Most business send out newsletters via email or “ezines” on a regular basis. It’s a great and relatively inexpensive way to keep in touch with clients. An “A+” newsletter should:

• Get you repeat business from your existing clients;
• Remind those clients to refer you to people they know; and 
• Prompt them to forward the issue so you can get new business.

It’s a lot to accomplish in one email.

Why do some newsletters success and others fail? I think the level of success depends on:

• The type of product or service. Impulse-buy products do very well. All the newsletter needs to do is show us hard-to-resist photos, and we stop what we are doing to make a purchase.
• The relevancy. If you find a newsletter in your inbox covering a topic you’ve been thinking about, chances are you will read it and most likely buy.
• Visual engagement. We respond more to visuals than we do to text. The combination of a well-designed newsletter, a powerful photo, and a great title can make all of the difference.
• Content. Good content can create great traffic from your newsletter to your website. Make sure you don’t include all of your content in the email. You want to create links for people to “read more” so they do end up on your website.
• Strong calls to action. Having your email list read your newsletter is not your goal. You want them to act. You want them to click on a link and go to your website where you can do a better sales job.

Your newsletter is basically a tool to create lots of traffic to your website. It is the site’s job to close the deal. Trying to get people to make a purchasing decision right from the email is too much to ask. Even if you get people to click on a “buy now” button in your newsletter, you want them to land on your site so they can hopefully add more articles to the cart before checking out.

Think of your newsletter as a bridge to your site and work around that.