The Newsletter Formula

Though there is no one specific correct way to build an e-mail newsletter,there are things all e-mail newsletters should contain and basic ideas thatshould be included if you want to get the most out of the time you put intobuilding your newsletter, collecting a mailing list and shipping it out.

This e-mail newsletter outline is a basic newsletter that you can expound onor trim down. What's most important is the general ideas of the types of thingsyou should be looking to include. For those of you who find yourselves in thatall too familiar territory of staring at a blank screen and thinking"Newsletter... okay, what now?", hopefully this outline will give youa good start on producing the newsletter you want.

So where do we start a successful e-mail newsletter? Well, how about with apage?
The first step is to find a good e-mail newsletter template. Thereare plenty of them around so just Google search and then spend some timelooking through them until you find something you like. A two column templateis a good idea because it will let you keep information rich articles separatefrom other resources like links, ads, calls to action, offers or whatever elseyou include in the 'sidebar'. If you know some html you can customize thetemplate to fit your needs but, if not, don't worry. You should be able to findsomething that will work just fine for you.Next we need to consider a banner. If you want you can just take thebanner you use for your website and plop it into your newsletter. Or, if youhave any skill with graphics or banner creation, you can create somethingspecifically for you newsletter. Whatever you use as a banner just make sure itfits with the style of your website and is easily identifiable as yournewsletter. If people can't tell where its from, they aren't likely going toread it and may even report it as spam.Now we can move to the body of our e-mail newsletter. In the body of thenewsletter you want to look to include some informational content. Think alongthe lines of articles you might use for your website. Three to five articles isusually a good rule here. Try to use catchy headlines and then a line or twothat will draw the reader into wanting to read the article, followed by a linkto access the full text. Its also a good idea to have a small image accompanythe headline to give the newsletter a more professional look.A good idea for what content to include in the body section is to start withsomething personal, maybe a message from the 'owner' or 'editor'. Here you cantalk about all the exciting things going on on your site or better introduceyourself to your readers. Just try to let them feel they are getting to knowyou or your site better by being a newsletter subscriber. Next follow with one to three general articles on whatever topic yourwebsite covers. Make sure to keep them interesting and informational just asyou would with any content you posted to your site. Then finish with somethingyour readers can use in their day to day lives, like a how to article or a recipeor something you are sharing with them just for being a newsletter subscriber.Fstarting an finishing with more personal types of items will help thenewsletter subscriber feel like more of a part of a community than someone youare trying to sell to.Now, moving to the sidebar, at the top of the sidebar it is a goodidea to have links to all the useful pages on your site. Use buttons or someother type of small graphic with a short piece of text to let readers knowwhere the link takes them and include links to your homepage, maybe your mostrecent article, any special offers you may include on your site and links topartner or affiliate sites or other useful resources for your readers. Its alsoa good idea to include a link to register for the newsletter here, in case oneof your recipients forwards the e-mail to a friend who might want to register.After the links you might want to include advertising space for others, adsfor your own products, an inspirational quote or any other short bits of text thatyour readers might enjoy. Then, finish up with a small sidebar section whereyou can place special offers for newsletter recipients or any other type ofsale or special or call to action you might presently be implementing.Now you can either finish with a footer banner or just wrap it up and callit a done deal. Hopefully, this will at the least be an idea of how to start thinking aboutconstructing your e-mail newsletter and, from there, you can get creative andmake your e-mail newsletter something you can really be proud to send to allthose who find your site compelling enough to register.

Anissa Wardell is the founder of the The PublicistsAssistant a publicity firm based in Utah. She enjoys helping new authors andpassionate authors share their message. Anissa is the publicist for theupcoming film Don't Shoot! I'm the Guitar Man by Prodigy Motion Pictures.
ThePublicistsAssistant.com is a consulting and service PRfirm for people that want to get famous in the media, without going broke.[http://ThePublicistsAssistant.com]
Wow Anissa! That was a fabulous post. Thank you so much. I myself learned a lot!