When You Don't Want to Write
Tips for building a robust e-newsletter with minimal writing
Does the thought of writing email newsletter content leave your palms sweating like they did when you were in Ms. Smith's composition class? If so, then have no fear. This article offers three content creation ideas that require little to no writing on your part.
Best of all, they're quick and low-hassle techniques you can use to consistently create content your audience will love. If you publish on a regular basis, you'll be positioned as an expert in your field and the benefits of email marketing will flow your way.
Here's how to use these content creation ideas for your next email newsletter:
1) Collectible Content
Gather five articles from the web that are related to your industry and the interests of your subscribers. Provide a brief description of each article followed by the link to the article. This is a fast and easy way to fill your newsletter with quality content. All you have to do is share your opinion. It's that simple.
Here's an example:
How to market your small business
You'll find some great tips in this article on how to promote your business online without spending a fortune. It's from CNNMoney.com and Fortune Small Business magazine.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/smbusiness/target_customers.fsb/
A quick way to find content when you need it: consider saving articles from your favorite email newsletters and blog posts in a folder in your email inbox. This way you won't have to look far for content.
Another great place to find articles to share with your audience is Google News: http://news.google.com. You can enter a search term such as "small business marketing" and the news database will pull up all articles related to small business marketing posted within the last few days. Just pick the ones that work for your audience.
Note: You can set this tool to email you a list of the latest articles on a particular subject each day. Just enter a search term into Google News and then scroll to the bottom of the Web page to sign up for instant, daily, or weekly alerts.
Before linking to a website, it's always a good idea to ask for permission. Also, keep in mind that some online publications may have a reprint policy that includes linking.
2) Pre-Written Content
There are many articles written by experts that are available for you to reprint (for free!) in your email newsletter. In fact, the Internet is filled with these types of articles. You just have to know where to look for them. Here are two sites I recommend:
If you use an article from these sites, you will need to publish it in its entirety and include the author's name. At the end of these articles the author always includes a paragraph promoting his or her business along with a link. Usually these links are harmless and just lead to the author's web page for products or services. Be sure to check out these links before publishing the article so that you'll know what content your audience will see.
3) Ghostwriting
The third option is to hire someone else to write your articles for you. It's not as expensive as you may think. Best of all, with ghostwriting you retain all rights to the article and you can put your name at the top as the author. Just give the writer a subject, word count, example of what you believe good writing to be, and a firm deadline.
Wondering where to find quality writers? Here are a few places to search:
Keep in mind you'll want to consider in advance what themes and ideas you want the articles to cover. This way the content will be higher quality and will truly stand the test of time.
Use these ideas for your newsletter and you'll publish content that would make even Ms. Smith proud.
