By John Eberhard

Sending out a regular newsletter is a great idea for nearly every type of business. These should go out minimally once a month. Once a week is better.

So what should go in a newsletter? Believe it or not there are widely used and accepted guidelines or rules for what should go in a newsletter, that have been around since before email even existed. I know that last part probably blew your mind, but yes, there was a time before email existed, and people sent out newsletters in the mail.

The general rule that has been around forever is that the majority of content in a newsletter should be interesting and helpful content, not sales content. The age-tested rule is that 66% to 75% of the content should be helpful information, with sales content not to exceed 25-33%.

Let’s look at why this is the case. Basically people don’t like to be sold all the time. So if all your content in a newsletter is selling your products or services, people will not read it for very long. You have to sort of lure them in with information that is helpful to them. Then they will stay around to read your sales info.

What type of helpful information should go in the newsletter?

• Articles that contain helpful information related to your topic or business. These could be specifically about your products or services, or about the more general topic or industry.
• Links to your videos that contain helpful info
• News and updates about your company
• Webinar announcements
• Interview with an expert
• Offers for free information products such as ebooks or free reports
• Holiday greetings

And what type of sales content should be in the newsletter?

• Ads for products and services
• Testimonials and case studies from clients
• New product releases
• Specials and discounts
• Links to videos that are specifically sales oriented

Good luck with your newsletters.