Writing Newsletters For Business SuccessWriting newsletters is an easy way to contact customers and keep staff informed, and it's one of the skills Personal Assistants are expected to have. A newsletter is an important method of communication. It can increase sales while minimising advertising costs. Research shows that newsletters get four times the readership of adverts or brochures, and readers are seven times more likely to buy from you when approached through a newsletter. A good newsletter can improve name recognition and brand awareness; establish your company's authority in their sector; and differentiate your business from the competition's. Before attempting to write a newsletter decide what you want from your readers. Your reason for writing the newsletter may be to introduce a new product or service, or to counteract what a competitor is claiming. Or even to highlight why a customer might be interested in a special offer. When formatting a newsletter make the layout inviting. If it's crammed with information readers are more likely to skim read or ignore it altogether. Break up the copy with plenty of space and keep articles and paragraphs short. Keep the text jargon free. Emphasize the news content and useful advice, and the benefits to the reader. Use intriguing titles or ones that suggest the article provides quick and easy shortcuts. Headlines like "get", "conquer", "become" and "avoid" attract the attention of readers. Then use power words like "reveal", "discover", "shocking", and "unparalleled". Use striking photographs or cartoons on the cover to draw in readers. Choose your articles carefully so that each article projects the right image of your company. Decide whether the article should reflect the company's expertise, its customer care, or some other aspect of your business. If you are unsure about which areas are of most interest to your readers, slip a survey into the newsletter. Engage your readers by asking questions like "how could your business benefit from this advice"? There are a number of free survey tools for ezines like Zoomerang.com and Surveymonkey.com to help you engage your readers. When writing newsletters note that a good newsletter will have a longer shelf life than an advert and is more likely to be passed on to be read by prospective customers so make the content good. Try to get the balance right between generic articles that would be of interest to your wider client base and add value through interesting content, and those that are specifically about your product and services. Don't waste your time and space producing articles that are unrelated to your field. Spell check carefully and make sure the views expressed in the newsletter are not likely to offend your readers. As a feature, you could profile an important customer, showing examples of how your product or service is used by the customer and the benefits they have derived from using your product or services. The feature could demonstrate why customers purchase from you as opposed to your competitors, and highlight a future project or collaboration with the customer. Choose a well-known and respected customer as the subject of the feature to lend credibility to your business. The customer is likely to agree to be featured as it provides free press. Generate new leads by offering free subscription to your newsletter and even a free ebook. People that sign up for newsletters are likely to be serious about the product or service you are providing, and you may find that as many as 80% of your readers can be converted to customers within six months. Without the constant contact offered by newsletters, customers are likely to drift away to the competition.
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