5 Essentials to Preparing Your Newsletter

Debuting a new newsletter or revamping an existing process can feel like a big task. While it really might be a pretty big thing to accompolish, you can do it with ease, grace and dare I say fun 🙂

So here we go, a few must do’s to prepare for your newsletter.

How will you send your newsletter!?

(This one is for folks who don’t have a CRM yet.)
What system are you going to use for distributing your newsletter? When you’re searching for a provider for your business you may want to “date” a few before you commit. Most companies are offering a trial period for a low cost that will let you check out the inner workings.

I recommend you sign up for a few that you have been considering and play around with the system. One point of clarity… when I say ‘play around’ I mean open an account check out how everything works, setup an email, send and yourself a test. Also, check out the other features they have to offer. Can the system process orders and automatically follow up with your new customer? Can you segment your leads so you can communicate with them based on their interests.

I could go on and on here, but I want to be really clear – I’m not recomending you add contacts to the provider while you’re testing. Only upload contacts once you’ve made your final selection and you’re ready to make the commitment. Protecting your leads is priority number one!

I personally use Keap (previous called Infusionsoft). Some of my clients enjoy other systems such as Ontraport, Active Campaign, MailChimp just to name a few.

How do you want your newsletter to look?

I’m sure you’ve seen a wide range of ideas from businesses you follow. Some you love, some not so much.

What I recommend you do first is think about what fits you and your business. You are the person who is going to have to keep up with this every month…so be sure you love it!

Things to consider:

• Do you want a graphically banner at the top of your newsletter?
• Do you want to go more personal letter style and include graphics and photos as they fit the topics?
• Do you want to close with your signature image? Or just your typed name?
• Do you want sections in your newsletter? Will they be the same every time or will you change things up?

All of this matters as you’ll have to create graphics, or have them done for you, before you can push out your newsletter. Ever single one of my clients we’ve had to walk this process through, and I will tell you the end result is as unique as each of them are – and that’s on purpose. Create an experience your humans will love and that you’ll have fun preparing for them 🙂

How often do you want to send your newsletter?

Will you publish once a week, once a month or something different? Think about the amount of time this will take you to create. Be sure you can commit the time to creating quality content, setting it up and sending or working with your team to implement.

You don’t want frustrations to kick in and you give up on this new exciting thing for your business! This is also where an SOP (standard operating procedure) comes into play. Write out each step, or have your team help you with this. You want to create ease with a repeatable documented process so if you change team members they can step right in and take over with a clear understanding of all the steps.

Looking Ahead

Now you’ve worked out what you want to send and how often you’d like to publish – it’s time to make this a habit for success. Remember why you’re doing this… because there’s a few key reasons:

• Build a real relationship with a human on the otherside reading this thing
• Stay connected with them, without being pushy or overwhelming
• Create a streamlined, fun way to creatively express the message inside you
• And of course the obvious one, grow your business!

In order to do this you not only need to make space for creating this thing – but doing it with intention, and strategy. So put it on your calendar right away – for you and your team. Now look at everything else you have on the books coming up, events, joint ventures, launches, podcasts, blog posts, media appreances, etc. How can all of this work together to create a wonderful email ecosystem for your business and your prospects?

I little bit of pre-planning will serve you (and your nerves) greatly.

Make Space for Spontaneous Moments

Ah yes, don’t forget those times when you have a light bulb moment and have to share something with your humans. Your email template and SOP will shine here, so you can pop in a yummy message and send it off quickly! Simple, stress-free and easy… that’s what you’ll need 🙂

There you have it 5 key elements to consider preparing your newsletter. If you need help pulling it all together, let’s chat.