Newsletters whether in print or electronic are opportunities to regularly make 
contact with clients and prospective clients which makes them a great marketing tool. The big 
bonus with electronic newsletters is that there is no printing or mailing costs. 

Your email newsletter should, just as in print, provide information and not be just for 
advertisement. You need to offer information that is of value, and in the course of doing 
that, promote your products and services. Eventually as your subscriber list grows (5,000 or 
more) you could start offering advertising to others to offset the costs of producing your 
newsletter. However, collecting a subscription base of this size could take a number of years, 
and I wouldn't make this a primary goal of your newsletter. Newsletters are for promoting your 
area of expertise - they are not a vehicle for revenue generation. 

So one of the first things to consider when deciding to do a newsletter is your amount of 
commitment. Whether you start out on a quarterly basis, then gradually increase to a weekly 
basis a good deal of commitment must be made. I spend two to three days researching my Tips, 
then two to three hours writing it. So you can see the time to do a simple tips sheet can in 
itself be consuming. Just as in print, you must be consistent in both your information and 
delivery. If you can't make the commitment to consistency, then I would suggest waiting until 
you can make that commitment. 

Well, you have decided to make that commitment to providing worthwhile information on a 
regular basis - what do you do next? Collect email addresses. Probably one of the easiest is 
your current database of email addresses. You probably already have current and prospective 
clients' email addresses. You could send out an introductory email letter about your 
newsletter to your list to see if anyone would like to subscribe. I think it goes without 
saying that no one wants to be a spammer - you want to build an "opt-in" list. Remember to 
press release your newsletter which could bring subscribers. Another option to collecting 
email addresses is to offer a subscription service through your website. There are programs 
that can handle the automatic subscribing and unsubscribing which would just take up to much 
space to go into now. 

So now you got your emails, on to writing your newsletter. I think that greatest part of email 
is that is definitely less formal than writing for print. Email tends to be very informal. I 
think if you write like you talk, it is much more enjoyable to the reader. As far as content, 
it depends on what you do. You have to think about if you were the reader, what would you want 
to see. Another good avenue is input from your readers or questions from clients. Also you 
don't have to do all the writing yourself. You can ask colleagues, employees, or reprint (with 
permission, of course) articles others have written. 

So are you at the point where you are saying this seems like a lot of work? Yes, it can be. 
Although an electronic newsletter may not have some real dollar costs, it does have some time 
costs. However, I feel it is an investment well worth its time. Sending out that weekly tips 
or newsletter regularly, helps you build a relationship with your online readers which can be 
a great income generator in the long run. 

Don't forgot to post your newsletter to your website - another opportunity to attract traffic. 
You can also promote your newsletter on several sites that list other free newsletters. 
Lastly, if you want to keep your subscribers' trust, don't give or sell your list to anyone 
unless all your subscribers have agreed. Remember for most small businesses reputation keeps 
them in business.