Who doesn’t love a good schedule? We all need them – and in time it will become second nature. If you want to be consistent with your newsletter, having a schedule is a great way to start. Here’s what I suggest for consistency:
- Pick a Date – First of the month, last week of the month, what ever it is, pick a date or a week. I usually aim for the 3rd week of the month, that’s just me. Your audience may want the first or fifth or 25th. The important thing is you get it out.
- Have a Few Topics to Choose From – I will always say to keep it simple, it could be that your newsletter is a short intro and a few recent blog posts. It could be a feature on something you recently did in your business. Or it could be a few short items or tips. If you keep a spreadsheet you can populate it based on seasonal ideas (if your business is seasonal).
- Keep Something Consistent – I don’t want to guess at your format each month. Keep your newsletter consistent even with varying topics. Maybe it’s 3 recent blog posts. For me it’s a picture of Hank each month. A tip of the month, a featured employee, whatever it is keep something consistent in your newsletter so folks know to come back for it.
Building a spreadsheet, AND populating it, means that you aren’t starting from scratch each month. You may know in July that in December you’ll want to talk about an end of the year sale, or in March you’ll want to talk about Spring travel. Whatever it is, start filling out your plans early and share with your team so that they can add ideas based on what they’re seeing with clients as well. Most of my blog posts and newsletters are based on conversations I’m having with clients. I just sent an email to a client suggesting they build a schedule, and now I’m writing this blog post so I have it on record for future clients.
Build a schedule. Keep at it. And if you drop off for a month? Don’t wait another 6, just get back at it!
