WHY START A NEWSLETTER?

Starting a Newsletter Is One of the Best Decisions Anyone with a Website or Blog Can Make. Here Are the Reasons Why.

Why Start a Newsletter

So, why start a newsletter? You've probably noticed that many of the best business websites or blogs out there give you a way to sign up for regular updates. There are several reasons they do this (and you should too).

A newsletter serves many functions for the business website or blog. It ultimately drawsvisitors back to your site. Since traffic drives both your ability to serve more people and the profitability of your site, you need a newsletter.

People forget about your website. It has been found that the average internet user has about twelve sites that they visit on a daily basis. It is hard to crack into the top twelve of anyone's daily-visited sites. So, most people are going to forget about your website or blog, even if they want to utilize the information or services you provide.

A newsletter helps overcome this tremendous barrier. They sign up for the information service that is your newsletter. You get the opportunity to give them regluar reminders about your existence, the benefits you offer, and the reasons why they should re-visit your site. Thus, your newsletter will draw people back to your site.

The newsletter also makes it easy for people to get back to your website. By having links to your site scattered throughout your newsletter, your website or blog is just a click away. The readers don't have to type anything or take their hand off of a mouse. When their interest is piqued by the links or material in your newsletter, one click brings them back. Ideally, you'll eventually make it into the "favorites" section of their web browser and then into that top-twelve status. Until then, make it easy. We are a lazy bunch.

Most newsletters are opt-in, meaning the subscriber has to take a specific action to receive it. The good ones are double opt-in. Double opt-in usually works by having an individual sign up and then re-verify that they intended to sign up by clicking a link in an email that is sent to their inbox. The process of opting in is really the only way to run a newsletter. If you send unsolicited newsletters, you'll like sour the mood of whoever receives it, may not have it delivered due to spam filters, and may also run into legal issues. It is best to only sent your newsletters to those who have asked for them. This practice leads into another reason why starting a newsletter is beneficial.

Starting a newsletter lets you test the responsiveness of your target audience. The opt-in feature makes it so only the people who are interested in your niche or information sign up. This should be your target audience. The opt-in process finds them for you so you don't have to search. They come to you! Once you have them, you can test various aspects of your website or blog. You can see what generates interest and what falls flat. This is much harder to do without a newsletter.

I know a few email addicts. You probably do too. People check email, generally, more often than they go crawling around various internet websites or blogs. A newsletter is a link between the internet and email. Most newsletters are now delivered via email, and delivering yours that way helps people move from email to your website seamlessly. A newsletter can be a valuable portal through which email users arrive at your website or blog.

Additionally, an email newsletter also opens the door to network or viral marketing. Lets say you create a particularly valuable newsletter and send it out. You've supplied value to a member of your target audience. They appreciate the newsletter and forward it on to a group of their friends. Their friends then do the same. This process is easy with email, and it happens all the time. Your website will benefit from network marketing done for free by the recipients of your newsletter. You'll likely get more traffic and more subscribers to the newsletter. What a great cycle this can be!

Why start a newsletter? Because it will serve both your clientele and you very well. One of the biggest mistakes you'll make is not starting a newsletter. Don't make it. Click the link to understand How to Start a Newsletter. For more information, see Starting a Newsletter in the Website Improvements department.