Steps To The Perfect Newsletter

By Mike Gates

If you have ever wondered at how a newsletter works, and what their purpose is, you have come to the right place. They differ from newspapers, however, in the sense that this is a letter. It is written to a specific person, for a specific purpose. There are similarities though, both are meant to provide knowledge and both have articles written in the same fashion.

Your letter, and yes it is a letter, should be written with a purpose in mind. Why are you writing this letter? Simply because you want your clients to know that you have got their back. You want to keep in touch with past customers, find out how they are faring with their dealings with you and your company so far, and see if there is anything you can do to improve that. Give them that sense of well-being, so they know they have made the right decision.

Know that when writing pretty much anything, you need to keep in mind your purpose. Your purpose in this case, is keeping in touch with people by letting them know about what is happening with your organization. You can take this opportunity to slip in a few tempting offers and deals as well. With this in mind, you must keep in mind that you do not want to completely bore them as well. Stick to the point, and more importantly, stick to what they are interested in.

Once you have all the necessary ideas in mind, it's time to figure out the blueprints. A good structure can make all the difference in the world. Figure out your priorities and list each article or bit of news in order of importance. Now it depends on what you wish to go with but if it is a newsletter to regular customers, you might want to put the more interesting parts at the bottom, so they have to skim through the rest of the article at least.

Stick to the structure you have planned, bad planning shows bad organizational skills and that also reflects poorly on your overall outcome. Plan out everything before putting pen to paper, so you know what is happening. No doubt looking good is as important as anything else. A person would not even bother to look at a messy looking layout.

Make sure you are aware of the content of your letter as well, and the flow of information. It is important to make sure there is a well established balance between the graphics in your article and their effect on the actual words. A first impression is a lasting impression, so the first few lines of each article need to stand out, so as to sufficiently pique the reader's curiosity.

Remember at all times that the idea is to keep your reader happy, as much as keeping yourself happy. Make sure you are on time with any deliveries, keep the mail consistent, and keep it interesting. You know it is interesting when it gets forwarded, or saved on computers, or you have writers standing in line to write articles.

Try not to list costs or prices straight up as this would give the impression that you are only interested in the money, and that is not our purpose now, is it? Providing links to your articles is also good exercise, so a person that is interested in any particular topic can explore further. This is good publicity for your website as well.

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