As an online small business owner, you're always looking for new ways to promote your business. Here's a terrific way to popularize your site, increase your customer base and sales and profit from advertising promotions all in one shot. How? Get into the newsletter writing game and publish your own electronic newsletter.



If you can write a letter, you can write a newsletter. After all, you know your product better than anyone. Even if writing isn't your thing, you probably have a staffer who would enjoy newsletter writing. You might offer an internship to a journalism student at your local college.

Some keys to newsletter writing success:

Establish a schedule of publication and stick to it. Once a month is sufficient for most small businesses.

Provide useful content in each issue. Let's say you're a bookseller. Your content might focus on book reviews, local travel or history (read local niche), markets, ways to use journals, or how to use Bowkers Books in Print. Any of these topics could be a feature article, which is really all you need in one issue.

In addition to creating your own content, you can use free content too. Free content can be obtained from article directories. Be choosy: some of the content may not be up to snuff.

How article directories work: subject experts and business owners submit articles to the article directory for free in exchange for their byline being included. It's free publicity for the author's website and helps drive traffic to their site.

Now that you have content, you can make a template of your newsletter and publish each issue in that format. For example, as a bookseller, your template might look like this:

Today's Literary Quote (perhaps thoughtful quotes from famous authors)

Word of the Day (educate your readers)

Feature Book Review

Feature Article

Subscribe and Unsubscribe information

There are many excellent tutorials and templates available for free online. These provide detailed information on newsletter writing conventions, such as the 65-character line limit, and the pros and cons of a text versus HTML publication.

Here are some advantages to newsletter writing for your business:

You'll have regular contact with your customers. You'll remind them of you and your business without a hard sell approach. They'll receive entertaining and useful information that they can relate to your products or services. Publish seasonal and holiday issues as a gift to your subscribers or a boost to your business.

Once you build your subscriber list, you can solicit other newsletters for exchange advertising. The larger your subscriber list, the more attractive your newsletter becomes for paying advertisers. You may also negotiate commissions on sales on their sites for click-throughs from your newsletter.

Your subscribers can forward your newsletter to friends who may become subscribers. Include a statement up front, inviting your readers to pass your newsletter on, but only in it's entirety. This ensures all recipients get your subscription information.

Newsletter writing can be profitable. So get going, and have fun!