Newsletters, or ezines, can be an extremely effective marketing tool for your business. It puts your name in front of your potential clients, regular clients, and peers while showing your expertise and professionalism. Its an excellent means to both market and grow your business and also show your existing clients your creative abilities.
Whats an ezine Its short for electronic magazine. Its those e-mail newsletters that you receive on a regular basis. If you are not sending one out now, seriously consider doing so. It can make a big difference in both your business and your bank account. For example, I know one life coach who sends out regular ezines. Lately she acknowledged that she started getting 30+ people signing up every day! When you think about those 30+ new potential clients a day, doesnt it make sense to utilize this as a regular part of your marketing
Now the only drawback is to ensure your newsletter is worthy of being read. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, but find I regularly only read a few upon their arrival. When I decided to create my own newsletter, one of the first things I did was to look at those newsletters I regularly read and determine what it was about them that made me want to read them. What sets them apart from the rest One of the most important things I discovered was that they provided me with valuable information to help me in my business. They often provided information I didnt already know. For example, some newsletters provide tips on search engine optimization, affiliate programs, or software shortcuts. Since Im always looking to grow my business, this information is valuable to me. You normally have knowledge in a given field that others dont, when preparing your newsletter, think about what expert knowledge you have or can obtain that would interest your targeted market. Now thats what you want to add to your newsletter.
In writing your newsletter, keep the following points in mind:
Your Readers
Know your readers and what they want.
Ask your readers for feedback and how to improve.
Talk to your readers. Dont just put information in your newsletter; think about that audience out there reading your newsletter. How do they feel after reading what youve prepared
Your Writing Style
Use short, simple sentences; keeping paragraphs short.
Write clearly and avoid slang or profanity.
Use humor and keep a refreshing tone to your writing.
Keep your tone friendly, but also professional.
Have white space between the paragraphs.
Use small graphics whenever applicable.
Include your logo for business recognition.
Use bold or italics for emphasis, but dont underline.
Use plain text. (12-14 point)
Headings
Entice the reader with your heading to ensure they read the article.
Headlines should be slightly larger than the other text.
Use bold or italics and a good font, but dont use all caps.
Content of Newsletter
Content is king! Just like on your website, its vital to have your newsletter or ezine packed full of useful information.
Provide articles written by you and other experts.
Provide any new services or features youve added to your business.
Provide links of relevant press releases, articles, other sites, etc. This gives readers more information that they can review.
Provide case studies, facts not known, etc. Sign up for Google News so that you can get information your clients might not have seen.
Provide a collection of valuable small business tips, testimonials, etc.
Provide a personal message from you. Many enjoy hearing how you are doing and whats new happening in their life and business.
Provide humorous quotations or jokes.
Contests / Polls / Freebies / Quizzes / Games!! Let the fun begin. Why not include something that makes the reader look forward to taking a break from their busy day to read your newsletter
The Final Step -- Proofing
Make sure everything is 100% accurate with no typos.
Make sure you have permission for any copyrighted material.
Make sure if you have sources, you have credited them correctly.
Most ezines are opt-in, which means that everyone who receives it has actually registered to receive itthey want it already. Now the only thing you need to do is provide them great information that keeps them wanting it every month.
Diana Ennen, Author: Virtual Assistant the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, Words From Home: Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business, and the Home Office Recovery Plan (co-author: Patty Gale) , and
If your online sales have taken a dip lately, your product or service isnt necessarily to blame. Even the best products and services can be hidden in obscurity when covered by a blanket of bad website copy. So what can you do to make sure your copy sings the praises of not only your product, but your business smarts and credibility as well
First of all, you need to start with the basics. Begin by printing out all pages of your web copy. Then, grab a red pen and go to work. Read carefully through each sentence of your copy, correcting any mistakes in spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you dont feel you have the expertise to find all those common little mistakes, have someone else do it for you. Unless you have a degree in English, youre likely to miss something.
Now, some of you might be taking this advice with a grain of salt, thinking that most people dont notice or concern themselves with grammatical errors in your web copy. Its true that some people wont notice or wont care, but savvy, intelligent people (which your customers likely are) will notice, and those little mistakes can quickly add up to a gaping hole in your credibility. Dont insult your customers intelligence by assuming they wont notice these mistakes.
After youve made it all the way through your copy, and are satisfied that your grammar is absolute perfection, read it again. Better yet, have someone else read it. The value in this is simple. If theres a sentence or paragraph that doesnt make perfect sense or fully explain what youre trying to say, youre less likely to notice it than someone who really NEEDS the information. You already know everything youre trying to explain to others, so clarity is not as big an issue for you, than for someone who knows nothing about your business. So, ask a friend, relative, or neighbor to read your copy carefully and point out anything that isnt perfectly clear. If you want to be successful, your potential customers need to have a clear picture of what youre offering.
Next, consider the length of your copy and how its distributed. Do you have ALL your information on one l-o-n-g page Does your main overview page include minute details that people dont really need, at least at first Copy that is too long, boring, or hard to navigate is perhaps the worst enemy of online success.
Sure, you might have a lot of information to give potential customers, but do you have to do it all at once Of course not. Your main introductory page, for instance, should give a BASIC overview of your product and its major benefits. On this page, include links to pages where more detail can be found, such as testimonials, ordering info, and features you want to mention but arent important enough to list on the main page.
If your pages must be long, be sure to use lots of headlines and bold text to highlight your main points. When faced with a long page to read, many people will skip down to those parts which look more important, so make sure they stand out. Also, include a link to your order page near the top, middle, and bottom of each page. A customer who decides to buy after your first paragraph doesnt want to scroll all the way to the bottom to find out how to order. Placing order links throughout your copy will help you capitalize on buyer impulses, which is just as effective on the Web as it is in the supermarket.
Overall, be sure your copy is professional, credible, easy to read, and simple to navigate. I cant tell you how frustrated customers become when they have to search your site for 5 to 10 minutes to find what theyre looking for. With this in mind, keep your copy straightforward, and separate pages into logical categories. When doing so, be sure to provide links to those pages to help people find their way around.
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