In many coaching circles, Linda Claire Puig is the newsletter queen. She just published her first book on the topic of newsletters, “The Six-Figure Newsletter.” I’d like to share one of her suggestions that I have been using that can help take some of the overwhelm out of writing newsletters and create a newsletter plan.
It is to plan out your newsletters for a year in advance. Why is this helpful? First of all, it will ensure that you will be more likely to get all of the newsletters out on time, in a regular fashion. One of the most important things about effective newsletter marketing is the regularity.
As newsletters are a form of direct mail when it comes to marketing, it is important to understand what it is you are trying to get across to your audience and why you have chosen this method compared to others. You want your newsletter to come out like clockwork, so your subscribers expect it. That makes you look more professional than coaches who send out a newsletter occasionally or erratically.
Planning your newsletter in advance helps you see the bigger picture of your business and your business year ahead. Plus, there’s less opportunity for you to put off your ezine. When you plan your newsletter year (or at least three months in advance), you’ll save yourself from the stress cycle of worry, procrastination, and self-judgment. You’ll know what you’re doing and you’ll have carved out time to do it!
By planning your newsletter out for the year, you will know what you want to write about in advance, and you can block out your time to create each newsletter.
Here is Linda’s list of the types of things you can plan in advance for each issue:
- Topics of the articles you’ll be writing
- Workshop or other services you’re going to promote
- Tips or nuggets you’ll include
- Books you’ll recommend
- Case studies or testimonials you’ll use
- Programs of other people you’ll recommend
- Seasonal items you might want to include
- Events you know you’ll be attending (and may want to write about)
- Calendared personal events, such as trips and vacation that you may want to mention in your personal note
The best way to plan out your newsletters is to use a planner with the different sections for each issue. I created two that has the sections in my newsletter and it is formatted biweekly, since my newsletter comes out twice a month. My sections include
- Personal note
- Association news
- Member Spotlight
- Featured article
- Recommendations
I plan out each section in advance and that helps me organize promotions, joint venture projects, and the ability to vary the topics of my articles.
Newsletters can be the lifeline between you and your list and to make sure you plan them out, I’ve created two planners that you can download free of charge—as my gift. One is for a monthly time-table and one is for a biweekly time-table. Or you can use them as a guide to create your own.
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Awesome! Thank you Jeannette, I’ve yet to begin list building and newsletter writing, so this advice and the planners, is really helpful to me 🙂
Great article and perfect timing for me! Thanks so much!
Glad you liked it Jerri!
How can I get a copy of Linda’s “The Six-Figure Newsletter” book?
Hi Leonard,
Unfortunately, that offer was only good until Oct. 28, 2013.