Alright, good people. Stella’s gonna sit you down for a little talk about the “birds & the bees.” Of writing your newsletter.
Mark Twain said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
And judging by some of the newsletters y’all are sending out, Stella gets the feeling that you don’t have time to write short letters, either.
If you catch my drift.
I just talked to a smart business owner who admitted to spending 6 hours putting together a newsletter each month. 6 hours! No wonder so many of you resist taking on the commitment of sending a newsletter or writing a blog.
Here’s what I think is going on: You want to distinguish yourself from “those people” who only send sales messages. You know that book Women Who Give Too Much? There should be one called People Who Write Too Much. It’s the same phenomenon—you’re overgiving.
And, I suspect, you planted the rose garden that is your newsletter, but haven’t set about pruning it.
So writing a newsletter—weekly or twice a month, right?—becomes this big thing you dread doing. Because you’ve set it up to be a real monster of a task.
You can’t win, because it’s damn near impossible to crank out 800+ words on a weekly basis… and do everything else you need to do to run your biz. Plus, who reads an email newsletter that long, anyway? Not when I’ve got Clash of Kings in paperback, thank you very much.
The fix: Get out your pruning shears. Structure your newsletter. Create sections that are so value-rich and delish, we can’t help but devour them all. Give each section a title (like columns in a magazine or newspaper). Give yourself word limits for each. And finally, can you please engage your creativity—which I KNOW is there—more in your newsletter? We’re so tired of same old, same old. Dazzle us.
Really, I want to see one “featured content” section in your newsletter. I hesitate to give a word count here, but let’s say 350. I want a personal note at the beginning so we get to “know, like, and trust” you as a real human being.
I want one other mini-section, where you give something useful that you or an assistant can prep ahead of time, like a quote or a resource or what you’re up to. And I want to see who you’re working with, and the results THEY’RE getting, in their own words. There are other things you can add, but that’s really a great start.
And if you don’t send a newsletter regularly, don’t get too comfy over there. Stella’s coming for you next.
Mighty thanks to J. Paxon Reyes flickr photostream for the pen and paper.
