You realized at the onset of your business, that to create a profitable venture, you would need to direct traffic to your website. You set up a marketing plan and you continued to tweak your business to allow it to grow. But, if you haven’t considered providing a newsletter, now may be a good time. It can help cash flow because it allows people to feel connected to you and to each other.
Your website is your main operation. It’s a portal for your visitors to access the information that you provide and to tell them what you are about. Newsletters are meant to give additional information and to let your readers get to know more about you, and to feel like they are part of a larger group of subscribers.
When creating a newsletter, try to leave some room for things that subscribers would find interesting even if they’re not part of your mission statement. It’s a way to “make friends” with these people and to show your gratitude for their loyalty as subscribers and customers. If they’re not already customers, reading the newsletter regularly may very well lead them to that.
Put anything you don’t have room for on your website into your fun and informative newsletter. It can be anything from a one pager that you email directly to those who subscribe, to a PDF format that can be attached so that those who receive it can click and read it.
If you want to customize your newsletters, there are several options for making them more useful and entertaining. If you want to provide more information in an easily shareable and printable format, saving in a PDF file is a great way to encourage readers to spread your work to their friends. This way they can download the PDF, print it out, and share it with their friends, which could allow your newsletter to become viral.
However, PDF formats can’t handle video or animation, so if you want to provide these as a special benefit to your readers, you may want to consider doing so by creating a “Subscriber Only” section on your website. This section would give them access to newsletters that contain video or animation not available on a PDF. This engages regulars and makes them feel wanted, while not intimidating newer readers who may prefer a simpler format. Ultimately, the choice is up to you.
Using your newsletter is a good way to recognize those readers who want to be known. Their names can even be listed so they can be honored as being part of the team.
If you’re wondering what your newsletter should contain, think about giving little information bites that keep subscribers informed and connected with each other so that everyone feels like they’re linked in to something important. In our current social media driven world, everyone is looking for a connection. You can let your visitors become part of your readers community by subscribing to your newsletter.
