Defining a Newsletter

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Someone suggested you write a newsletter and now you are stuck coming up with content. Maybe you are wondering exactly what a newsletter is or how it relates to your business. A newsletter is a conversation with clients and to nurture budding connections. Reminders for events, polls, surveys, and relevant content to address their pain points are great starting points. Newsletters should not be an avenue to promote your business. Nothing is more tired than someone tooting their own horn. Most will unsubscribe instantly and the few that stick around are probably related to you.

Newsletters are an acceptable avenue to be informative and relevant. With so much chatter in the digital world, it is easy to forget about your business. Newsletters are a way to stay on the radar. The end goal with each one you send out should be a solid and clear CTA. Unlike social media, you have a nearly guaranteed reach with a newsletter. Don’t waste your potential with pith; make it shareable with solid content. You can be funny like Buzzfeed or informative with numbers, exercises, and the like. Decide on your content and how to balance your relevant content with some promotions thrown in. Readers with understand that a CTA is inevitable, but ceaseless self-promotion is not the point of a newsletter.

For example, a meditation teacher I receive newsletters from is a treat every month as a result of the content. Shaman Char shares insights, gives affirmations, and makes clear observations on life in general. She does not share personal stories or give endless testimonials from clients that would lose her audience. Conversely, Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP newsletter sometimes falls flat as it showcases her enormous wealth with talks of expensive juices and spa treatments. If she were a non-celebrity, her newsletter would be a snooze. Some people subscribe just to trash her and the products she promotes.

The takeaway here is unless you are a celebrity, no one wants to read about your life. Instead offer ways to make your content relevant to them and their pain points. A newsletter must be relevant and informative with just a hint of self-promotion. Take your time with researching what your clients want to read about and focus on them 90% of the time. In return, you may just build a solid readership.

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