Social media has certainly added to the marketing toolkit, but photos and videos seek attention. An email, on the other hand, if it contains helpful information, gives attention to your audience or customers. And when we want something, isn’t it a good rule of thumb to give it as well? Your email list is your most valuable asset in nourishing these relationships. But nobody wants email spam. They want to open up their inbox and find something unexpected, helpful or entertaining. With an 80/20 ratio — 80% content interesting to your audience, 20% or less about your product or service — newsletters can serve and inspire loyalty. If you made it here, that means you must have something you want to share with people, and you probably spend more time paying attention to your niche than the majority of your audience. Dare to share what you know with them!

I have been writing email newsletters since 2004, and my current newsletter (The Reel Thing) has a 78% open rate. Beginning as a personal finance columnist at the Wall Street Journal and editor of their legal newsletter, I went on to write about humanitarian aid delivery in Congo, foster children in California, and independent film. I can approach any topic or industry and learn the ropes, or the “beat” as we call it. Equally valuable is my experience as a business owner, through which I have tested and adapted marketing, public relations and communications tools to reach a core audience of supporters. Also, I charge far lower fees than an agency because I have low overhead costs.

The technology you choose to deliver your newsletter will largely depend on your project’s existing digital infrastructure and specific needs. This includes evaluating current email marketing platforms or CRM systems, considering integrations with other tools, and taking into account the volume of newsletters, personalization, automation needs, and desired analytics and reporting features. By assessing these factors together, we can select the most effective technology to support your newsletter distribution for the lowest monthly cost. AI cannot write newsletters about you or your business unless you have created enough content online that it’s in OpenAI’s database. If that’s the case then you should write a newsletter just to take credit for this!

If you want to. I can provide editing in that case. If not, I can write your content based on the ideas and information you give me, and supplement it with research. You will review the newsletter before it’s sent out. Take a look at the survey below to get an idea of how we can work together.

Think of all the time you spent this week on your passion, field, or business. What did you learn? It can be scary at first to share your lessons and experiences, and it helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of. A simple formula of sharing about Process, Problem-solving, and Discovery can drive brainstorming.

The word “newsletter” first calls to my mind the Christmas newsletters we received each year from two families I knew growing up. They were hilarious! Today I read newsletters by Harry Dry (marketing examples), Brian Newman (sub-genre media newsletter), and Nina Roberts (NYC mercantile mayhem). And a few learned people still send out family or person newsletters that I really enjoy. I learn from these writers because they’re exposed to situations and information I can’t get myself, and cover topics I’m interested in, or they entertain me with stories.