How to make a newsletter (continued)

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Do not write newsletters for spam filters.

Most of today's email boxes are equipped with a lot of spam filtering. They are praying on terms and slogans like "Dear friend", "Easy money", "Make money fast", "Buy it today" and a lot more of them. If you use phrases like that when you send email newsletter, you increase your chances of spam filter blocking you. Get a decent mass mailing program, that writes individual emails to each client addressing them by name.

Do not hard sell.

I mean, I understand you are passionate about your product or service, but this does not mean that your clients are automatically as passionate as you are. You are number 5342243 on their priority list or even lower, so when you write and send email newsletter, you must list the benefits right away. Your readers must be interested in what you have to say to finish your article. I will let you in on a big secret on how to make a newsletter. Interest your clients and captivate their attention right away. OK, it's not such a big secret. It is however common sense. These are your clients (or potential clients). This is THE most precious possession you may ever have. They are your friends. Treat them as such. Have good initial intention and develop your relationship slowly. They will be more inclined to buy something from you, if you provide a lot of free, sound and solid advice in your field. If they feel you are there just for their money, you won't get anything from them and you will be losing subscribers in flocks.

When you get to send email newsletter, do not send it too fast.

Most Internet providers have a built in filter that will block your IP if they see that you are sending huge amounts of email all over sudden. If you think of natural pattern of regular email messages, it is usually increasing and decreasing as more and more people send their messages. If you notice a full blast and maximum speed, this usually means somebody is spamming. Providers are trained to prevent it and will block (perhaps temporarily) your domain or IP address. Get a good software that will allow you to automatically throttle your messages. Send a few, then wait and again send a few. This will not look suspicious and spam filters will open their doors for you. So slower is better.

Always set realistic deadlines and keep them.

Or do not set any deadlines at all. If you say you will send email newsletter once a week, only send it once a week. Not more and not less. This one is a big item. Users will get used to your pattern and will not fret when they get your message. Otherwise, you will be seen as a deal breaker. I would also say from my experience, don't send anything more often than once a week or even if you can, once in two weeks. Please consider carefully, what you will write to your subscribers. If you want to send a newsletter once a week, you have to have some content every week. It better be a good content, because if you have nothing to write about, you better shut up. Do not make a commitment and say you are going to do it weekly if you cannot or you know you might not have anything solid to write about.

Write some useful content.

If you know how to write a good and to-the-point content, you will definitely know how to make a newsletter, but if you just write a boilerplate with no substance, I can guarantee you it will decrease your audience substantially. Mastering this one takes practice. I would be a liar if I said I know a method that will guarantee your write an excellent eye popping newsletter every time. I do not. However, I do know, that anything that you train, will improve. If you go to the gym every day, you will have big muscles. This one is similar. Main few guidelines I can give is:

• Concentrate entirely on what your client or prospect wants. You need to step out of the box here and do some research.

  I know that your new partnership with ABC company seems all important to YOU, but what do I care? How does it help me?

  You can mention that partnership scarcely along the lines. Make it support your main theme and show how even more benefits will befall your clients as a result of this new partnership.

• Write small paragraphs, one or two sentences long.
• Fill your content with benefits or advise for the user. If you do not have any benefits, don't bother to write. I am dead serious.