Newsletters

The main component in networking is getting to know people and people getting to know you. I touched on this in my first blog called the opening shot. People are much more willing to do business with someone they know so the more people can get to know you the more willing they will be to do business with. Seems logical enough. So how can you help this along outside of your regular network meetings? Well the title of this post gives it away...a newsletter. A newsletter is like a mini publication about yourself. It can be as long or as short as you want it to be but be careful as there can be a tendency to waffle. Being specific and relevant is just as important in a newsletter as it is in your 60 second presentation. These newsletters can either be printed and sent out or done online and emailed. The second of these is by far the cheapest and easiest. However, it may not be the most effective. Having something physical can have a much greater effect on the reader. It is easy to pick up and put down. It can be skimmed through as and when. Having it lying on a desk or table can be a neat reminder of your existence. But sending them out in numbers isn't going to be cheap.

What should you put in them? I think the opening section should be a paragraph on what you have been doing since the last newsletter. People like to hear what you've done. What you've achieved. How you've progressed. Have you had any notable successes. All of which is good pr for you. Then you might write about what your immediate plans are. What is your next goal. Here would be another suitable place to include any specific requirements you might have. Remember that at a breakfast it is likely you will only reach 6 - 15 or even 20 people. With a newsletter it will be many more so no harm in repeating your request.

If you have space I find it helps if there is then a general paragraph that educates and informs people about what you do. About your line of work. These words should generally inform but with a slant that reflects how the reader might benefit from what you do.

The good thing with word processing programmes is that they allow you to be quite creative in their presentation. You can include photographs, diagrams charts and so on. But be sure to use quality images. Don't let the accurate, well written text be ruined by pixelated pictures taken on a mobile. There is no point to that. It just makes your writing a waste of time. Make the newsletter be attractive to the viewer. If it isn't why should people read it?

Doing a cyber newsletter means you can send it to your database of people regardless of how many there are at no cost. However, many will be read as spam and dumped. Some you can't help. But if at the bottom you include an opt out key code then it will help you see how many are interested in what you've got to say.

These are just brief thoughts about doing a newsletter. There are many examples of templates, examples and even software that can be found on the net if you enter "newsletters" in to Google.

Give it a try. They can not only be very rewarding but fun to do as well.