The District Chronicles

Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: BUSINESS

Media Credit: DC Staff

An opt-in online newsletter is a great way to increase traffic and sales at your web site. It gives you a legitimate reason to contact people who have specifically asked to receive news about your business and also encourages purchases. But while the payoff can be big, publishing a newsletter is hard work.

As a newsletter publisher, you will create and edit articles (or find and perhaps pay other people to do so), purchase or take high quality photographs, design layouts, manage subscriber lists and the like. I recommend launching a newsletter only if you feel you have the time to create an aesthetically pleasing publication. It doesn't have to be fancy, but if it is not professional, people will not read it. As a rule of thumb, a newsletter should be published at least monthly-- preferably more often--to maximize results.

To get started, you need to name your publication, state an editorial mission, create a format and set up a publication schedule. This involves sorting through all of the aspects of your business and focusing on those that generate the most interest.
Choose an editorial focus for your publication and then develop a format around it.

You need not publicize your editorial mission statement. You can simply use it as an internal guide to help you chart your course. Just remember that you want to create a publication that allows you to showcase your products around interesting and exciting content that inspires, informs, educates and edifies. Once you adopt a consistent format, it becomes easier to simply plug in new content for each new issue.

One of the most important things you will do is select a company to distribute the publication and manage your subscriber base. Free services such as Yahoo are available, but they come with significant drawbacks including the requirement that you include their ads in your newsletter. It would do little good for our Green Clean Co. to publish a newsletter about "green" living if it was sponsored by a company selling paint made with toxic chemicals.

If your funds are limited, a free service is a good way to get started, but it should be temporary. E-mail newsletter hosting companies charge a fee for each address to which they send your newsletter. The service can be free for a small number of subscribers or you can enroll in a 30- or 60-day free trial period.

Look for a company that gives you maximum editorial flexibility for the lowest price.

With a little pre-publication planning, you will be on your way to taking advantage of one of the Internet's most efficient and cost-effective advertising.

Also, log onto http://emailuniverse.com/ for hundreds of informative articles and tips on publishing an e-mail newsletter.

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Donna Maria Coles Johnson, Esq. is The Original Lifestyle CEO. Visit her at LifestyleCEO.com.

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