In June, Hints & Tips Email Marketing will focus on email newsletters. Working with the topic got me thinking about a great presentation I heard last year when I attended the Marketing Sherpa Conference in Miami, Florida. The session was on email newsletters and featured a number of professional email marketers who are each responsible for email newsletter programs.

One of the speakers was Rick Crossett who, at the time, worked at Tech Republic of CNET Networks. I was impressed when he said that he sent 45 different newsletters a month! I figure that a guy who sends that many newsletters must know a thing or two about the topic. And he did. His advice was simple, but memorable. Here’s what I learned from him, mixed with a few pointers of my own.

Promise

Every newsletter starts with a promise. What promise did you make to those who signed up for yours? This promise is a key element of your newsletter as it sets your subscriber’s expectations and helps guide you as you determine what content to include. In Rick’s words, "Create a clear mission and stick to it."

If content isn't relevant to the type of information you said you would include, it is safer to leave it out. Your list members have given you their email address (and their trust) based on the promise you made. Breaking your promise can result in losing a subscriber's interest and, worst case, their patronage.

Rick asked the question, "Does your email stand out? Does it have pizzazz?"

Put personality into the email newsletters to make them different and more interesting from the norm.

Rick’s team came up with the idea of giving a unique point of view on some of the products they were reviewing. They appealed to their IT audience by taking the products apart and showing their newsletter readers what was on the inside. Apparently, it was widely successful.

The other idea Rick presented was getting your readers involved by starting a dialogue and getting them to start one with each other. You can do this by inviting them to an online community (you can create one on Ning.com for free) to discuss an article or a topic you present. Or start a blog and host your articles there so readers can make comments.

My advice: block off 30 minutes to an hour, grab a friend or co-worker, and brainstorm ideas for giving your email more personality and pizzazz.

What are your subscribers getting for trusting you with their email address? Rick asked, "Are you rewarding them for opening your email?"

When I get a quality newsletter, I feel rewarded for opening it. And those are the newsletters I keep opening each time I get them.

And it's important to have the same standard of excellence for every newsletter you send. You want your readers to be satisfied with each issue they receive from you. We've all been there. You're down to the wire on pulling your newsletter together and are tempted do skimp. Don't do it! To prepare for the crazy times, keep a content reserve that you can pull from in emergencies.

The big question to ask your readers is "Would you recommend my newsletter to others?" The answer to that one question will speak volumes on how well you are doing at providing value to your readers.

My favorite point of all that Rick made was this: "Your email newsletter is an experience more than a utility; does it make the reader reflect, smile, laugh, and think?"