Recipe for an Ezine: Ingredient #2: Clarity of Audience & Purpose

While there are eight key ingredients to writing, formatting, and publishing an electronic newsletter or ezine that works for your business, none of the steps is more important than number two: being very clear about the purpose and your audience.

What do you want your newsletter to do?
Who is your targeted audience?
What’s in it for them?

Addressing these questions before starting your ezine will serve your objectives in the long run. The better you are able to articulate the answers, the easier it will be for you to write relevant content, grow your subscriber list, and measure results.

Not being clear will result in an ezine that stagnates, meanders and loses subscribers over time. Being laser-focused will result in subscribers who want to hear what you have to say, and who come to trust you over time can lead to sales of your products and services.

Your ideal reader will most likely mirror your ideal client. Once you clarify who your targeted readers are, then list what benefits they will get from being a regular reader of your newsletter.

When you are clear, write a 25-word statement explaining your newsletter:

1. Who it is fo
2. What benefits they will get from reading it
3. Who you are as the author an expert

Example: “Savvy eBiz Tips is a weekly ezine with smart ideas for using the Internet to get more clients and grow your biz from The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman.”

Once you have crafted this statement, you can use it on your subscription sign-up page.

Your newsletter should work to grow your business in the long term. In order to achieve this, you will need to:

1. Write regular content that is relevant to your readers’ wants and needs.
2. Create credibility and trust by being authentic, honest, and transparent about the work you do.
3. Build relationships with readers through sharing case studies, your personal experiences with clients, and your philosophy and values.
4. Showcase your expertise by sharing your knowledge and communicating it well. Generously share tips that will help your readers to save time, energy or money, making their lives better.