Tag: content

Tips for Writing a Newsletter

I was recently asked for tips about writing a newsletter. I’ve been writing, editing, or publishing one for more than 20 years. So of course I have some tips!

The first time I acquired the task (I volunteered), I was new to the organization. I thought it would be a great way to meet people (It was!) After not too long, I could call anybody in the group and ask questions. People knew who I was and thought I could put THEM in the newsletter and more people would know them!

People liked to be asked to talk about something they think they are an expert at! So take advantage of that!

Just like content on your website:

  • Make the writing personal.. like your talking to a friend.
  • Use short sentences!
  • Use subheadings to make it easier to follow the whole article.
    People won’t read more than about 700 words in an article.
  • Use captions! People often read them instead of the whole article
  • Be VERY CAREFUL about centered content. It looks nice from a distance. But it is much harder to read if your eye has to work a bit to find the beginning of the next line.
  • Use some consistent mark to show the end of an article and something to show the beginning...besides the title.  
  • Be consistent about how you show the author of an article 
  • If it’s printed, make it be at least two columns wide content (NOT full width of 8 1/2 x 11..  Full width is very hard to read — especially on the screen)
  • Get somebody else to proof read it before you send it out.
  • Use only 2-3 fonts and be consistent where you use them.  
    • Article titles: one font
    • Content: another
      My biggest newsletter uses Rockwell Bold for titles and sub headings
    • Century Schoolbook for content
    • Arial for captions and tables.
    • And only sometimes do I add something weird!
    • You want people to READ the content, not be confused about what is important
  • If it’s only an on-line pdf, then the pictures don’t have to be more than 72 dpi (maybe 96 if you’re feeling generous. Big pictures make the file too big to send) Here’s a thing I wrote years about about making a pdf smaller

Getting content for your newsletter

Ask people to write something specific.. 

  • Do not ask: Will you write something for the newsletter? (nobody will)
  • Do ask:  Can you write about the workshop on the bird pattern (PS: I really liked those)
  • Or maybe do a recurring column on favorite tools
  • New member profiles
  • Cultivate the relationship with people who DO write.  Then they’ll keep writing more. (S)

And here’s a secret bit of advice. 

If you feel like you’ve got a bunch of sentences and they don’t quite fit the way you’d like, paste your content into an AI platform and ask it to put your content in order.

Or summarize it if it’s too long.
(I find Gemini, part of Chrome browser, does a good job of making the product sound like a person wrote it — not a machine.  And if you don’t like the first version.. ask Gemini to take the result and make adjustment.  ALWAYS read and evaluate AI results to make sure it didn’t invent stuff that isn’t right!)

Here are a few more tips about writing a good newsletter.

Good luck and have fun!

Writing enough content and why it matters

You do know that Google can’t actually READ anything.
It’s a computer. It just picks out words for search results.

It also says that topics require at least 300 words to have “authority.”

So if you have less than 300 words on a page, then you’re not telling Google that subject matter is important.

The Great Google says you need at least 300 words on a page

Do you want to mess with the Great Google?

You do know that Google can’t actually READ anything.
It’s a computer. It just picks out words for search results.

It also says that topics require at least 300 words to have “authority.”

So if you have less than 300 words on a page, then you’re not telling Google that subject matter is important.

In Naomi Dunford’s newsletter today, she wrote: A Little Copywriting Advice: Sometimes, You Just Gotta Fill Space

Here’s what I really like about all of her letters:

  • They have big type and lots of white space. (It looks almost the same on her website.)
  • There are generally not a lot of pictures to distract me. Yes, I know that’s counter to everything you read about marketing. But clearly it works for some people in some instances.
  • The letter is fun, really more like a letter from a friend and less like a marketing piece.
    There’s always a good story.

People identify with and remember stories!

My regular advice to my kids, long ago, was this:
“No matter what happens, if you get a good story out of it, you’re good to go!”

Naomi’s story is always something that makes me like HER.
I want to have a drink with her, or have her stay over here. I’d even like to meet her son, Jack who I think is about 5 now. (I remember when he was born!)  And I do NOT even like little kids.

What does this have to do with your website?

In my opinion, your website is for three things. You want people to Know, Like and Trust you. It pretty much has to be in that order.

  1. Let people KNOW, at least, what you look like. If you’re going to meet in person, it’s nice to have an idea of just who you’re looking for in the mall. And it’s nice to know that the person you’re thinking of hiring shares somethings in common with you.
  2. Share something about yourself so that people will LIKE you. Let visitors to your site know something about your history, or what made you decide to do what you do. Stories are great for that.
  3. Share information that proves you know something about what you want to talk about, so people can TRUST you. It’s not necessary to always cite studies and famous people, but it’s also not necessary to dumb down your content.    If you like working with “heady” then write for them. Just the same as if you like working with moms, or artists, or engineers, write for them.

No matter what the service you provide, coach, organizer, web developer, undertaker:
People won’t like you if they don’t know you. Rarely do you trust someone you don’t like.

So think about your visitors when you’re writing your content.

This may be sacrilege: but sometimes the website is just an introduction. It’s not always to keep people coming back for more.

Personally, if I can get thru the know-like-trust thing in a single visit, and that results in a call or an email, I’m ecstatic!

It doesn’t often happen. People do take time to make decisions.

Just remember, it’s just not necessarily the fact that you’ve got an MBA from Harvard that gets you the sale.

If they like you, if they connect with you and then they’ll keep reading what you post.
That’s a good reason to keep adding content.

After a while, they’ll call or write or buy something.

Oh, and by they way… If you’re nice!  Show that.

Here’s a question:  How do you  know if you’ve connected with someone?

Photo credit: Sgarton from morguefile.com