In the last post, we discussed five ways to promote your newsletter. We’re in Chapter Four (pages 23-33) of List Building for Bloggers, as we walk through it here together in the LBFB Series.

On page 28, Phil addresses what to send your subscribers. He refers specifically to the Blog Broadcast, and whether to send full posts or partial posts (excerpts) – as well as email scheduling.

If you are using an RSS-to-Email service, or a “Blog Broadcast”, to send emails to your mailing list, you’ll want to see my 3 tips for improving your blog email notification. In that post I discuss Post Titles as Email Subject Lines, timing & relevance, and frequency.

But what if you don’t use Blog Broadcasts? Or perhaps you also send direct emails or newsletters to that same mailing list. The one thing that stumps most list owners (and often causes them not to send anything at all) is what to send…

Anytime I bring up this topic, most people confess that they find emailing their subscribers daunting or even intimidating. Keep in mind that your readers signed up for your list because they want to hear from you! You’re not bothering them with an email, and it’s not “blasting an ad” when you’re sharing a special offer or a coupon code. They’ll appreciate you for the heads-up and the savings!

Newsletter Ideas

First, get out of the mindset that you have to have a perfectly formatted “newsletter” in the traditional sense. It’s perfectly okay to send a plain text email with a quick note, or just to share something of specific interest to your readers. As an example, I just sent a short email to my list about a contest on another blog.

Hop over to my original post on Email Newsletter Ideas and give that a quick read. It’s a great primer that should spark some creative ideas you can use right away.

These are great for keeping your subscribers engaged with useful/helpful messages from you, or to use as content in your autoresponder follow-up series. Mix it up a little between promotions, blog broadcasts and more personal notes!

Here are a few more quick & easy newsletter ideas to get your wheels turning:

• Share a Special Offer or Sale in your niche
• Send them a valuable Coupon Code
• YouTube videos: tutorials, recipes, niche-specific humor
• Controversial Blog Posts or Forum Threads with your take
• Link to Breaking News or Trends & why it’s a must-read
• Quick How-To Tip, with a link to an example or tutorial
• Free Resource, and why you recommend it
• Q&A: Questions from Readers & Your Answer
• Send out a Survey! Offer a Prize Drawing as an Incentive

Watch your merchants for seasonal offers, sales or coupon codes you can share as an affiliate. But also share great deals even when you’re not an affiliate. Everyone is interested in savings, and your readers will love getting notified of great deals!

Above all, keep it relevant to your niche AND to the reason they subscribed.

If you STILL struggle writing emails to your list, or even blogging, see my Secrets To Writing Really Great Content.

I also get TONS of content ideas from Peggy Baron.

Best,

p.s. On email frequency, I offer both a weekly archive (the default) and a daily option – which sends out the full posts by email. You can subscribe on that page if you like, by the way. Giving your readers multiple options is a good thing!