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Dear Harry,
 This issue is all about email newsletters. You'll learn how to make yours better than ever or successfully get started with one. You'll find an interview with email newsletter guru Michael Katz, plus an article with top tips for creating excellent email newsletters.
This issue also features a number of other email newsletter "helps," including a free webinar, four excellent examples, technical how-tos, and much more.
We are eager to hear your ideas on this topic. Many of you produce email newsletters and, no doubt, have tips of your own to share. To get the conversation going, please visit our Hints & Tips forum. Let's talk email newsletters!
Oh, and when you are done reading, please let me know if you found this issue helpful.
Best wishes,
Amy Black
Editor, Hints & Tips E-Newsletters
P.S. Show and tell! If you have an email newsletter archived and want to share it, please post it in the forum and tell us about it. |
In This Issue of Hints & Tips
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An interview with email newsletter pro Michael Katzby Amy Black, Editor, Hints & Tips e-Newsletters
At Constant Contact, e-newsletter expert Michael Katz is something of a legend. I may be overstating it a bit, but it's true that several of our executives mention Michael's newsletter often as an excellent example of compelling content.
Michael also uses his newsletter skills on behalf of the clients of his business, Blue Penguin Development. In our interview, he shares some of the same pearls of wisdom with us that he does with his clients.
Why are you so passionate about email newsletters?
I stumbled onto the power of e-newsletters by accident. In 2000, I was writing a newsletter that went to about 30 people. After a little while, I noticed that people I'd never heard of were asking to be added to the list. I also started getting requests from readers to help them develop a newsletter for their own client base. Eventually I switched to doing email newsletters exclusively.
What I love about e-newsletters is how well this one tool covers so much marketing ground. A newsletter keeps you in front of clients, prospects, and colleagues; gives you a platform for sharing your focus and perspective; and helps you clarify your point of view. On top of that, it's easily forwarded, easily archived, interactive, and has almost zero variable cost. For a small company, a newsletter all by itself can serve as a powerful marketing program.
Get Michael's tips for your newsletter |
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| Featured Resource: E-Newsletters That Work
 In his book, Michael Katz teaches you how to create e-newsletters that work for your business or organization.
Learn about the book |
New to Hints & Tips?
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Email Newsletters that Hit the Mark
Four examples of quality newsletters
The following Constant Contact customers' e-newsletters follow many of the best practices we cover in this issue. Click on the images to see the full versions of these campaigns.
 Association Newsletter
The Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Education Foundations is made up of 500 education foundations. Their newsletter,
Members' Monday Report, goes out to more than 1500 education foundation leaders.
The Monday Report stands out for its clean design and clear branding (click-through to their website to see how similar the experience is). The ample white space makes it easy to move from section to section.
The content of the newsletter is equally impressive. It educates its members with a recap of a speech given at a recent conference, inspires them with a fundraising success story, and informs them of available resources.
The choice of template also allows the organization to highlight their sponsors in a way that doesn't distract from the focus of the content.
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 Business-to-Consumer Newsletter
Magic Beans, a retailer of baby products with a storefront and online presence, sends its beanstalk newsletters once a month. While the goal of the newsletter is to make customers aware of new products, Magic Beans includes helpful educational information as well.
In the April issue, highlighted here, the content on the left side of the newsletter has an Earth Day theme. Articles give ideas for how moms can be green and point out the opportunity to reuse the shop's bags.
On the right rail of the newsletter are featured products, many of which relate to the "going green" theme.
From a design perspective, the newsletter is attractive to look at, easy to read, and is a great representation of the company's visual brand.
Business-to-Business Newsletter
Jean Gogolin has served as a speech writer for some big names in business; she also was an editor for Boston Magazine. She knows how to write and she showcases her skills to potential customers in her monthly newsletter WordWright.
WordWright is an email newsletter for communications professionals. These are the people who work for companies that can hire Jean when the workload gets too heavy.
Jean's newsletter is simple yet impactful. She includes a brief, personalized introduction, a thoughtful and insightful article with a supporting image, and a creative plug for her business. She also may incorporate some other interesting tidbits that she believes will be of value to her readers.
WordWright is easy and enjoyable to read and it reminds those who receive it that a quality writer is available to them when they need her.
Nonprofit Newsletter
The Potter League is dedicated to protecting and helping animals. They send a monthly newsletter to keep their supporters updated on new initiatives, animals available for adoption, events, and other noteworthy news (in this case, a number of awards).
Their newsletter has a simple design and is easy to read. The header is the same as the one on their website and they use their organization's green brand color as the accent color in the newsletter.
If you click on the campaign for the full version, you will see that the Potter League does a nice job of balancing text with images. The images they've chosen serve specific purposes and are easy to see.
Readers who wish to get a quick overview of what's covered in the e-newsletter should be able to see the table of contents without scrolling (in most browsers) because it's right up top.
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Do you have an email newsletter you want to share?
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What's New with Constant Contact
Autosave, improved copy and pasting, new templates, and more
New! Autosave - Now you can relax and focus, free from the fear of losing your work, while you create your emails. Why? Because now they'll be automatically saved every five minutes even if you forget to click "save."
Improved! Copy & Paste - Love to copy and paste content into your email template? Don't like the annoying formatting that often comes with it? We've improved our copy-and-paste feature so you can paste content as text only (by using the right-click feature on your mouse!). Want to keep the formatting? Select "Paste with Formatting" from the left toolbar.
New! Travel Templates - If you're in the travel business, you'll love this. We've added a host of new Travel Templates featuring Itinerary, Last-Minute Deals, and Specials themes.
New! Basic Templates - Many have been asking for simple, "no-frills" templates. Our Basic Templates offer the structure to easily create your email without color, design, or imagery.
Enhanced! Contact Remove Option - We've made it possible to remove a single contact from just one list. Simply select the contact you want to remove and click the "Just This List" option. Want to remove a contact from all your lists? Choose "All Lists." It's that simple.
Learn about additional updates, including those made to ListenUp! Survey.
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