcenter.com/free_articles.htm and borrow one. You may do so free of copyright restrictions as long as the entire article remains intact and the byline with my contact information at the bottom is retained.
Kate Schultz’s http://www.e-zinez.com/
eZINE Publishers Association http://www.ezinepublisher.org
Upon becoming a member, you will have access to many articles and to post articles which are viewed by other members, and also used by other members, giving you exposure for your newsletter.
InfoBot: E-mail Publishers Resource Center
http://www.infobot.net
http://www.web-source.net/links/ or ask any of your favorite e-zine editors. Most will be happy to get exposure to your mailing list.
2. Be Careful About The Advertising Included
One way to make your newsletter attractive is to avoid what many readers do not want - a newsletter full of ads, especially if they are ads for "get rich quick" schemes which have no credibility.
My marketing objective is to sell subscriptions to the password protected portion of my site. My marketing plan includes free newsletter subscriptions to build the relationships which will lead to the newsletter subscribers also subscribing to the site. I want as many newsletter subscribers as possible. Therefore, I forego the small income from selling advertising in my newsletter in order to obtain a larger return from an enlarged subscriber base to my site.
What is best for you will depend upon whether you need that ad income or not. What other revenue sources do you have? Can you justify foregoing ad income to obtain more income from your other sources?
A classified section is ok, as long as it doesnt interfere with the content. Classified ads should not be placed before the feature article. It may be ok to place a sponsor at the beginning of the e-zine. This is much more professional and it doesnt overwhelm your readers.
If you have a classified section, place it at the end of your e-zine. Be selective about the ads that you allow. Like it or not, the ads you publish reflect upon you! An advertisement is an endorsement from you!
3. Design a Clean, Consistent Layout.
You will be judged by the way the newsletter looks. Your layout is especially important with a text only e-zine. Layout is your only remaining "look" element. Does your newsletter have lines that chop off and start in the wrong place? Do you use a standard layout so that your readers know exactly where to find their favorite column?
These factors are discussed at length in "How to Use A Template to Create Your Newsletter" and "Develop An Attractive Style That Your Readers Will Enjoy" at
http://ibizcenter.com/internet_business_informer_10-31-99.htm .
4. Use a Warm, Personal Writing Style
Write directly to the reader as if you were writing to one person. One technique some writers use to achieve a personal style is to pretend they are writing to "Ma".
Use the active voice. Use short sentences. Speak to the readers needs. This is all covered below, but it is important to think about up front. You are trying to build a relationship with your reader. Your tone should be consistent with that goal.
5. Coordinate Your E-zine With Your Web Site
It is not necessary, but it does help to have a website to complement an e-zine. If a reader learns something from your e-zine, he/she will want more!
Send him/her to your website, where you should have all of your back issues archived. This will solidify your relationship with that reader and build credibility for yourself.
Simply post your articles as stand alone web pages at your own site. (With reprint rights.) This will allow more webmasters easy access to your articles and attract more traffic through the search engines. See "How to Submit Your Site to the Search Engines" at
http://www.ibizcenter.com/members/search_engine_submitting.htm
to properly register your new pages with the search engines.
Simply write a new article every week. Over time, the information generated will add up. Every week you build another page and register it with all the major search engines. Different keyword rich pages, different subjects, and all linked to your main site home page.
The last thing you do as you build your "article" web pages is to place a link to your home page on every article. Readers who find your articles and want more information about the topic they are researching, can always simply click to your main site! Providing direct links in your newsletter to the latest buy and sell opportunities on your site will generate sales.
6. Deliver promptly as promised.
Deliver your newsletter professionally and consistently. If you tell your readers you send out the e-zine each Tuesday, make sure your e-zine goes out each Tuesday. If you change the day of publication, notify your readers.
It is very easy! If you cant get your e-zine out in time, send a brief e-mail to your subscribers explaining why. Most publishers do have day jobs, and sometimes can get behind schedule. If you explain your circumstances to your readers, they will understand. The bottom line is this - keep your subscribers informed!
Keep current with your mailing list. Add new subscribers on a timely basis. Remove unsubscribe requests right away. Of course these tasks are made automatic with a Commercial E-mail Mailing List Hosting Company, Mailing List Management Service or Listserver (see http://ibizcenter.com/members/listserver.htm)
7. Speak to both HTML and text audiences.
Most electronic newsletters are sent as plain old vanilla text files. By sending your newsletter as "text-only", you ensure that not only can you reach the widest possible online audience, but that your audience will see your message the way you sent it and be able to read it.
You will want your newsletter to look good on the screen of every reader. Your newsletter will project your image. To achieve a good image, follow the specific formatting considerations for e-mail messages and e-zines. These are covered in "E-mail Marketing Campaign Tips" at
http://ibizcenter.com/members/email_marketing_tips.htm.
Another great resource regarding appropriate line length, etc, is the first lesson in DataBack Systems 5-day E-mail Composition course that teaches how to compose good-looking e-mail messages which you may receive from their autoresponder by clicking on class101@lol.databack.com
With the arrival of HTML capable e-mail programs comes the opportunity to provide a richer formatted e-mail message. But should you do it?
Just as there are difference in how the e-mail client programs display plain text, there are also minor differences in how Eudora, Microsoft Outlook and Netscape Navigator (the three most-popular clients) render HTML.
It has also been reported that about half of all e-mail users still dont have HTML - capable clients. The majority of users - up to 60 percent, by some estimates - prefer to receive their mail in text. The raps against HTML e-mail is its bandwidth-hogging color graphics and font variations.
Nonetheless, if 60% prefer plain text e-mail, that means 40% may prefer HTML. Should we automatically cater to the lowest common denominator? With people who prefer HTML, you are likely to get better response with an HTML message than a text message. So, why not produce two versions and give them a choice of what format they will receive?
HTML e-mails can be designed to take advantage of its greatest feature, its support for hyperlinks, without overburdening the message with excessive baggage. You can take the plain text version and drop it into an HTML template.
Near the top could be a hyperlinked Table of Contents (containing the articles headlines) of the newsletter. Insert hyperlinks liberally to your web site, to online news articles, etc. The reader can simply click on an Internet address in an HTML document. A browser window opens so they dont lose their place in the e-mail message..
The HTML users will get an attractive lay-out, complete with links that actually reduce the amount of text they see, and that is all. The HTML version will be only slightly larger than the .txt version. Just because HTML gives you the capability of adding columns, multiple pages, fonts, and pictures in boxes doesnt mean you have to use that capability if it detracts from the users experience.
About the Author
Rick Olson, from Internet Business Center,
Subscribe to his FREE weekly newsletter for fresh articles, quick to use how-to tips, guides, and internet business tools. Use the handy form at http://ibizcenter.com/ezine.htm or click on join-internetbusinessinformer@lists.dundee.net
:To contact see details below.
olson@ibizcenter.com
http://ibizcenter.com
1. Offer Valuable, Original Material
Offer solid, valuable information of interest and value to your target market. Readers want to learn something every time they read an e-zine. Give them meaty articles that they can sink their teeth into. Write about what you do and therefore are an expert about. Gather your best areas of expertise and start writing.
Your content must be fresh! Print articles and features that cant be found in 10 different e-zines. Include new informative articles that has never been published elsewhere. An original article by the publisher establishes him/her as a credible source in his/her field. A relevant article by an industry expert may be ok, but these are normally also available to all other e-zine publishers.
If you offer opinions, present supporting facts. Present your information clearly. Write your articles to grab your readers so they continue reading.
The content should also be relevant to the target audience. Health and exercise tips are nice, but dont include them in an Internet marketing e-zine! Likewise, any additional features you include - tip of the day, success stories, top ten lists, etc. - should relate to your subject.
For lengthy articles, consider two approaches:
Divide a longer news article into five parts, and running one segment a day for a week, with a teaser about the next days segment. This encourages readership by arousing the curiosity of the reader. This is an old journalistic trick which works well in this new medium.
"Be wary of conventional wisdom such as, "People only want short, bite-size chunks of information on the Net." We publish a twice-monthly e-zine thats often very long -- 10 to 15 printed pages -- and it brings in a lot of business. Give people valuable information on a topic theyre passionate about, and theyll read every word." Bob Serling, President, Stratford Marketing Group, Inc., http://www.bobserling.com
If you do not have an article on your site that you can use in your e-zine or do not have the time to write one, there are numerous sources of articles:
Visit "Free Articles You Can Use" at http://www.ibizcenter.com/free_articles.htm and borrow one. You may do so free of copyright restrictions as long as the entire article remains intact and the byline with my contact information at the bottom is retained.
Kate Schultz’s http://www.e-zinez.com/
eZINE Publishers Association http://www.ezinepublisher.org
Upon becoming a member, you will have access to many articles and to post articles which are viewed by other members, and also used by other members, giving you exposure for your newsletter.
InfoBot: E-mail Publishers Resource Center
http://www.infobot.net
http://www.web-source.net/links/ or ask any of your favorite e-zine editors. Most will be happy to get exposure to your mailing list.
2. Be Careful About The Advertising Included
One way to make your newsletter attractive is to avoid what many readers do not want - a newsletter full of ads, especially if they are ads for "get rich quick" schemes which have no credibility.
My marketing objective is to sell subscriptions to the password protected portion of my site. My marketing plan includes free newsletter subscriptions to build the relationships which will lead to the newsletter subscribers also subscribing to the site. I want as many newsletter subscribers as possible. Therefore, I forego the small income from selling advertising in my newsletter in order to obtain a larger return from an enlarged subscriber base to my site.
What is best for you will depend upon whether you need that ad income or not. What other revenue sources do you have? Can you justify foregoing ad income to obtain more income from your other sources?
A classified section is ok, as long as it doesnt interfere with the content. Classified ads should not be placed before the feature article. It may be ok to place a sponsor at the beginning of the e-zine. This is much more professional and it doesnt overwhelm your readers.
If you have a classified section, place it at the end of your e-zine. Be selective about the ads that you allow. Like it or not, the ads you publish reflect upon you! An advertisement is an endorsement from you!
3. Design a Clean, Consistent Layout.
You will be judged by the way the newsletter looks. Your layout is especially important with a text only e-zine. Layout is your only remaining "look" element. Does your newsletter have lines that chop off and start in the wrong place? Do you use a standard layout so that your readers know exactly where to find their favorite column?
These factors are discussed at length in "How to Use A Template to Create Your Newsletter" and "Develop An Attractive Style That Your Readers Will Enjoy" at
http://ibizcenter.com/internet_business_informer_10-31-99.htm .
4. Use a Warm, Personal Writing Style
Write directly to the reader as if you were writing to one person. One technique some writers use to achieve a personal style is to pretend they are writing to "Ma".
Use the active voice. Use short sentences. Speak to the readers needs. This is all covered below, but it is important to think about up front. You are trying to build a relationship with your reader. Your tone should be consistent with that goal.
5. Coordinate Your E-zine With Your Web Site
It is not necessary, but it does help to have a website to complement an e-zine. If a reader learns something from your e-zine, he/she will want more!
Send him/her to your website, where you should have all of your back issues archived. This will solidify your relationship with that reader and build credibility for yourself.
Simply post your articles as stand alone web pages at your own site. (With reprint rights.) This will allow more webmasters easy access to your articles and attract more traffic through the search engines. See "How to Submit Your Site to the Search Engines" at
http://www.ibizcenter.com/members/search_engine_submitting.htm
to properly register your new pages with the search engines.
Simply write a new article every week. Over time, the information generated will add up. Every week you build another page and register it with all the major search engines. Different keyword rich pages, different subjects, and all linked to your main site home page.
The last thing you do as you build your "article" web pages is to place a link to your home page on every article. Readers who find your articles and want more information about the topic they are researching, can always simply click to your main site! Providing direct links in your newsletter to the latest buy and sell opportunities on your site will generate sales.
6. Deliver promptly as promised.
Deliver your newsletter professionally and consistently. If you tell your readers you send out the e-zine each Tuesday, make sure your e-zine goes out each Tuesday. If you change the day of publication, notify your readers.
It is very easy! If you cant get your e-zine out in time, send a brief e-mail to your subscribers explaining why. Most publishers do have day jobs, and sometimes can get behind schedule. If you explain your circumstances to your readers, they will understand. The bottom line is this - keep your subscribers informed!
Keep current with your mailing list. Add new subscribers on a timely basis. Remove unsubscribe requests right away. Of course these tasks are made automatic with a Commercial E-mail Mailing List Hosting Company, Mailing List Management Service or Listserver (see http://ibizcenter.com/members/listserver.htm)
7. Speak to both HTML and text audiences.
Most electronic newsletters are sent as plain old vanilla text files. By sending your newsletter as "text-only", you ensure that not only can you reach the widest possible online audience, but that your audience will see your message the way you sent it and be able to read it.
You will want your newsletter to look good on the screen of every reader. Your newsletter will project your image. To achieve a good image, follow the specific formatting considerations for e-mail messages and e-zines. These are covered in "E-mail Marketing Campaign Tips" at
http://ibizcenter.com/members/email_marketing_tips.htm.
Another great resource regarding appropriate line length, etc, is the first lesson in DataBack Systems 5-day E-mail Composition course that teaches how to compose good-looking e-mail messages which you may receive from their autoresponder by clicking on class101@lol.databack.com
With the arrival of HTML capable e-mail programs comes the opportunity to provide a richer formatted e-mail message. But should you do it?
Just as there are difference in how the e-mail client programs display plain text, there are also minor differences in how Eudora, Microsoft Outlook and Netscape Navigator (the three most-popular clients) render HTML.
It has also been reported that about half of all e-mail users still dont have HTML - capable clients. The majority of users - up to 60 percent, by some estimates - prefer to receive their mail in text. The raps against HTML e-mail is its bandwidth-hogging color graphics and font variations.
Nonetheless, if 60% prefer plain text e-mail, that means 40% may prefer HTML. Should we automatically cater to the lowest common denominator? With people who prefer HTML, you are likely to get better response with an HTML message than a text message. So, why not produce two versions and give them a choice of what format they will receive?
HTML e-mails can be designed to take advantage of its greatest feature, its support for hyperlinks, without overburdening the message with excessive baggage. You can take the plain text version and drop it into an HTML template.
Near the top could be a hyperlinked Table of Contents (containing the articles headlines) of the newsletter. Insert hyperlinks liberally to your web site, to online news articles, etc. The reader can simply click on an Internet address in an HTML document. A browser window opens so they dont lose their place in the e-mail message..
The HTML users will get an attractive lay-out, complete with links that actually reduce the amount of text they see, and that is all. The HTML version will be only slightly larger than the .txt version. Just because HTML gives you the capability of adding columns, multiple pages, fonts, and pictures in boxes doesnt mean you have to use that capability if it detracts from the users experience.
About the Author
Rick Olson, from Internet Business Center,
Subscribe to his FREE weekly newsletter for fresh articles, quick to use how-to tips, guides, and internet business tools. Use the handy form at http://ibizcenter.com/ezine.htm or click on join-internetbusinessinformer@lists.dundee.net
:To contact see details below.
olson@ibizcenter.com
http://ibizcenter.com
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