Why You Need to Add a Newsletter to Your Blog
A friend recently asked me – “How did you decide when to start publishing your newsletter?”
There are many different opinions about why you should publish a newsletter for your blog subscribers. People ask things like:
- If I blog, do I really need a newsletter?
- What’s the best way to structure my newsletter?
- What kind of content do I need to put in my newsletter?
- How often should I publish my newsletter?
In this post I will try to answer these questions and hopefully other questions you might have. First point, do what works for you. Secondly, it’s OK if you begin by publishing an imperfect newsletter. It’s surely better than doing nothing at all. Like everything else, you will get better by actually publishing your newsletter.
With that said, if I were starting a new blog today I’d start a newsletter to go with it from the very beginning. I won’t rehash all of the reasons why and how a newsletter can improve your blog. However, I will give you some reasons why starting a newsletter with the launch of your blog is a very good idea.
3 Ways a Newsletter Will Help Promote Your Awesome Blog
The heart of your blog is the incredible content that you publish to help, inform and educate your blog readers. Your blog, by providing great content that is engaging and conversational will quickly find the audience that you are seeking.
You Need to Capture Your Early Blog Readers
While it may seem that starting a newsletter when you don’t have many readers isn’t worth the effort. I believe starting a newsletter with your blog’s launch is a great way to convince your first time readers to come back to your blog for a second look.
Even though your blog might only have 10 readers a day, you need to make the most of those readers. If you send those 10 readers a weekly newsletter it reminds them check out your new blog post.
If they visit your new blog post, you’ve actually created 500 new visits to your blog from just 10 readers. If you engage 10 new subscribers to your blog each week, by the end of the year you’ve got 500 subscribers.
The lesson here, it’s never too early to start creating loyal readers for your blog.
Your Early Subscribers Will Spread Your Blog to Others
In the early days of your blog, you need to give your subscribers regular updates on how many people have subscribed and how your blog is developing. You want to show them that they are a part of something bigger and growing.
By doing this, you will discover that it will be your newsletter subscribers who promote your blog and newsletter to their friends. Those recommendations to friends are gold, and necessary to have to fuel the growth that you desire.
By providing content that is memorable, remarkable, and relatable, your newsletter is great at for bringing people back to your site. It’s also great for creating momentum and giving readers a sense of ownership of your blog. Get them actively involved in promoting you and you could find that these first subscribers will take your blog to the next level for you.
Publishing Your Newsletter Helps You Develop a Routine
Creating a newsletter each week takes time and effort. I spend between 1-2 hours every week creating each newsletter. You may feel the urge to not make this effort until your blog has a regular readership. However, publishing a newsletter in the early days helps you to establish a weekly rhythm for your blog.
Publishing creates a positive habit that with time gains it’s own kind of muscle memory. Your newsletter will help you get used to and adjust your format, improving it to serve your readers. As your audience grows you’ve already got a great template and understand how to use it effectively.
How Your Amazing Newsletter Helps Build Your Community
Your newsletter subscribers get something extra. Information your regular readers don’t get. This helps them feel included and special as they catch a glimpse of some privileged information.
In my newsletter I include special tips or suggestions that don’t appear on my blog. Your newsletter helps build your credibility and reputation with your subscribers. I often get emails from subscribers thanking me for sharing them.
How Your Newsletter Can Grow With Your Blog
Don’t freak out. The time you put into publishing your newsletter will be worth the effort. Many people think that they just don’t have the time to invest. If you just don’t have the 1-2 hours each week to build your own full blown newsletter, just scale it down to something you are comfortable doing.
Don’t let it stress you out. I would recommend that you start smaller than that:
- Publish Less Frequently: You don’t have to start with a weekly email if your list is small. You might like to start with an email that goes out every 2nd week or even monthly in the early days.
- Begin With Simple Emails – You can begin using a simple template or even just with a text based email. Both of these will take less time to do.
Publishing your newsletter will take time and effort. However the many benefits newsletters offer just don’t happen by themselves.
