Sending out newsletters is one thing, getting people to read them is quite another.  Imagine having twice as many people actually read your newsletter. How about ten times more readers?  Make a few changes in how you craft your newsletter and watch what happens.

Newsletters serve many purposes.  Organizations use newsletters to keep people informed about what is going on.  Companies write newsletters to encourage clients to purchase products or services.  Some newsletters are premium subscription services that provide valuable and timely information to their clients.  No matter what your objectives are, newsletters are a powerful way to get your message in front of people.  In many cases, your newsletter is the only way to reach your clients.

The challenge is that our customers are bombarded with email.  Getting them to pause and read our newsletters is more challenging than ever.  We all love to see the number of subscribes grow, but what matters most is the number of readers.  What good is your newsletter doing if no one opens the email?
Write Powerful Headlines – Write attention getting short headlines.  Headlines will catch the eye of the reader and hopefully capture their attention long enough to get them to read the article.

The Perfect First Paragraph – The very first words and sentences are critical.  Make a quick and important point about the article.  You may have to make your point up front and then explain it in following paragraphs.  If they read nothing but the first paragraph, they should be intrigued, captivated, enticed, and mesmerized!

Only Give them a Taste – Avoid putting too much of the article in your newsletter.  Put enough content in the newsletter to get their attention and then get them to click the “read more …” link.  That link can take them back to your website to finish the article.  The advantage of this is that you can add additional advertisements and you will know for sure how many people actually read the article.  If the reader can read the important elements of your article within the newsletter, it is difficult to know if people read the article or not.

Who is you Audience? – Have a consistent writing style.  If your newsletter appeals to technical people then your articles need to be consistently appealing to those people.  If your readers are lightweights, make sure that all your articles are accessible to them.  If you go over their heads with terminology or other details, they will most likely discard the whole newsletter.

Lead the Eyes – The first glance at your newsletter will draw the eye somewhere.  That gives your reader a quick moment to decide to look more or move on.  Make sure the title of your email, the catchy article titles, and other captivating stuff are the first things people glance at within the first 3 seconds.  Flash ads or other “distractions” belong a little lower in the newsletter.  Get their attention first.

Control the Distractions – It is normal to want to put ads and other graphics in the newsletter.  This is a good thing.  If you do too much of it, you take away from the point of the newsletter.  For most of us, the point of a newsletter is to get people to visit the website.  Every aspect of the newsletter should be crafted to get people to click on something that goes to your website.  Anything that takes them somewhere else is what I call a distraction.  The simple rule is that everything in the newsletter should result in people going to your website.

There are many other considerations which I’ll cover in future articles.  You will want to use a newsletter distribution service that helps you make sure your newsletter gets delivered, for example.  You will want newsletter archives on your website.  You will also want to send your newsletter at consistent intervals.  People love you when you are predictable.   Miss an issue and people will wonder if you are still in business.  For most of us, one or two newsletters per month is sufficient.