Publishing a newsletter is one of the smartest marketing strategies any company can use to build long-term, profitable customer relationships. But there is a secret to newsletter writing that helps to actually getting your newsletter read.

Let’s face it, you are the expert in your industry. Tell your customers about any new developments and introduce them to your new products or services. Give tips for using existing products or services. Offer them articles that help them learn.

Short, helpful articles about services you offer are the kind of pieces that generate pass-along referrals. Pass-along value makes your newsletter a great way for your current customers to refer you to their friends and colleagues.

If you run a house cleaning service, you know that your customers do some cleaning when you’re not there. Your newsletter should share cleaning tips your customers can use. That way your value goes beyond the cleaning you actually do. The chiropractor can do a short piece on back pain. The accountant can share Five Things Every Business Plan Should Have.

Readers love leadership-management tips. They love to read articles on saving money; in winter, for example, you might include the tips section Five Things You Can Do to Save Money on Your Heating Bill. Readers find such tips informative, helpful, and enjoyable.

Customers love stories. Don’t just describe what you do. There are certain times when you’re writing articles in your newsletter where you can be selling. After all, newsletters are sales letters in disguise. But there’s a way to do that so that it reads like a success story. Demonstrate your benefits for your customers by telling them a story about someone like them who succeeded because they purchased your product or service.

The real secret to writing customer newsletters that actually get read is writing from your customer’s point of view. Your newsletter must contain what I often refer to fun, entertaining, and informative content. You can learn more about this by visiting www.NoHassleNewsletters.com.

If you regularly publish a newsletter, the way that you write your newsletter is critical. Someone who picks up your monthly customer newsletter should be able to get the key points in any of your articles just by scanning.

Use simple subheads to highlight key points. If you have more than one key point in your text, you can use more than one subhead.  Use boldface to call attention to important words and phrases. Notice how your eye naturally is drawn to the boldfaced word in this paragraph. You want to stop a scanner dead in their tracks.

Because if a scanner scanning the newsletter doesn’t stop and read the articles, it’s not likely they’re going to get a lot out of it. The whole idea is you want them to read the newsletter.

There are also devices you can use to increase readability. Charts often make concepts clear. Bulleted lists are great for summarizing key points and make newsletters crisp, clear, and easy to read. I use all of these techniques when I design my No Hassle ‘done-for-you’ Newsletters.

The Secret to Selecting Typefaces

Headlines and body copy are the way that text is presented to the reader. You want your design to be both professional looking and readable. Start by fully understanding the following important terms.

A typeface is a style of type. This line is in a typeface called Times New Roman.

There are two basic kinds of typefaces that you’ll see in great newsletters.

1) There are “serif faces,” like Times New Roman. A “serif” is the little curl or footing on the letters. A book face is a typeface with both serifs and shading. Times New Roman is a book face.

2) There are also “sans-serif” typefaces. That means that there are no serifs on the letters. Arial, the typeface being used in this sentence, is a sans-serif typeface.

A font is the rendition of a letter or word in a typeface. This is Times New Roman 10-point font. Point is the size of the type. This is Times New Roman 10-point Bold.

Right now you’re probably thinking, “What does that have to do with me and my newsletter?” But this is important, so stay with me.

Pick up a major newspaper and look at it. You’ll notice that the newspapers all use similar typefaces. They use sans-serif typefaces for headlines. They use book faces for body copy. You should too. Sans-serif typefaces are good for headlines. The eye finds it easy to stop at the end of a line. Book faces are good for body copy. They encourage the eye to keep moving.

Read more about design techniques and strategies, and get some easy to use newsletter checklists in my book, The Magic of Newsletter Marketing – the Secret to More Profits and Customers for Life! It is available at Amazon.com or my Web site, www.NoHassleNewsletters.com.

Remember, newsletter writing is the most important part of great customer newsletters!