Creating your own newsletter is just one way to make money with your list. The concept is very simple, yet few people are doing this on a regular basis. I recommend subscribing to both Armand Morin’s and Jeanette Cates’ newsletters to see exactly what I am talking about here.
When you are ready to create your first newsletter you must decide which format you will use, choose a theme that will allow you to find thousands of prospects who will be interested in what you have to offer on your niche topic, and then line up potential contributors to submit appropriate content. I will explain exactly what I mean with each of these.
The two formats used on the Internet to send information are text and html. Plain text allows you to get your email past most of the spam filters, so it is the desired format for your newsletter. The objection is that plain text is just that, plain and not very aesthetically pleasing. I find that if I create a newsletter as a PDF, portable document format, and then include the link to it in my html email, I get the best of everything. My email is more likely to be delivered, readers can click on the link, and they are then taken to a page on the Internet to see my colorful newsletter. Another benefit is that it will now be indexed by Google and the other search engines, something not possible within an email.
Choosing a theme for your newsletter must be thought out before you begin. You want a topic that is broad enough to include information on all aspects of what you have to offer, yet narrow enough to speak to the exact people you are trying to reach. One method of determining this is to see if your theme has its own magazine. You can search on Amazon to see which magazines are available. Once you have chosen your theme, only include articles and information that talk about those areas.
Finding people to contribute to your magazine should not be too difficult. The idea is to ask people who are experts in their niche to include information that will be of benefit to your readers. The payment they receive is not monetary; they are able to add information about themselves at the end of their article so that readers can learn more about them. I submit to several online and one offline magazine each month, and this has helped me to become better known in my niche. Ask people to submit an article for you and see what happens. Start with people you know personally, have met at conferences and seminars, and those whom you have taken courses from in the past.
The idea is for you to only need to write one article and have the remainder of your newsletter be written by others. This will build your business, and is an excellent way to market regularly to your list.
Kathryn Merrow - The Pain Relief Coach says
Hi Connie,
What a timely article! I recently started a pain relief newsletter ( you can sign up at http://SimplePainRelief.com ) and with your helpful instruction, it gets better each week. Not that the content wasn’t good to start with but it gets prettier each week. I have gone from a straight text email newsletter (pretty plain) to a much more nicely presented newsletter (much more fun to read!) which also adds another page for those wonderful search engines to find. 🙂
Always appreciate your help!
Kathryn
Bruce Hoag, PhD, CPsychol says
The risk with getting your newsletter indexed by Google is that people can read it without ever having to sign up for it, which defeats one of the main objects of the exercise: to get subscribers.
Cheers, Bruce