Write about what you know about. I don’t mean you should write about your dog or cat or children (unless that’s your business). Okay, maybe one article can be devoted to your dog or cat or children—it is your newsletter after all! Rather, write about your business, your passion, and what’s going on with you. If you’re like the rest of us and you can’t possibly see how to find the time to write the articles necessary to fill an entire newsletter, research the facts, download the stock art, or embed the links, consider hiring a Virtual Assistant. Consider a Virtual Assistant your Jack-of-all-trades in the virtual world. Virtual Assistants specialize in—well—dabbling!
Here are some tips for getting and keeping your readership:
1) Tie in to current events- Elections, Holidays, Celebrities in the news—
2) Branding is key! Develop your logo, slogans, and identity of everything that you do. Develop everything right down to the key colors that you use. Your readers will begin to notice and recognize the brand. People don’t just buy products—they buy brands.
3) Subscribe to other newsletters to see what else is out there. You’ll be surprised what can inspire you.
4) Power your blog- link back to your blog in at least one of your articles. You took the time to design a newsletter and to put together a distribution list so you might as well build a blog following, right! Add an interesting photo and continue the story in your blog. Need a story idea? Get your VA to research it.
5) Get Artwork- there are plenty of great stock art sites out there that are very inexpensive. Punch up every article with an interesting photo, graphic, or illustration. If you have a graphic artist on staff or plenty of your own professional photos, all the better!
6) Pay close attention to colors and fonts. A good rule is to use no more than three fonts and no more than three colors (excluding artwork) on one newsletter at one time. Otherwise the look gets too disjointed.
7) Get a third opinion, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth—well you get the picture. You will want some honest feedback from people who care about you and want you to succeed before you send your message out to the world. Is your newsletter professional looking? Does your message come across? Is it amateurish? It’s so hard to be objective about your own work sometimes. Don’t take it personal just make it better! Also, don’t forget to get a good proofreader!
Maggie Ruch is a Virtual Assistant who offers affordable options for growing businesses. Check out her website at www.assistspeakers.com where you can get her free eBook “5 Tips for Finding the PERFECT Virtual Assistant”.
