Why Every Business Should Have An E-mail Newsletter

Hey small business peeps! Do you have an e-mail newsletter? Do you send it out to your subscribers regularly? If your answer to either question is no, then this article is for you. I’ll explain the importance of having an e-newsletter and how to send it out regularly without much effort. Enjoy!

What is an e-mail newsletter?

An e-mail newsletter is a digital bulletin that delivers valuable tips and the latest news to your subscribers. Sending one out is a very common business practice, so let’s talk about how it can boost sales and ways to implement it efficiently and effectively.

Why should every business have an e-mail newsletter?

An e-mail newsletter is CRUCIAL to your business. This is one of the things I wished I had paid more attention to earlier, so listen up! Your e-mail newsletter is one of your biggest business assets!

It’s the tool that can turn cold leads into hot sales…repeating hot sales. It ensures that you stay on the mind of your potential and active clients, and by offering consistent quality content, you become a resource that your subscribers think of first. It is pure gold.

5 Steps to Set Up Your Business E-mail Newsletter

1. Come up with a system.

A lot of hesitation around sending an email newsletter regularly is the amount of time it takes to do so. One of the things that I do that is a huge time-saver is to use a template that can be copied and pasted easily.

My newsletter has a header at the top with the name and some nice photos, an introduction section, a featured article section, and a recommendation section. The right hand column contains my social media links and sponsor advertisements.

I simply copy and paste the template when it’s time to create a new e-mail. Then, I customize the introduction with a personal note and update the featured article section with new content.

Sometimes I’ll change the recommendation section and include a new product or service, but not always.

That’s it! It’s so easy and convenient for me that procrastinating about sending out my newsletter is at an all time low.

2. Send out your e-mail newsletter regularly.

With everything that I’ve read regarding e-mail newsletters, it seems that the consensus is to send it out at least once a week. I sent mine out once every other week for years and found it successful. Figure out what your sweet spot  is and go with it (how often would your audience like to hear from you?).

The bottom line is that you need to send out your e-mail newsletter consistently.

3. Automate specific tasks.

Use the automatic welcome e-mail to immediately and warmly introduce your new subscribers to your community. When people sign up for your newsletter, they are usually interested in something right away. That’s where the welcome e-mail comes in.

You give your new subscriber a warm welcome and explain again them what to expect from your newsletter. It’s also a good idea to encourage action, so link to your website or social media profiles and encourage them to engage with you.

The autoresponder feature is another e-mail automation that is invaluable. It allows you to send out follow up emails automatically. This keeps you in front of your subscribers’ minds on a regular basis without spending too much time on it. Set it up once and you’re done. I love it!

READ MORE: 10 Marketing Terms Every Small Business Owner Should Know 

4. Offer your subscribers a free gift.

E-mail addresses are not given out willy-nilly these days. People don’t want junk in their digital inboxes, just like they don’t want it in their physical mailboxes. You must offer value up front and build a relationship of trust. You do this by offering a free gift to those who sign up for your newsletter.

This could be a report, an ebook, a tool kit, but it must be something of value to your target audience. TAKE NOTE, it has to be a quality product. If you hype up a free gift that is junky and doesn’t offer a lot of value, then your subscribers are not going to stay very long.

Instead, put good time and effort into developing your free gift. Make it something you can stand by and be proud to offer. Impress your followers again and again, and they’ll stay loyal to you and keep coming back for more regularly. THAT is what will make your e-mail newsletter pure gold.

5. Use an e-mail service provider.

It’s worth the investment to use an e-mail marketing provider (ESP)*, AND a lot of the services out there offer a free option. Using a platform like Constant Contact (affiliate link), Aweber (affiliate link), or Mailchimp makes it super simple to do all of the above, and I highly recommend that you find a service provider that works for you.

If you’d like to see examples of everything in this article – a free gift, a welcome email, an autoresponder and an email template – check out my newsletter, Life On Track. Sign up here and you’ll see all the goodies!

What has your experience been with e-newsletters? What is your biggest frustration when it comes to sending one out? Biggest success? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.