Printed newsletters are a really easy way to contact your prospective and current customers. They can even increase your sales while reducing advertising costs. Research shows newsletters get four times the readership of adverts or brochures, and customers are seven times more likely to buy from you than an average member of the public. A good newsletter can improve name recognition and brand awareness, establish your authority in your field, and differentiate your business from the competition.

Make the layout of your newsletter inviting. If it looks too packed with information it may seem hard work to read. Break up the copy with plenty of space and keep articles short. Use intriguing titles or ones that suggest the article provides quick and easy shortcuts. Also use photographs or cartoons on the cover to draw people's attention.

Choose your articles carefully so that each one promotes the correct image of your business. Decide whether the article is to reflect your expertise, customer care or some other aspect of your business. If you are not sure which areas are important and of interest to your customers slip a survey into your newsletter.

You should start the article writing process by deciding what specific results you want from the article. It may be to introduce a new product or service, or to counteract what a competitor is claiming, or to highlight why a customer might be interested in a special offer you have.

A good newsletter will have a longer shelf life than adverts and are more likely to be passed around to prospective customers. Get a balance between generic articles that would be of interest to your wider client base and those specifically about your products and services. Do not waste effort and space producing articles that are unrelated to your field. Also check that the views expressed in articles are unlikely to offend your customer base.

Try to keep copy simple and as jargon free as possible. Use short sentences. Involve the reader by asking questions. How could your business benefit from this advice?

A profile of a customer can show how your product or service is used, the results that it can produce, why someone would purchase from you, and what they are planning to do in the future with your assistance. If they are prestigious clients the article will give a positive reflection of your business as well as providing them with some useful and free PR.

Generate new leads by offering a free subscription to your newsletter on your business's marketing materials. Emphasize the news content and useful advice, and how it could benefit your prospective customer. Only a few of those who sign up for the newsletter will be time wasters. It is possible that as many as 80% could be converted to customers within six months. Without the constant contact that the newsletter offers they could drift into the arms of a competitor.