I started a newsletter in April. Why? Because I thought I ought to. All the site building, traffic building material says you should have a way to communicate with visitors to your site. This makes you a real person, builds a relationship and keeps people coming back to the site. So I did. I found a site called ConstantContact.com, which allows you to create and send a newsletter free of charge up to 50 subscribers. I thought this would be a good place to get started. Of course, now that I’ve got a few subscribers, I’m wondering if I should have gone with another option, but that’s another story. Here are the contents of my first three issues:

April 2006

• So You Want To Be A Freelance Writer?
• How To Write Copy That Pays The Bills
• Article Secrets For Writers
• Resources For Writers

May 2006

• Freelance Writers - Four Reasons To Get On The Net
• Turn One Moment Into One Hundred Years
• Diary Of A Working Writer
• Free Resources For Writers
• How I Get Paid To Blog

June 2006

• Copyright Law: A Quick Guide For Freelance Writers
• Article Secrets For Writers (this is different from the April one)
• Diary Of A Working Writer - June 2006
• Free Resources For Writers
• Guru and Elance: Are They Worth It For Writers?

Now that I’m preparing my fourth issue, I’ve got a format. I try to have one article I’ve written, two articles by someone else, a diary entry, a roundup of my best blog posts of the month and some free resources, if I’ve found any. I also have links to products I recommend (so far only to things I’ve used).

I’ve also started archiving my posts on sharonhurleyhall.com. That way, when subscribers sign up mid-month, I can send an email out pointing them to the previous issue. I follow up mid-month anyway (thanks, Mitch) with a a short letter highlighting the archived copy and something new, like a blog post, article or resource. I’ve had good feedback on it so far.

My only niggles are with the ConstantContact templates. The links are ugly and the interface a bit clunky. However, I still think it’s a great place for the novice newsletter producer. Once my subscriber base grows a bit, I’ll be exploring other options. I’ll let you know what I’ve found out.

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Tags | freelance writing, writing