| 1. Send your newsletter at regular intervals. For | | | | professionalism it deserves. |
| example, the second Tuesday each month or the | | | | 13. Invite subscribers to forward to a friend. |
| first and third Friday each month. Your readers will | | | | 14. Include regular columns. Make your newsletter |
| appreciate that it is predictable. | | | | predictable by including the same type of |
| 2. Studies show that your heading should be less | | | | information in each edition. |
| than 50 characters. Make it engaging so you can | | | | 15. Include a note from the company President. |
| prompt readers to open the message. | | | | This adds a personal element that readers will |
| 3. Many e-mail users now read messages with | | | | appreciate. |
| preview panes. That means that the first few | | | | 16. Minimize the use of photos and images. Not |
| paragraphs of your newsletter should be engaging | | | | everyone has high speed Internet access and |
| in order to convince the recipient to keep reading. | | | | images can make a newsletter difficult to |
| 4. Use a table of contents to entice readers. | | | | download. |
| Better yet, make the subjects clickable so it's | | | | 17. Have your newsletter edited for grammar and |
| easy to navigate the newsletter. | | | | punctuation. One or two typos are forgivable, but |
| 5. Include a good balance of useful content and | | | | too many and you will begin to lose credibility. |
| sales copy. Ideally your newsletter should contain | | | | 18. Use high-contrast colors that are easy to read. |
| at least 70% content (articles, tips, how-to | | | | Dark letters on light backgrounds (black or blue on |
| advice, etc.) and minimal sales copy. | | | | white) are the easiest to read. |
| 6. Include an irresistible special offer, discount or | | | | 19. Choose a font size that is also easy to read. |
| promotion. These give readers a reason to open | | | | There's nothing worse than straining to read a |
| your messages and make a purchase. | | | | newsletter. Most people won't bother. |
| 7. Keep it simple. Computer users have short | | | | 20. Ask recipients for feedback. Your newsletter |
| attention spans. Your newsletter should be easy | | | | can only get better if you listen to your readers. |
| to scan and read. | | | | 21. Keep it simple. Long newsletters are tempting |
| 8. Engage readers. Ask readers to submit | | | | to write, but hard to read. If you have that much |
| feedback, respond to a survey question, or enter | | | | to say, consider breaking it up into multiple |
| a contest. | | | | newsletters or publishing the extra information on |
| 9. Give your newsletter personality. The tone of | | | | a blog or other online venue. |
| your newsletter should match that of your | | | | 22. Respect your mailing list. Don't send too many |
| business. | | | | messages in between newsletters or you will risk |
| 10. Make sure you are compliant with the | | | | exhausting your list and will end up with an |
| CAN-SPAM act by including a link to unsubscribe | | | | avalanche of unsubscribe requests. |
| with every email you send. Visit the FTC website | | | | 23. Give readers a reason to look forward to |
| for the latest compliance laws: | | | | your newsletter. Think about it carefully. Why do |
| 11. Include all of your contact information, including | | | | they want to read it? How can you make it |
| a physical address, website and phone number. | | | | better? What newsletters do you love receiving |
| 12. Don't ever use your home address. Invest in a | | | | and why? These answers will help you develop a |
| post office box to give your business the level of | | | | phenomenal publication. |