Top 10 Tips to Give Your Newsletter Impact!

There are thousands of email newsletters or "ezines" produced every week, and most of them have great material and are written by passionate people who want to share valuable information. Unfortunately, very few of them have many subscribers.

Perhaps the biggest problem they face is that many of them are too hard to read! They are (let's be honest), ugly! As my newsletter has grown, I've learned some things about formatting and presentation. Here are my Top 10 tips:

1. Use lots of white space. Surround your best ideas with blank space, to draw the eye to them.

2. Use shorter sentences than you would on paper. Keep ideas simple, and clear.

3. Use much shorter paragraphs. Most of my paragraphs are less than 6 lines, and I very rarely have a paragraph longer than 8 lines. On paper, a longer paragraph is fine, but not on a computer screen. Keep it short!

4. Use lists! Use numbers or bullet points to keep things clear. As people scroll up and down their screen, give them reference points. Make it easy to navigate your material.

5. Use a standard "masthead" for your letter. The first screen (first impression) of your letter must be consistent from one issue to the next. Make it pleasant, give the essential info (title, your name, perhaps the date or issue number), and keep it simple.

6. Use a table of contents. Again, think in terms of easy navigation. Use clever titles to catch the reader's interest, and give them a map to help them find the material that interests them most!

7. Use simple words and clear language. Particularly in email, most of your writing should be at about the 6th grade level.

8. Use a clean lay-out, with distinctive marks to separate each section. I generally use a single row of either "====" or "++++" marks between each section of the newsletter. Some people use more artistic separators, and that's a matter of personal preference, but each section must be clearly delineated.

9. Take a moment before you send your email to insert line returns manually. You can't count on your reader's email program to calculate and place line returns where you want them. You decide, based on your sense of proportion and what you want to emphasize, where to put each line return.

10. Keep your lines very short. I manually insert line breaks in all newsletter articles. I recommend breaking your lines at about 60 characters, and I often break them as short as 50 characters. Again, think about white space, and look for ways to make your letter easier to read.

Denis Waitley used to tell this story about the importance of presentation.

Suppose I invited you to my home for an elegant dinner. When you arrive, I invite you in, and make you comfortable as a guest in my home. I tell you I am fixing your favorite dinner, with all the trimmings. You can smell it cooking! But, when the dinner is ready, I slop it onto your plate right out of the pan, splashing some in your lap in my hurry!

You'd be disappointed (at the very least!) and probably never come back.

In your newsletter, it's vital to have great cooking, but in many ways it's even more important to present it elegantly. Take the time to present your great ideas as attractively as possible.

© Copyright 2003 by Philip E. Humbert. All Rights Reserved. This article may be copied and used in your own newsletter or on your website as long as you include the following information: "Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. Dr. Humbert has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, including a great newsletter! It's all on his website at: http://www.philiphumbert.com

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Google News Updated : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:50:53 GMT World is united to tackle financial crisis, IMF says - MarketWatch BBC News World is united to tackle financial crisis, IMF says MarketWatch - 2 hours ago By Rex Nutting WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Financial policymakers from 180 nations around the world are united in their resolve to tackle the financial crisis, Youssef Boutros-Ghali, head of the International Monetary Fund's policy committee, ... G7 nations face going cap in hand to China guardian.co.uk Finance officials comments at IMF meetings Reuters AFP - BBC News - Bloomberg - New York Times all 579 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:23:46 GMT Got $700 Billion? Sweat the Details - New York Times Telegraph.co.uk Got $700 Billion? Sweat the Details New York Times - 3 hours ago The bailout plan gives Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, three broad choices in buying assets. By ALAN S. BLINDER THE House of Representatives was against the bailout bill before it was for it. US firms up plan to buy into banks to stem crisis Reuters Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' Bloomberg Los Angeles Times - Washington Post - The Miami Herald - International Herald Tribune all 2,358 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:39:07 GMT Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut - New York Times Boston Globe Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut New York Times - 5 hours ago In Hartford, Crystal Pretzman of Willimantic, Conn., celebrated the State Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Video: Connecticut Court Allows Gay Marriage AssociatedPress Marriage ruling not the end of debate in Conn. The Associated Press Newsday - Washington Post - Reuters - NECN all 1,711 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:13:08 GMT YouTube to play full TV episodes with ads - Afterdawn.com Vancouver Sun YouTube to play full TV episodes with ads Afterdawn.com - 2 hours ago Google has announced that it will begin offering full-length TV episodes through its YouTube platform beginning this week, thanks to a content deal with CBS. YouTube to Offer TV Shows With Ads Strewn Through New York Times YouTube beams up Star Trek for long-form video, prominent new ads CNET News Wall Street Journal - eFluxMedia - Silicon Alley Insider - Bizjournals.com all 109 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:13:12 GMT GOP Officials Hope for Stability From McCain - New York Times Voice of America GOP Officials Hope for Stability From McCain New York Times - 1 hour ago By ADAM NAGOURNEY and ELISABETH BUMILLER Republican leaders across the country said Saturday that they were worried that Senator John McCain was heading for defeat unless he brought stability to his presidential candidacy and settled on a clear message ... Antiwar Protestor Disrupts McCain Iowa Rally Washington Post Obama needs 75 percent turnout in Philadelphia, says Rendell CNN Political Ticker The Weekly Standard - Summit Daily News - USA Today - WNCT all 1,087 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:23:47 GMT Nobel Peace Prize winner wants jobs for the young - International Herald Tribune Times Online Nobel Peace Prize winner wants jobs for the young International Herald Tribune - 10 hours ago AP HELSINKI, Finland: Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari said Saturday that finding jobs for more than 1 billion young people in the Middle East and Asia will be a major challenge to peacebuilding in the next decade. Video: Ex-Finland President Wins Nobel Peace Prize AssociatedPress Nobel Finn Wall Street Journal Voice of America - Times Online - Burlington Hawk Eye all 1,453 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:12:07 GMT US space tourist set for blast-off - Reuters Canada.com US space tourist set for blast-off Reuters - 40 minutes ago By Maria Golovnina BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - US video game magnate Richard Garriott will blast off into space aboard a Russian spaceship on Sunday watched by his father, a NASA astronaut who went into space at the height of the Cold War. US space tourist set for launch BBC News Russian space chief reassures US partners The Associated Press Times Online - USA Today - Spaceflight Now - RedOrbit all 287 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:10:50 GMT RSS Datafeeds Amazon RSS Feeds

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