22 Feb 2008 03:49:06 | John Kovacs
By - John Kovacs
Is publishing your own newsletter worth your time and effort?
Most publishers will tell you the rewards are well worth the
investment. By publishing your own newsletter you can build
recognition and be looked at as an expert in your field of
expertise. It is a great way to build your opt-in mail list and
increase traffic to your website. You can also get additional
revenue by selling ad space in your publications.
Even though there are thousands of publications on the net
today, not all webmasters publish a newsletter. Some people
procrastinate on writing their own newsletter simply because
they are not sure what to write about. Today you will find
newsletters that cover most any topic, from marketing tips,
business news, advice columns, health issues, resources,
finances and even jokes.
With such a wide array of topics that one can use, you have to
ask yourself how hard can it be to write your own publications?
The truth of the matter is anyone can start to publish his or
her own newsletters with a little dedication, commitment and
knowledge.
You need to be dedicated to contribute enough time to be a
successful publisher and commitment to follow through with your
publication.
The knowledge that will be required is coming up with useful
content to use in your publications and formatting your
newsletter correctly. To start with, you can write about the
inside knowledge you have from building your own business, or
topics that you are well educated on.
You can do research in books, newspapers, magazines, Internet,
etc. on certain topics, and use that knowledge in your
newsletter (this would be what you have learned in your own
words, not copy someone else’s work). There are also many
publishers that will let you use their articles in your
publications providing the article and links are left intact.
You can find many articles online by going to any search engine
to search for articles or publishers.
When formatting, the best approach is to gather all the
information you will be using and lay it out on a piece of paper
first. Once you have all the information, use "word pad" or
"note pad" as your editor to create your newsletter. You can
also use "word" as your editor, but you want to make sure the
finished product is formatted correctly.
Always use plenty of spacing throughout your newsletter, keeping
your paragraphs to 5 to 6 lines with each line not to exceed 64
characters. Depending on how much material you will be using,
try to keep the size of your publication under 70 KB, or no more
than 6 to 7 pages in length (some mail programs will have
problems sending out newsletters that are to large in length).
One way to check the size of your newsletter is to use "word" as
your editor and click on "file" than "properties", than on the
"General" tab. This will show you the exact size of your
newsletter in KB. If you are using a different editor, just copy
and paste into word to check its size.
When publishing your newsletter, it is strongly advised not to
just focus on pushing sales or having to many ads. What you
should do is concentrate on building relationships with your
subscribers. A person has to feel they can trust in you as a
professional before they feel confident in buying anything you
have to offer.
Keep in mind people will be looking for someone who can provide
them with informative reading material, not a salesman. If you
publish newsworthy newsletters and use compelling topics of
interest, you will develop followers over the course of time.
Newsletters are usually sent monthly, weekly, daily or anywhere
in-between. If this is your first time publishing, you may want
to offer a monthly newsletter to start. The reason is, once you
commit to a scheduled publication, it's important that they are
sent on time and you meet the demand or you can loose
subscribers. You can always increase your publications once you
are more experienced and know how much time you can invest.
Key Points:
- By publishing informative newsletters can bring you a loyal
following of subscribers as well as many referrals.
- Give your visitors the option to subscribe to your newsletter
from your website.
- List your newsletter in as many ezine directories as you can.
- Personalize your newsletter by adding the recipient’s first
name in the subject box and in the heading.
- Do not just focus on pushing sales or have too many ads in
your newsletters.
- Omit any hype or misleading information.
- Make sure you use your signature file in all your newsletters.
Having a link to your website as well as contact information.
- Out of courtesy always include an unsubscribe option in your
newsletters for your readers.
- Never rent, sell or give your subscribers addresses to any
other party. With all the effort you put into developing a mail
list, this is a sure way of loosing subscribers and destroying
the trust they had with you. Copyright 2003-2005
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