EMAIL: IN FOCUS
Published: June 12, 2006
Get Started with Email Newsletters
 
Step #1: Do you need a newsletter?

That is the question and, in my opinion, it isn’t asked often enough. If you’re having difficulty coming up with content for each new edition, it just may be that you shouldn’t have a newsletter in the first place!

Today it seems most companies feel obligated to have an email newsletter, as if it goes hand in hand with having a website. I couldn’t disagree more. In fact, I feel that only about 10 to 20 percent of companies fall into the newsletter-worthy category, and the vast majority of the others fall into either the “alerts” (one-offs that announce a special situation or event) or “limited run” (an in-depth, numbered series on a defined subject) category. If you are not a publisher in the traditional sense (meaning creating or aggregating content), chances are you shouldn’t be in the online sense either!

Next: Step #2: Set expectations

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