Plot the course for your newsletter now to make it a spectacular success!

What are you trying to accomplish with your newsletter? Do you want more people to visit your website? More clients? To establish yourself as an expert? To educate? Entertain? Complain?

Whether you're just beginning your newsletter adventure or you're an old hand, take the following Newsletter Check Up and you'll be on your way to developing the client relationships that will be the backbone of your business.

What's your objective?
When you state exactly what you want to accomplish, you make it easier to track how you're doing. It also gives you clues as to what to do when you get off course. All that great tracking info is useless if you don't know what you want to track. Write your objectives down and make a mission statement around them. Use this as your guide to help you develop your content.

Who are you trying to reach?
This may seem really simple but it's the number one area that most newsletters go wrong. Identify your ideal client. What business are they in? What needs to they have that you're trying to take care of? This is important because you've got to understand what they want. It's way more important than what you're trying to sell. Remember the Walmart quote above. You need to really know your clients. What do they need to know? What do they want to know? Speak directly to them. Don't tell them what you want to say. Tell them what they need to hear. It's a subtle, but powerful, difference. Let this drive the content of your newsletter. Never try to just sell to your readers.

Clarify the benefits of your service
People don't really want to know how you do your business. They just know that they need something - or want something. Think about a nose job. If the doctor explained how he did the nose job, most people would run screaming from his office and never come back! Instead, the doctor focuses on how great the patient will look after the procedure. Focus on how much better life is going to be for them when they use your service?

Fine tune your message
We're a community on overload! We've got so many messages coming at us that we have to tune some things out. You've tightened up your content with the above techniques, now shorten it up a bit. Proof read your information and remove all of the extra words. The shorter your articles, the more likely they'll be read. Put most of your main info in you headline so that the reader can scan it and decide if they want to read more.

Here's another article writing tip: Take it down a notch. If you're using a lot of big words and jargon, do a rewrite. The best test is to use your local 12-year old as a trial audience. If they have problems getting through your article, chances are your readers are going to give up too. Don't talk down to them. Just don't puff up your language. Don't use the word purchase when you can use the word buy. It really will backfire on you. This is a major pet peeve of mine, so I'll hammer on it. If you're really an expert, you don't need to use pompous language to impress people. And if you're just trying to impress people with big words, you'll probably use them wrong and ruin your reputation anyway.

Link to your website
This is where the e-mail tracking information is worth a goldmine! Make sure that there are plenty of links back to your website. Each time a reader clicks on a link to your website (or somewhere else) they're telling you what they're interested in. This information is what you use to drive your content in future issues. Also when they're on your website, they can learn more about your services. Your website is where you sell yourself, not your newsletter.

Last tip - Proofread!
There are always going to be typos and grammar errors that will hide until you've sent your newsletter out. It's almost unavoidable. But get as many as you possibly can. It can really affect how professional you appear. It's a good idea to let your newsletter sit for a while, even over night. Then come back to it with fresh eyes. You'll be amazed at what you'll find!