Your newsletter is a wonderful thing, it builds trust with prospects that are interested in what you do, it's a fantastic way to get your message out there, and last (but certainly not least) it's an awesome sales tool.
A newsletter is also one of those elusive strategies that looks and sounds easy - but many solopreneurs hesitate to get started for two reasons:
1. They aren't sure how to structure it/what to say.
2. They are afraid to commit to writing something regularly.
Today we're going to address the first one and talk about how to structure your newsletter to build a relationship with your audience and be used as a sales tool that prospects actually look forward to getting.
The first thing to keep in mind is that a newsletter is more like a newspaper than a newsletter. To show you what I mean let's compare the two.
Newspapers:
• Give content.
• Share interesting stories.
• Have a few ads.
Newsletters (corporately speaking):
• Talk about what's new with your company since the last newsletter.
• ie. they're booooring for your readers.
That being said, newspapers are huge! Your newsletter doesn't have to be. What's important is that you have a defined structure which makes it easy for you to know what to put into it each time, and also has a good balance of content and sales so your readers enjoy reading it.
So here is a simple, proven structure that you can follow for your newsletter to strike that balance and be easy for you to write.
Open with a story or a personal note.
Your newsletter is a fantastic place to express your personality and let your prospects really get to know you. Your personal note could be something that you've done in your personal life recently, something you learned that would be relevant to your audience, or even just why you were inspired to write the piece of content you're going to share.
The bottom line is that by writing this extra paragraph you make the newsletter more personal. Your audience loves getting to know you and feeling like they are within your circle. Plus, it's fun to interact with your readers informally sometimes instead of just trying to always spout brilliance which can be exhausting.
Share something useful.
Just like a newspaper you want to share relevant information that your audience can use. And this is the part that usually hangs coaches and solopreneurs up because creating content regularly can be daunting. So let me just clear a couple of things up:
1. The content you share in your newsletter does not have to be different than what you put in your blog. In fact, this is where you should be sending your blog posts/articles out to your subscribers because chances are they aren't returning to your website and checking for updates without this friendly reminder.
2. Even though we're using a newspaper to illustrate how this works - you aren't a reporter and you don't need to go crazy with writing breakthrough articles all of the time. Blog posts and articles should be kept simple and focused on one topic. You could easily take one question a week that clients ask you when you meet with them and turn that into content.
By sharing relevant content in your newsletter you're going to establish yourself as an expert and build trust with your readers which is exactly what you want.
Have a few ads.
Just like a newspaper - you want to have a few ads for how your readers can engage you. This can be in the form of a suggested product to buy that is either from you or an affiliate. It could be an announcement for something you have coming up. Or, it could be an announcement for something free like your community call. This ad does not need to rotate each newsletter so don't feel like you have to come up with something different each time.
This keeps readers up to date with more content they can get access to (which they appreciate) and also makes a timely offer that makes them aware of opportunities to work with us - which they otherwise wouldn't know about unless they are reminded to go to our website.
If you follow this simple structure you'll have a recipe for newsletter success. Readers will begin to look forward to your emails because they always find something helpful, and they'll also learn to anticipate and look forward to your offerings because you are making timely offers and not solely selling to them.
One other thing that I'd like to point out is that your newsletter is different than a sales email. Your newsletter is something you send regularly to engage and build a relationship with your audience. In addition to that you also want to send separate emails that are geared toward selling your programs or announcing events you have going on.
The key here is that by having a regular newsletter that your readers look forward to - they get used to opening your emails, and will also want to hear about what you have going on or ways to work with you. It's a win win all around!
Holly Chantal is the founder of The Land of Brand, a website design and branding company for coaches and solopreneurs. Go to http://www.thelandofbrand.com and download a free video training on how to use your personality to create a unique brand - because your mom was right when she said you were special.