Weekly Newsletter Masterclass

The purpose of a regular newsletter is to provide outstanding value to your subscribers, not just repeated offers that do little but line your own pocketbook. Give readers a reason to look forward to your email, so they open it with anticipation every time it shows up in their inbox, and you’ll soon see your own ROI improving.

To do that, you’ll need to be a bit more intentional with your efforts. For many people, that means bringing back that old favorite, the newsletter.

There are some considerations to be made before you make a commitment, though. If you decide to launch a newsletter, you’ll want to be sure you will be able to remain consistent, not only in timing (email on the same day at the same time each and every week), but also with content.

For your audience members who are on the go (aren’t we all?) a regular newsletter is the perfect way to keep up-to-date on everything going on in your business. They won’t have to remember to visit your blog, won’t worry about missing any status updates on Facebook, and don’t need to be concerned about missing out on that great sale you’re having.

Before you dive into planning your actual newsletter, make sure you have a clear picture of WHO your readers are and how you serve them.

Now that you’ve got the basics out of the way, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of planning out your newsletter. And that starts with creating a schedule that works for your audience.

Every market is different, but one thing is certain: staying in touch on a regular—and frequent—basis is important. The days when a monthly newsletter was enough to keep your audience interested are gone. Shorter attention spans and more and more competition means you have to work harder to stay in the front of readers’ and prospects’ minds. For most coaches, that means an email at least weekly.

The day and time that you send will largely be determined by your audience’s needs.

• Are they busy moms with active kids? Sunday mornings might be the best time to reach them.
• Are they C-level executives? Tuesdays or Wednesdays may be the best choice.
• Are they entrepreneurs like you? For home office workers, any weekday is probably as good as any other.

Another frequently asked question is “What time is best to send my email newsletter?” The truth is, with a global readership, as many entrepreneurs have, time is not always relevant. 10 am might seem ideal to you, but to someone else, that’s the middle of the night.

Rather than searching for the perfect time to send, strive to simply remain consistent. If you decide you’ll send your newsletter at 10 am on Tuesdays, then always send it at 10 am on Tuesdays. Your readers will quickly learn when to expect it, and they’ll keep an eye out, knowing its great content from you.

Being consistent is not the same thing as being inflexible, though. An important aspect of any email newsletter is testing and tracking the results. So don’t be afraid to change up the time or even the day you mail. Monitor your open rates and click-throughs, and see if Wednesdays at 4 pm perform better than Sundays at noon. Then test Mondays at 8 am. Just be sure to give each test ample running time to get a clear picture.

So now you know what days you’ll be sending your newsletter. Now you need to plan out what your promotions will be for the month and plan your content around what’s going on in your business.

• Product releases. If you have new products coming out, be sure to make a note in your promotional calendar. This will be the deciding factor when it comes to creating your blog post subjects and your newsletter topics, so be diligent about keeping notes in your promotional calendar.
• JV partner promotions. Affiliate promotions—if you know about them ahead of time—are important to put on your promotional calendar, too, so you can plan your content around them.
• Upcoming events. You’ll definitely want to let your audience know when and where you’ll be speaking, hosting an event if you’re hosting a webinar or any other event that’s important to you.

Using the Content Calendar’s “Promo Calendar” Tab, create a new sheet for each month, add the appropriate date #’s and start planning your promos. Whenever you hear about an upcoming promotion, make a note. Add in your own products and sales, special holidays, or other events, and each week as you put together your newsletter, refer back to it. Not only will you never run out of content again, but you’ll never miss an opportunity to promote a partner either.

If you’ve ever read a magazine, you can understand the importance of an editorial calendar. There is no way the editors for any magazine can create and put together content on the fly, they have editorial calendars created in advance. Their calendar tells them weeks or even months in advance exactly what will be included in each issue. This gives them plenty of time to research, prepare content and promote their products and services. It also helps to plan for things like major holidays, anniversaries, and other events and will do the same for you. So you’re not scrambling at the last minute to work on a promo for that great new program you have been working on.

That is how magazines are always so well put together because they make good use of an editorial calendar, everything is planned out weeks in advance, allowing them to stay well ahead of schedule.

Your goal is to build your editorial calendar around your promotions calendar and I’ll be providing a worksheet to do just that.

On your Editorial Calendar spreadsheet, where you have created a promotional tab for each month, go through each month and fill in the following:

Once you begin to fill in these details, you’ll start to see a pattern emerge that will make it much easier to plan your content, not only for your newsletter but for all other mediums and social media as well.

Evergreen content is content that is continually relevant and stays “fresh” for readers. The evergreen tree is a symbol of perpetual life because they retain their green colour all year round, like the evergreen tree, some pieces of your content are considered sustainable and lasting.

Your evergreen content is going to be content that you do not update or recreate on a regular basis.

1. Your About You Section

Just like on your website, the “About You” section is one of the most viewed. Unlike your website, you have a lot less space to make an impression, so keep this section short and to the point.

Remember to include a high-quality photo as well as your biggest accomplishments or a short version of your bio. As well as where to learn more by linking back to your “About Me” page on your website or blog.

While you might think that everyone who reads your newsletter will already know about you, don’t forget that sometimes people forward interesting articles to their friends (more on that in a minute), or they’re receiving your newsletter because they registered for a webinar or other event without ever visiting your website.

2. Encourage social following.

Of course, the people reading your newsletters are ideal for also following you on social media sites. Be sure to encourage your readers to follow you on all of the sites where you are active. Do not make the mistake of linking to sites where you are not active.

3. Encourage sharing.

One of the goals for your newsletter will be to grow your audience. Because of this, be sure to include social sharing buttons. Most email management systems make it easy to create the links and add graphics to your newsletter, so check out the how-to section of your provider for instructions.

You’ll also want to encourage readers to forward your newsletter to a friend. A simple call to action at the end of the page will work, but don’t forget to include a note for the recipient as well.

These sections will stay the same every week, so you only need to create them once.  Use the workbook associated with this masterclass to write a note to encourage new potential readers to visit your site and sign up for more.

4. Legal Disclaimer

It’s not sexy or cool or any fun to read (or write) but every email you send must include a legal disclaimer of some kind. The exact text will depend largely on your business model, but some things to consider including are:

• An affiliate disclosure. If you promote products or services as an affiliate and you’re in the US or Canada (and many other countries as well) you must let your readers know that.
• An option to unsubscribe. Your email management system will very likely include this automatically, but it pays to make sure.
• A mailing address.
• A support email and phone number, in case your readers need to reach you for any reason.

Keep in mind, most email campaign providers do provide automatic disclaimers for their subscribers, so be sure to see what is available with the provider you are using. If you’re not sure what’s required in your disclaimer, check with an attorney for guidance.

Here’s an example for inspiration. (Again, please check with your attorney for guidance.)

Your newsletter—and all the content you produce—has a job to do. It’s not there just to look good or remind people that you exist. For most entrepreneurs, a newsletter acts as a roundup of everything you’re doing, so taking the time to plan out your content is critical to your success. That starts with your editorial calendar.

Now that you know what your newsletter will look like, it’s time to plan the weekly content to make this part effortless. Print this section to work from every week.

1. Your Weekly Personal Note

Typically, you’ll open with a personal note of some kind. Whether you mention something that’s happened to you in the past week, a breakthrough a client had, or just a cute thing your toddler did, these personal notes help engage your reader. Just be sure you can tie it back to business to make your intro flow smoothly into the body of your newsletter.

2. Content  (Your article, video,  podcast, or blog post.)

This is where you will share great free content with your readers. Typically, you’ll send people back to your blog to read or view the full content and on your blog is where you will include an offer.

3. Latest releases and promotions

If you regularly create products, keeping a latest releases section in your newsletter will let your readers know what’s new and what they may have missed. Be sure to make a note of any special coupons or discounts, expiration dates, and when the product will be removed (if it’s a limited offer). And of course, don’t forget the buy link!

Affiliate and JV offers that are a match for this week’s newsletter edition (check your editorial calendar!) will all find a home in the promotions section. Of course, you won’t necessarily call it that, but you should reserve a spot in each newsletter for any relevant product or service your readers need.

4. Upcoming events

If you’re a speaker, trainer, or author, this section is useful for getting the word out about where you’ll be appearing next. You can include things such as:

Be sure to include the dates and times, whether or not you’ll be speaking or just attending, and where your readers can register, attend or buy tickets.

Here’s where it all falls apart for a lot of newsletter publishers. They begin with the best of intentions, but after a few weeks, they’re struggling to find enough ideas to keep their ship afloat.

So they skip a week. And then another.

And soon enough, your weekly newsletter is just a thing you “used to do.”

That doesn’t have to happen to you. Ideas literally are everywhere, and I’ve even included a handy worksheet in this kit so you can start keeping track of your favorite newsletter inspirations.

It’s also a good idea to keep a current brainstorming list of ideas so you’ll never be faced with a blank page on the day your newsletter is due, and no clue what to write about. Record things like:

• Questions that come into your help desk
• Hot topics that appear in your Facebook group
• Questions and comments from other social media channels
• Interesting blog comments

If you have done any of the work, in the last seven weeks of this course, you know I am a big supporter of surveys! So, here we go again – Another great tool is a survey. (Have I mentioned this before?) A well-planned survey—even if it’s only a few questions—can tell you exactly what your market struggles with most. You might even find that the answers surprise you.

You can create a survey easily with any number of tools, including Google Drive, Survey Monkey, Formidable Forms, or just by posting a few questions on Facebook. The best (and most useful) surveys combine multiple-choice questions with essay-style options. This gives you both hard data to work with (such as the percentage of people who struggle with a specific concept or strategy) and the language your market tends to use. That information is critical when it comes to designing not only your newsletter, but your sales pages, and even your products or coaching offers.

Pro tip: If you find your market is reluctant to answer surveys, consider offering a bonus in exchange. This can be a simple worksheet or checklist, a short consultation with you, or you may even want to offer a drawing for an Amazon gift certificate. Choose an incentive that will resonate with your market, then promote your survey just as you would a paid event or product, and you’ll soon have plenty of ideas to fill your brainstorming list.

A little reconnaissance work goes a long way, too. Be sure you’re subscribed to your competitors’ blogs and newsletters, follow them on social media, and pay attention to their products and services.

Don’t just look at your direct competitors though. Look at those who serve an audience slightly beyond yours. This is where you want to aspire as your business grows.

While you can certainly outsource this to a trusted staff member, it’s still a good idea for you, personally to be checking in on your contemporaries. Not only for your newsletter idea file but just to know what is happening in your niche.

Even better… Network with your competition.  Marketing and running a business does not need to be a blood sport. Make friends, be each other’s referrals, know who is doing what in the industry. Networking will help you build relationships and start earning respect within your niche as an industry leader. Which, will increase sales and you’ll be more successful in the long run

Your idea file will help get your newsletter out on time each week, but it’s also a great resource for new products and services. When you listen to your market, they’ll tell you exactly what they need and want from you. Then your only job is to provide it—whether in your blog, your newsletter, an e-book, or other product.

A newsletter is not a small undertaking, but the results can be phenomenal when compared to other forms of marketing. Before you jump in with both feet though, spend some time with the brainstorming worksheets included here. Be sure you have enough ideas and inspiration to keep your newsletter going (and you are interested in it) for at least several weeks.

Remember, you’ll be teaching your readers to expect to hear from you each and every week, and the last thing you want is to fade away on them. So print out the worksheets and calendars and start working on your ideas. Revisit the newsletter emails you receive to get ideas for layouts and plan out what you want your own to look like. Then get to work!