I’ve been doing a lot of work on client newsletters lately. Sprucing them up, editing content, making sure the formatting and layout are clean and match their individual brands. Here’s a few things I’ve noticed about newsletters you may want to think about before scheduling your next one…
- It’s Totally Canned. Sure, you have resources available to you through another company or you’re in direct sales and have a template to follow. That’s great, but make sure you personalize your newsletter. Make it look like you spent more than 30 seconds forwarding it along. I have a friend who’s in direct sales, and she doesn’t have much wiggle room, but there’s always a personal note at the top of that and often an upcoming event she invites folks to.
- Don’t over think it. Write your newsletter, sleep on it, read it again. If it all still sounds good to you, go ahead and schedule it to send out. I can rack up a pretty big invoice for a client because they’re over thinking every piece of content that went into it. Relax, we’re all human, and we like to see when others are too. Hit the spell check button, and maybe run it past a friend to make sure you aren’t nuts in your content, but my guess is it’s just fine. Don’t over think it.
- Brand it! “my monthly newsletter” isn’t a great subject line. update it monthly. Make sure your colors are the colors in your logo (yes you can use the color codes!) Make sure all the fonts are the same and the same size (or correct variations). DON’T YELL AT US. Your newsletter should be an extension of the work you do, it should feel like an extension of everything else you send out and do. Spend a little time setting up a good template, a PROFESSIONALLY designed header and making sure it looks like something you’re proud of. If you do this once, you’re set moving forward, I promise.
