Making your small business newsletters work

With so many small business newsletters around, is it still worth having one? I say yes. I believe both printed and electronic e-newsletters are still valuable and effective – even when produced on a shoestring budget.

Here are my tips for making your small business newsletters work for you.

1. Look professional

There’s no doubt that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are some newsletters that are just plain unattractive. No doubt you’ve seen a few of these in both your inbox and your letterbox. It’s a definite turn off.

Regardless of the size of your budget, it’s important that the presentation and layout of your newsletter reflect your brand. The golden rule is that whether your newsletter is printed or electronic it must be easy to read or navigate, and clean and simple in design.

I recommend avoiding the use of standard or generic templates, because they’ll rarely do your brand justice. If you can, make the initial investment in a template that reflects your brand, and as part of your brief make sure it is designed to fit numerous applications.

2. Provide valuable content

Although your newsletters are produced, sent and paid for by your business, they are actually not about you at all. If your content doesn’t have a high level of ‘what’s in it for me’ for the reader, your newsletter will fail. Readers will switch off, unsubscribe, return the mail to its sender (you) and ask to be removed from your database. Ouch.

If you’re stuck for content ideas, common topics that people like to see in small business newsletters include:

case studies illustrating how using your product can make their lives or business better;
new products or industry-related research;
pictures from an event;
special offers;
interviews with industry experts or people your audience relate to or admire.

3. Inject personality

Your newsletter should not be overly technical or written in a way that sends people to sleep – after all most of us don’t choose to spend our spare time reading Acts of Parliament or legal transcripts! I recently received a legal document from my mortgage supplier with the suggestion that I make myself a cup of tea, get comfy on the couch and sit down to read it. Next time I feel like an afternoon nap, I might just give that a try!

In summary, don’t let having a tight budget hold you back from producing great newsletters. I’ve been told many times in my life and career that I have champagne tastes on a beer budget - it’s probably true, but there’s always a way around it!

The million-dollar question is whether small business newsletters generate sales. In my experience they do, and over time can also help you build and strengthen your brand.

Has that been your experience too? Let us know below.

Jo Macdermott is a small business marketing expert who specialises in working with businesses who are looking for effective and sales focused marketing campaigns.

21 Dec 09

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7 comments | Add your own

Jo, great article.
What software/newsletter do you recommend we adopt to produce something that is porofessional/budget concious and that will automatically send out to newsletter subscribers (e.g. I am not doing it thru Microsoft Word), and how much should I be looking to invest in $ and hours a month. Heather Smith from BRISBANE | Read my articles
Thanks for your note Heather. The first place i recommend you investigate is the company who looks after your website - if they have an e newsletter product then that would be a good way to start. Depending on the complexity of what you are looking for, to get started you may need anything from a few hundred dollars. I invest approx 1-3 hours per month in my e newsletter, however you could easily spend much more if you wanted to commit to a very intense program. There are alot of e newsletter products on the market and if you (or any flying solo readers) wanted to drop me a line direct with what you were looking I am happy to help in that way. Jo Macdermott from Melbourne, VIC | Read my articles
Great stuff. Heather if you are looking for a system to send out your eNewsletters check out www.campaignmonitor.com.au, it is easy to use and very affordable. I use this for all my clients.
This system manages your subsribers for you (direct from your subscribe here) section on your website and templates can be designed just for your business so it is very easy to use.
Any questions feel free to pop me an email. Amanda Griscti from Sydney
Great article Jo! I have only recently committed to producing a monthly e-newsletter and I'm stunned with the positive response that I've been receiving and the dramatic increase in enquiries I've been receiving as a result. I, and the majority of my clients, use www.mailchimp.com which is very simple to use and it's also very easy to integrate opt-in boxes etc with your website. Melissa Williscroft from Melbourne, Australia
Great article that I think we can learn alot from. Newsletters are an ideal way to get news out to clients, in a creative , fun but informative method. There are great softwares out there that allow you to do so much regardless of design ability. I too have looked at mailchimp and know of people that have chosen this over others. Jenny Pilley from Leicestershire/UK
Newsletters givce your customers top of mind when they need your services, and if you provide education in these areas then it makes the leads warm. Peter Greenham from Rochedale South
Hi Jo and I have been doing a newsletter for the past few months and it has been great to see my subscribers list grow as people forward the information to friends and colleagues. I try to have a plan for the next 3 months. I can always add an extra e-zine for an item which is particularly topical, or shift them all out to accommodate some thing I suddenly think will be interesting to my readers.
I think it is really important to be consistent. When some one tells me they want to create a weekly newsletter, we think about the time commitment to produce this - maybe better to start monthly and always deliver, and then increase to twice monthly etc. Ingrid Louise from Enmore | Read my articles

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