Why You Need a Newsletter
| Category: Newsletters/Newsgroups | Date: 2001-08-17 |
If you already publish your own newsletter, or if you're thinking of starting one, you obviously understand the powerful communication tool this is.
The Internet makes it possible for you to keep in touch with people from all over the world - quickly and efficiently; and it's not just business people who benefit from publishing a newsletter.
Your hobby, sport or special interest group are all reasons to start your own newsletter. Consider the possibilities:
If you're a collector, you can start a newsletter for fellow collectors to swap, barter, buy and sell pieces for their collections. Placing a few free ads in other newsletters and submitting details of your newsletter to announcement groups will soon let people know about it. Then old-fashioned referrals and word-of-mouth will spread the details.
If your passion is water-polo, wind-surfing, badminton or any one of the hundreds of other sports, a newsletter lets you tell others about competitions, results, equipment, rule changes etc etc.
Perhaps you have an interest in the environment, growing a particular plant, building with mud-bricks ... whatever it is, use your newsletter to keep in touch with others who share your interest. Encourage your subscribers to submit tips and articles, to ask and answer questions and to exchange ideas on the topic.
For anyone who has a special medical need, a newsletter provides an excellent way to keep in touch with fellow sufferers, to share news on new treatments and ways to handle the situation.
Of course, if you are in business, it makes sense to publish a regular newsletter to tell people about developments in your field, new products and special deals.
There are a number of excellent sites that will manage your mailing list for you - for free (the "payment" is that your newsletters have a small ad at the top), or you can upgrade and pay a fee to have the ads removed. (Visit http://www.write101.com and click on the subscribe link at the top of the page to see how the process works using Yahoogroups. You don't have to subscribe - unless you want to ...)
It's a simple matter to set up your newsletter account - you create a name and password and are given an address for people to subscribe. You can then publish this sign-up email address on your site, in your sig. file or in emails. Don't forget to announce your newsletter in the many lists that are devoted to this. Some of those you can begin with are:
http://www.liszt.com/
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/caservices/new-list/index.html
http://www.promotefree.com
These are some of the many mailing lists that announce your newsletter:
AAnnounce-subscribe@egroups.com
List_Announcements-subscribe@egroups.com
List_of_Lists-subscribe@egroups.com
GetMoreSubs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
join-list-universe@list-universe.com
ListPromote-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You have another address for your mailing list and when it's time to send your newsletter, you simply write your content in your normal program, then cut and paste it into an email and press Send!
However, before you launch your newsletter into cyberspace, it's important that you go through this short check-list:
Carefully proof-read it for simple spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. Your newsletter is your 'calling card,' your shop-front and your personal representative, all rolled into one, so it must be as perfect as you can make it.
Every newsletter should have unsubscribe links clearly indicated to make it easy for people to remove themselves from your list. Your newsletter should contain relevant and useful content for your subscribers.
Your newsletter should NOT contain a string of ads for get-rich-quick schemes - unless you've made it clear that this is its purpose.
About the Author
Jennifer Stewart has published two weekly newsletters since 1998, when she established her web-based writing services. You can have your newsletter professionally edited from as little as $12.50 per issue (minimum of 4 issues) - click to discuss your needs: mailto:jennifer subject=Newsletter
:To contact see details below.
jennifer@write101.com
http://www.write101.com
The Internet makes it possible for you to keep in touch with people from all over the world - quickly and efficiently; and it's not just business people who benefit from publishing a newsletter.
Your hobby, sport or special interest group are all reasons to start your own newsletter. Consider the possibilities:
If you're a collector, you can start a newsletter for fellow collectors to swap, barter, buy and sell pieces for their collections. Placing a few free ads in other newsletters and submitting details of your newsletter to announcement groups will soon let people know about it. Then old-fashioned referrals and word-of-mouth will spread the details.
If your passion is water-polo, wind-surfing, badminton or any one of the hundreds of other sports, a newsletter lets you tell others about competitions, results, equipment, rule changes etc etc.
Perhaps you have an interest in the environment, growing a particular plant, building with mud-bricks ... whatever it is, use your newsletter to keep in touch with others who share your interest. Encourage your subscribers to submit tips and articles, to ask and answer questions and to exchange ideas on the topic.
For anyone who has a special medical need, a newsletter provides an excellent way to keep in touch with fellow sufferers, to share news on new treatments and ways to handle the situation.
Of course, if you are in business, it makes sense to publish a regular newsletter to tell people about developments in your field, new products and special deals.
There are a number of excellent sites that will manage your mailing list for you - for free (the "payment" is that your newsletters have a small ad at the top), or you can upgrade and pay a fee to have the ads removed. (Visit http://www.write101.com and click on the subscribe link at the top of the page to see how the process works using Yahoogroups. You don't have to subscribe - unless you want to ...)
It's a simple matter to set up your newsletter account - you create a name and password and are given an address for people to subscribe. You can then publish this sign-up email address on your site, in your sig. file or in emails. Don't forget to announce your newsletter in the many lists that are devoted to this. Some of those you can begin with are:
http://www.liszt.com/
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/caservices/new-list/index.html
http://www.promotefree.com
These are some of the many mailing lists that announce your newsletter:
AAnnounce-subscribe@egroups.com
List_Announcements-subscribe@egroups.com
List_of_Lists-subscribe@egroups.com
GetMoreSubs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
join-list-universe@list-universe.com
ListPromote-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You have another address for your mailing list and when it's time to send your newsletter, you simply write your content in your normal program, then cut and paste it into an email and press Send!
However, before you launch your newsletter into cyberspace, it's important that you go through this short check-list:
Carefully proof-read it for simple spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. Your newsletter is your 'calling card,' your shop-front and your personal representative, all rolled into one, so it must be as perfect as you can make it.
Every newsletter should have unsubscribe links clearly indicated to make it easy for people to remove themselves from your list. Your newsletter should contain relevant and useful content for your subscribers.
Your newsletter should NOT contain a string of ads for get-rich-quick schemes - unless you've made it clear that this is its purpose.
About the Author
Jennifer Stewart has published two weekly newsletters since 1998, when she established her web-based writing services. You can have your newsletter professionally edited from as little as $12.50 per issue (minimum of 4 issues) - click to discuss your needs: mailto:jennifer subject=Newsletter
:To contact see details below.
jennifer@write101.com
http://www.write101.com
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