Newsletters are excellent means of marketing on the internet. The publisher of the newsletters gets a foothold in the market for standing and growing. The publisher could be an individual or an organization. But it is important for the publisher to form an identity and to establish himself in the market. The long term players in the market simply cannot do without forming an identity, a brand name. By brand name I only mean an identification to distinguish the publisher.

Newsletters can be used very well for branding the publishers.

But in the first place why do you need to brand yourself?

You are an internet based marketer. You are trying to market products and ideas. You are looking for like-minded people who would be interested in what you have to offer.

If you answer these two simple questions you will know why you need to brand yourself. These questions are:

Why will anyone listen to you?

Why will anyone be interested in your offer?

You have to first locate people who may have interest in your offer. Next, you have to build credibility so that interested people start trusting you. It is in this second process where you brand yourself. You establish yourself as an expert in the field who is there to stay and who can be trusted. You create a distinct brand for yourself which is unique.

The brand YOU.

In fact you market your name before you can expect to market your products in a big way.

You can use newsletters to meet both the objectives - to locate your customers and to establish yourself. Starting your newsletters is a long term strategy. Your newsletters should focus on a particular area which is related to the product you wish to market. The frequency of publication should be fixed and strictly followed. In every issue there should be fresh content to keep the readers interested. It will take time and persistence to establish the newsletter as well as the publisher, to increase the subscriber base and to grow the circulation. After initial hurdles are successfully negotiated you are poised for substantial growth.

The readers of the newsletter gradually get used to the style, presentation, periodicity of publication, the content and other features of the newsletter. They look forward to the next issue and expect to find the familiar pattern. The publisher of the newsletter should ensure that the newsletter maintains its unique features. There should be consistency in the content. The objective should be providing information which will benefit the subscribers. You can add stories and your personal experience to make the newsletters more interesting.

What should be the frequency of the newsletter? Once or twice a week can be a good frequency to maintain. It does not become a burden either on the publisher or the subscribers. If frequency is less than a month the readers may forget about the newsletter. If frequency is more the readers may lose interest.

There should not be any drastic changes from one issue to the other. The readers should get what they expect to find. If any changes are to be made in any of the features, the changes should be gradual. It often helps to inform the readers before the changes are made.

Newsletters are powerful tools for cultivating relationship. And relationship is the foundation of a successful business. The subscribers of the newsletters come to know the publisher. The owner of the newsletter gets an effective medium to share ideas and information. By inviting comments from the subscribers the newsletters can be made more interactive and popular.

The publisher should always shave in mind the best interests of the subscribers. This attitude somehow gets transmitted and readers can often see through the intentions of the publisher.

Your customers do not buy your products - they buy your recommendations. Once they have faith in you they will buy from you repeatedly with the confidence that they will get value for their money. That is the power of branding yourself, and maintaining your brand name.

It is ok to send offers to the subscribers occasionally. However such offers should not be too frequent. What is even more important is that the publisher should not send offers for un-tested and un-tried products. He should send offers only for those products which he would himself purchase. With the offer he should provide his own views, ratings and experience with the product.

I have tried to discuss how newsletters can be used for marketing your other products. Publishing newsletters can itself be a business. That is additional advantage of publishing newsletters.