The popularity of the newsletter to promote current events in business to the client list has grown exponentially with the advent of the internet and the now common usage of email methods of delivery.  When in its infancy, the email based newsletter was eagerly opened by the recipient, as was all email in those days, and you were reasonably certain that your monthly newsletter was being at least skimmed for relevant topics to your client base.

As the receiving of email is becoming more of a psychological chore, it is up to the newsletter writer to effectively compose his objectives in a way to ensure that his business is remaining fresh and current in the minds of his clients.  There are several ways to accomplish this task in a monthly or quarterly email newsletter without letting the impact become stale:

Tell Your Story

Include a personal item in your periodic newsletter that reminds the recipient that you are a real person.  This personal connection is what drives business relationships that culminate into referrals and long term alliances.

Publish Reader Reviews

Have a subheading in your newsletter where you publish reader responses or comments.  This prompts your readers to not only read your letter, but offer responses; again promoting a mutual feeling between partners in business.

Video Content

A quick video clip in your newsletter will ensure that at least that portion gets noticed, even if the reader is too busy to look over the rest of it.  Keep it short and light, prompting the recipient to look forward to the next issue.

The Cliffhanger

Use a heading in one of your articles listing the top 10 whatevers, then only list the first 5 in this issue and leave the remaining for the next.  With some creative content, this is a good way to keep your newsletter fresh and anticipated.

Don’t Overpromote

Obviously, you want to let your readers know the current status of business in your newsletter, and they all understand that this is the reason for your writing it.  Don’t beat a dead horse.  In many cases your readers are glancing over the newsletter over lunch and will be less inclined to do so if they feel like they are being subjected to a sales pitch.

Don’t Use Extreme Words

One of the quickest ways to lose credibility with your readers is by professing to be “the Worlds Greatest…” or the “Number One Selling…”  or “The One Most Preferred…” unless you have quick proof to back it up.  Obviously if you want to congratulate a peer as the top selling associate for the first quarter, that is legitimate and a good thing to do in a newsletter, but the rampant overuse of extreme words and phrases (like the word “extreme” for example) in advertising has reduced their impact to almost meaningless.

Cater to Specific Markets

If you can swing it, but out more than one version of your newsletter to cater to the specific niches of your email audience.  A relatively easy way to accomplish this is to put out 3 versions of a quarterly newsletter, tweaked to meet specific market demands in 3 sectors, but stagger the delivery so you are only writing the newsletter once a month.  Obviously be sure to separate your email lists, so each sector is only receiving 4 letters per year.

Personality

Have fun in the writing!  Business newsletters do not have to be dry.  Little tricks like putting afterthoughts in parenthesis in writing (as I did above, yep, and here again!) makes the recipient feel as though they really know you and like you, just by inserting some of your own personality into the newsletter.

Keep It To One Page

Respect your recipients’ time.  Assume that they are busy also and do not have time to read a four page newsletter.  They will actually respect you much more for that small effort.  Additionally, a long newsletter gives the impression that you have nothing else to do either…

Relevant Quiz

A quick 5 question quiz on a light topic of relevance to the business is a nice way to finish off a newsletter over lunch.  Or alternate with a piece of business related trivia.  Make sure it’s light and amusing to leave your recipients with an overall good feeling about you and your business until next time.

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For the affiliate marketer who is serious about their business and not just attempting a get rich quick scheme in between scratching off lottery tickets, the success rate of your opt-in list is vital to the revenue generation of your sites.

There are a few initial tactics which have been proven to increase opt-in subscribers, through side by side and alternate week testing.  Testing these methods in specification to your own site, incidentally, is recommended as there are subtleties of each product that will appeal to or turn away your specific target market.

Make the opt-in questionnaire short.  Since the initial opt-in is basically just requesting additional information on a product they are not necessarily sold on yet, requesting two columns of specific market questions will be perceived as a waste of time to the potential subscriber.  He is, after all, searching the internet.  And although you know your product is the best one out there, the overall perception by the consumer is that there is always another option that is just as beneficial and not as invasive.

Add a personal question that is non-invasive, but gets the subscriber feeling good about himself.  If your product is relating to dog training, ask for the specific breed of dog from your subscriber.  This will not affect the materials you forward, but will promote a camaraderie between your subscriber and your site if he feels that you are interested in something specific that he loves.  This tactic works well in the marketing of any product that tugs at the heart strings; generally pets, baby due dates, wedding dates, and college graduation dates are milestone markers to the individual that make them feel special and willing to subscribe to products that they feel are catered especially to them. 

An easy and time tested way to increase your opt-in list is to offer a discount coupon for those who opt-in.  Even if the subscriber ultimately is not interested in the initial product, it gives you the opportunity to cross market additional merchandise that may result in additional sales.

Making additional offers at the time of opt-in is another way to increase sales while further refining your target market through the offer results.  An example of this practice would be in the implementation of a simple “customers who bought this product were also interested in…” line on your opt-in page.

An important facet to growing your opt-in list that is often overlooked is in how you continue selling to your interested party after they have opted-in.  Be sure to be continue to streamline your email program to the subscriber’s particular selections, maintaining the relationship by letting the subscriber know that he is an important individual to your marketing program and not just a generic participant.

Remain in contact with your opt-in subscriber by forwarding quick emails that request a response, such as preference update info, or inquiries regarding special offers.  This, again, maintains a more personal relationship between you and your subscriber and will give him the opportunity to take just a minute to help you focus in on the items that are of current importance to him.

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