One of our local employers was on the front page of the Monadnock Ledger last week regarding a $400,000 settlement with OSHA for worker safety violations. Ouch! They not only have to pay the fines, but they also must take corrective actions & improve the safety of their workplaces for all of their employees. They have agreed to get a full time safety &...
E-Newsletters: First Steps toward a Better E-Newsletter
Submitted by TWP on Sat 7/2/11 10:20 pm
Considering your first e-newsletter? Congratulations! One of the best places to start is Constant Contact. This online service for creating email newsletters will help you avoid mistakes in design, content and distribution that could lead to your newsletter being identified as spam. And no one wants that.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when you're planning your e-newsletter:
- Schedule your newsletter consistently, but only two to four times a year. Bimonthly or monthly newsletters require a truly committed audience and a lot of your time. If you are too aggressive at the start, you'll annoy your audience and overwhelm your own resources.
- Build your distribution list from people who have expressed an interest in your services, including current and former clients and attendees at your workshops, exhibit booth or presentations. Do not send out your newsletter to email addresses you've plucked off the internet or you will be identified as a spammer.
- Direct your lead article toward solving a problem for the customer, showing off your expertise in your field. Depending on your expertise, that article could range anywhere from "what do we feed our goldfish?" to "how do we connect to the Cloud?" Give your customers a solution to their problem and they'll read the rest of your newsletter.
- If possible, include a coupon or special offer for readers of the newsletter. Make it worth their while to continue to subscribe (and always include an opt out).
- Make sure your newsletter links to your website, blog, ezine articles and other online materials. Customers won't read a 5 page newsletter but they will click on an interesting link to "read more."
If you're too busy to keep up a regular newsletter, need a fresh source of ideas or worry that you don't have the expertise to start, please write [at] twriteplus [dot] com (email) me today. I'll set up your newsletter and keep it going strong.
TWP's sale on a website review is available until August 30. We'll find the typos, gaps in content, lost opportunities and confusing messages that you no longer see, and we'll give you some guidance in fixing them. For more information, visit our blog post explaining the benefits of a content audit and gap analysis.