is for ...

Dear Alun

Since I'm writing an A-Z of e-mail newsletters, you might think that E should be for E-mail newsletters, but I decided that was too obvious. Instead, E is for something you need to help you write great issues of your newsletter; it is something you need to help you promote your business, whatever you do. Without it, you'll find it hard to stand out from the crowd. Read on to find out what I'm talking about.

Best wishes,

Chantal

PS If you've missed any of the earlier letters, click here to let me know which ones and I'll send them to you.

E is for ... Enthusiasm

The weather has been pretty rubbish hasn't it? The economy is in decline. There are too many competitors out there. And my dog's not very well.

What?!

How often have you started reading an e-mail newsletter you subscribe to, hopeful of learning something useful for your business, only to be confronted by doom and gloom? Us British are particularly good at complaining - especially about the weather - but what good is that in your newsletter?

Negative writing really doesn't help you or your readers. Instead, think about putting some enthusiasm into what you write.

How can you use your enthusiasm to write a great newsletter?

• Write about what you care about. If you really care about your business and how you can help other people, your enthusiasm will come across in your writing. Yes, there are hurdles to overcome in your industry, but no one got over a hurdle by complaining about it. Positive writing is far more effective at keeping your readers interested.

• Look for opportunities. There are hundreds of different newsletter systems on the market, but that doesn't stop me from promoting mine. Instead, I regularly look at some of the competition to see what they're doing and what I need to do better. And then I tell people about the other systems and what makes mine better. For a comparison of some of the cheaper systems, click here.

Turn your enthusiasm into words and you'll find it easier to produce consistently good issues of your newsletter that boost your reputation and help you turn more of your readers into clients.

E is also for ...

On a more technical note, E is also for:

E-mail addresses - before you send your newsletter to anyone, make sure they have given you their e-mail address. Don't pull e-mail addresses off websites or buy lists of people who have never heard of you. Your newsletter will probably just end up in a spam folder.

E-mail marketing - one definition I've found for this is "The practice of sending sales letters by e-mail." Is your newsletter a sales letter?

E-mail newsletter or ezine? Someone asked me recently about the difference between these two. My favourite definition of the latter is "an electronic magazine, whether delivered via a website or an e-mail newsletter."

The next issue of JAC Tips will be about F - got any suggestions or questions?