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Newsletter Context... How Often? What?

by TrueStory
3 replies
Two questions for newsletters:

I am building a list and what do you guys think:

How often to contact my list? Basically, how long can I not appear in their inbox without them forgetting who am I? how often do you email your members?

WHAT to write about (without giving away the farm)?

I am working on eBook and eventually Advanced Course. What do i write about in my newsletters without giving away too much?

I've read other marketing guru's newsletters, but they mostly talk about irrelevant topics how they went skiing in colorado or 'check out this new free product'. I feel a little bit bombarded with this useless information by them. I feel like there is almost NO value to what they write about and i rarely even open these newsletters. So, since i rarely open them, this means if some contain value (occasionally) i would miss them.



Also, how do you manage not to recycle same information over and over. For example if i write something to my newsletter today, and have my list triple by end of summer, i don't want to send same information say in August, I've already sent it to some subscribers in April.
#context #newsletter
  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Hi TrueStory,

    I like to send newsletters out on a weekly basis. Other publishers I know do well sending letters out twice a week. Some send fewer letters.

    But here's one note...

    Whatever you decide, let your prospective subscribers know up front how often they'll receive a newsletter. Tell them on your landing page. Mention it in the first few emails you send.

    Point is, you want to mold their expectations. Because one of the keys to building a responsive list is to tell people what to expect -- and then delivering on your promises.

    As for the content, Jon had some good advice about browsing forums, blogs and other content in your niche for ideas. You can also do things like:

    -- Browse article directories for ideas.
    -- Use a product's sales letter or table of contents for topic ideas.
    -- Ask your readers what they want.
    -- Have a feature where your readers ask questions (and you answer them each week).
    -- Use a keyword tool to see what people in your niche are looking for.

    And so on -- there are lots of ways to do it. Point is, there are ideas everywhere.

    cheers,
    Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground SEO
    I try to keep my list-sending down to 2 emails a month, I don't want to blast them with offers as that will ultimately turn many people away.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      The de facto standard seems to be once a week for the actual newsletter.

      As for content, it's all over the place. Remember, a newsletter is a "news letter", so use it to send out news. This could be original articles (and should be). It could be commentary on related events, links to related articles or videos (one way to establish your own expertise is to recognize and acknowledge the expertise of others), replies to blog posts, etc.

      Often, the tales of ski trips, etc. are told to plant the seed that the writer is a success and should be listened to. "I have the time and money to take these cool trips - listen to me, buy my stuff, and you can take this kind of trip, too..."

      As for repeating material, I think you may be giving people's memories more credit than is due. Unless something is really exceptional, most people won't remember an article you may have sent them a few months ago. If you think they will, you can always go with the TV industry's idea of "encore performances" i.e. re-runs.

      Stealing a line from one of the networks, "if you didn't see it last time, it's new to you..."
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