Offering an online newsletter is a great way of communicating and staying in touch with potential customers. Although some websites place their newsletter on the same page each time, most websites develop an archive of old newsletters - these previous editions are also called back issues.

What are the advantages of keeping back issues on your site?

• the information is still available for people to read
• the content is available for search engines so can help your site rankings
• people unsure about subscribing to your newsletter can read a back issue or two and decide if it is what they are looking for
• it develops trust - you aren’t hiding anything
• it demonstrates your business has been operating for a while
• it shows how often you send out newsletters - even if you say it is monthly, a visual reminder is useful

How do you present back issues?

It depends on what format your newsletters are in, but you can have an archive section which links to all newsletters or you may just link to a few recent editions on your ‘our newslettter’ page.

If you offer an archive, you may want to limit how far back you go with it, especially if you reuse a lot of information from older newsletters.

As long as the date of each newsletter is clear, it is ok to have newsletters public with expired competitions and special offers.

What not to do with back issues…

I recently came across a site with a free html newsletter that charged for back issues. I was recommended the newsletter, but was dubious about it’s quality based on what I saw on the website itself. For me to subscribe to the newsletter, or trust this person with my email address for that matter, I needed to see a back issue. However, I was not going to pay for one so I left the site without subscribing.

Even if you decide that charging for back issues is a good way to recoup some costs or make some extra income, I strongly suggest having one or two editions available for free to show people what they could get out of your newsletter. However, paying for something out of date that is generally given free will irritate most people and probably won’t bring in a lot of sales anyway.

When writing for your business, it is critical that you grab people’s attention quickly - there are too many websites, blogs, newsletters, direct mail letters and emails for any of us to read them all just in case they hold something good further down the page.

Having said that, you need to grab their attention in the right way or it can actually be damaging rather than a marketing opportunity.

What is the right way? Well, it varies according to the situation of course, but when preparing an opening to a document/webpage/newsletter consider:

• make it relevant - no point grabbing the attention of people interested in retirement villages if you sell motor bikes
• keep it honest - don’t promise a discount unless one is really on offer
• keep it appropriate - swearing, sexual references, hateful comments and so on are not necessary and are unlikely to win you good customers
• keep it as short and/or visual as possible - a half page paragraph is not going to grab like a 6 word word heading
• aim it at what your customers want to hear, not what you want to say - I recently read an email which started by saying how great their two organisations were - the final paragraph was about a competition they were running. It would have been much more effective to start with the competition to grab my attention.
• be realistic - or so far over the top that is obviously humour. An almost believable claim probably won’t build trust so people will move on
• be sparing with bad (or gimicky) spelling - preferably stick to good spelling altogether and be as grammatically correct as possible
• make it interesting or ask a question - or ask an interesting question!

I have just read a blog post by Melissa which gave me a recommendation for newsletter tips - thanks Melissa!

Reading her post made me wonder if there is a need for me to give more newsletter related tips, so I thought I’d put the question out for everyone to think about.

Would you be interested in more tips about newsletters, specifically newsletter content? The same thing could be asked for blog content, too. As many of the content issues are the same, tips for one would often be useful for the other anyway!

In the meantime, the following list of newsletter/blog content tips in my blog may help you…

• What to write in a blog
• SMS shorthand
• Online magazine or newsletter?
• Newsletter or blog?
• Answering negative comments (in a blog)
• Blogging endings (also applies to newsletters)
• Blogging skills

Plus all the general writing tips in my grammar & details and writing categories.

Happy writing!

Many small businesses find it challenging to fill a monthly (or weekly) newsletter, so adding a blog to their to do list makes them question the value of having both.

Although the value of each will vary with each business according to its client base and product/service range, the following points may help you decide whether a blog, a newsletter or both is the best solution for you.

Newsletter

• it reaches people’s inbox so they are reminded of you without any extra effort on their part
• most people know about email but a lot don’t know about or like blogs
• maintain consistency if you have had a newsletter for some time
• it can seem more personal and intimate as it is not generally available online; it is a one-to-one relationship between you and many people
• can be quite short and link to articles/products/news on your site or in your blog
• can attract advertising revenue - advertising on blogs is less common
• can be passed onto to other people - they may well read a newsletter but may not get around to clicking on a link for a blog

Blog

• easy to include up-to-date information
• entries can be very short or as long as you like - variety in length is good but a variety in newsletter length may not be so positive
• if on your domain name, it can greatly impact on your site’s traffic and ranking
• people can access older posts easily
• people can comment and give you feedback; you can build a community
• individual posts can be linked to by other sites and other pages within your blog/site
• a younger demographic may relate well to a blog

If you decide to run your own blog and newsletter, you can save yourself some time by

• using information from one to fill the other - for example, your newsletter can refer to a blog post. However, don’t overdo the repetition as some people will read both
• using articles from Word Constructions or article directories such as The Repozitory or Evan Carmichael (not all Australian)
• inviting guest bloggers to write for you
• write things in advance - fill newsletters or pre-date blog posts so that you aren’t faced with thinking of a topic and writing it the day it is due out

I found a post  about developing your skills at blogging which I thought worth mentioning. It is also relevant on the whole for newsletter writing.

It doesn’t mention ‘be yourself’ directly, but I think that is the only major point I would add to the list.

In summary, Chris Garrett gives 10 points that lead to successful blogging:

1. blog by example
2. blog with passion
3. be organised (well, I can’t always get 10 out of 10!)
4. delegate
5. take ownership & responsibility
6. communicate effectively (hopefully, that’s where my tips come in handy!)
7. be brave & honest
8. listen
9. know your readers
10. be a reader

I found number 7 interesting - I am always honest in my blog but don’t feel I am particularly brave as communications isn’t usually very controversial But then I read Chris’ comments about this to find him saying pretty much the same thing and suggesting there is bravery in choosing and presenting topics.

Which of the above points do you find most challenging in your blog writing?

Not many people actually ask me outright, but you can almost see the thought cross their mind - “why would I pay someone to write stuff for me? I know how to write a sentence.”

One very important reason some people choose to hire a writer is simply to save time. It is a task to be outsourced so you can spend more time doing what you’re best at. This is especially true for people who struggle over every word and find writing very time consuming.

Another reason is distance - a professional writer is not so close to your business so will have a clearer perspective of what needs to be said. When you are close to the business, it is easy to get caught in details that aren’t necessary in a marketing document for instance. And when it comes to something like an about us page on a website, many people find it hard to write about themselves anyway.

A professional writer (or editor) may just review what you have done - finding those little errors you can’t easily find in your own work. It is handy if you work alone and don’t have anyone else who can proof read for you.

Of course, a major reason for using a professional writer is to get words that work well, are easy to read and are grammatically correct. For some people this is easy to achieve, others have to work hard at it and some people just can’t get it no matter what they do. Even if you can write fairly well, if you aren’t experienced at writing in a certain way it may be worth getting a professional to do it for you. You can always use their work as a model for future projects.

I think of it this way - I can hold a pencil or paint brush and make marks on a page but I would pay someone else to actually paint something to hang on my walls. We all have our talents and I’d prefer to outsource to experts than try to find time to do everything myself. Which of course leaves me with more time for writing…

A few days ago I shared part of an email I received - the person was trying to convince me (and others as it was a mass email) to participate in her forums. Her email was unlikely to work, so I thought I’d share some ideas on how to convince someone to participate in something they are reluctant about.

1. Consider why they are reluctant - maybe it is lack of time or they think it is too expensive, or maybe it is just too hard or intimidating. Once you have the reason, or most likely reasons, answer those reasons.

For example, if people aren’t buying your product because they don’t think it has value for money, don’t tell them they are wrong but explain the value - “This product is fully reusable and made from sturdy materials that will last for years” or “This price includes delivery, a 12 month warranty and a spare battery pack.”

2. Point out the advantages for them, not you.

For example, “Did you know posting on forums can help your search engine results?” or “If you have questions, ask them on the forum - we have experts who may be able to help you” or “When you leave this event, you will know how to save hours every month”

3. Show respect and give the person space to say no without loosing face. No one likes being forced into anything or being nagged, and no one appreciates being made to feel stupid or cheap for not participating in something. So invite and then give them room to decide for themselves.