| lass="bottom-link"> | | | | newsletter. And, in the case of HTML newsletter, |
| An HTML newsletter that is published regularly is a | | | | size does matter. A newsletter that is large in size |
| great "stay-in-touch" marketing mechanism. Publishing | | | | (greater than 25 MB) is tough to deliver through |
| your own HTML newsletter is not as tough as you | | | | many email systems. Less than 20 KB is optimal for |
| might think. OUtlined below are 10 easy steps to get | | | | greatest chance of delivery to your subscribers. |
| you ont he road to publishing your own HTML | | | | 4. Link all graphics to the full graphic URL. In order for |
| newsletter. I get many compliments on my | | | | an image to display, it must be hosted on a website. |
| newsletter, and every so often I'm asked how I | | | | Some distribution programs, like Constant Contact, |
| create my email newsletter (Ezine). It's not as tough | | | | will host images on their server. However, if you're |
| as you might think. | | | | creating your email newsletter from scratch, you |
| In a nutshell, an HTML newsletter is a web page that | | | | need to tell the newsletter distribution program the |
| is transmitted via some email broadcasting service. | | | | full URL that will help it locate the image. So, for |
| Because this format incorporates graphics and color, | | | | example, in your website design program, you might |
| HTML newsletters are more attention-getting than | | | | see an image URL listed as ...images/yourimage.jpg. In |
| plain text newsletters. Overall, when compared to a | | | | an email newsletter, the full path of the image URL |
| plain text newsletter, HTML newsletters: | | | | needs to be indicated, as in in order for the image to |
| - Have a higher click-through rate (more readers click | | | | display. So, be sure that any images your paste into |
| on the links contained within your newsletter that link | | | | your newsletter are also uploaded to your website, |
| back to your site, affiliate program, or sales offers) | | | | and check to see that the full URL for the image is |
| - Permit you to track your open rate (determine how | | | | listed in the image properties of your graphic. If you |
| many readers actually open your email newsletter) | | | | need an FTP program to help you upload images or |
| - Help you continue to establish your brand in front | | | | pages to your hosting account, I recommend |
| of your readers, as it may carry the same look as | | | | 5. Create the content in a plain text editor program. |
| your website or other marketing materials you may | | | | Have you ever gotten a newsletter and it's filled with |
| use | | | | funny characters like "youâÂÂll"? If |
| - Are read more often than plain text newsletters | | | | you create the text of your newsletter in MS Word |
| because of the eye-catching graphics | | | | and try and cut and paste it into your HTML editor, |
| Here are 10 steps you can follow to make the | | | | many times you'll bring unwanted Word formatting in |
| creation of your email newsletter quick and easy: | | | | the text. Consequently, when you send out your |
| 1. Select your newsletter distribution service. Many | | | | newsletter, it appears in your subscriber's email client |
| small business owners start their newsletters by | | | | with the funny characters indicated above. In many |
| choosing to send them out via their email program | | | | cases, the punctuation in Word (quotation marks and |
| (Outlook). When their list begins to grow to several | | | | apostrophes, in particular) are the culprits. To ensure |
| hundred subscribers or more, this task begins to | | | | that you've created ASCII text (the most basic, |
| overwhelm them. The dangers you face by choosing | | | | format-free text), you'll want to compose your |
| to send your email newsletter out through your email | | | | articles in a plain text editor program, like Notepad, |
| program are two-fold:a. Your ISP (Internet Service | | | | found on computers with Windows operating |
| Provider) can shut you down if you send out an | | | | systems. |
| excessive amount of email each day. If you exceed | | | | 6. Finalize your newsletter content. Open your |
| the daily limit of outgoing emails established by your | | | | newsletter template and cut and paste your new |
| ISP, they will brand you a spa*mmer and shut down | | | | content into this edition. Save this edition on your |
| your account, many times without warning and | | | | hard drive with a different file name than your |
| without any ability to reinstate your account.b. When | | | | template so that you don't overwrite your template. |
| you start to get a larger number of subscribers, you'll | | | | If you want to create a newsletter archive, you'll also |
| begin to get emails asking you to remove them from | | | | want to upload the newsletter to your website. |
| the list (yes, it happens to us all!) or to change their | | | | Check your content for typos, punctuation mistakes, |
| email address or requesting your latest newsletter | | | | and grammar mistakes. |
| issue. Get 10-15 of these emails per day and you'll | | | | 7. Sp*am check your ezine. Some distribution services |
| soon end up spending all of your time managing your | | | | have this feature built into their broadcast service |
| list. | | | | and will evaluate the content, colors, images, etc. of |
| There are a number of distribution options available in | | | | your email broadcast and point out if there are any |
| various price ranges. If you plan on designing an ezine | | | | attributes of your broadcast that might be caught in |
| template yourself using an HTML editor, I | | | | sp*am filters. If your service doesn't offer this |
| recommend aWeber.com, which offers sequential | | | | feature, you can run both the body and subject line |
| autoresponders in addition to being able to send out | | | | of your broadcast through this fr*ee evaluation |
| your email newsletter. If you don't want to learn | | | | service: Some subject line sp*am triggers include; all |
| HTML and want to use a template-driven system in | | | | caps, exclamation marks, or the word "fr*ee". If you |
| which all you have to do is cut and paste your text, I | | | | have a score of 5 or higher, you'll need to change |
| recommend Both of these services offer automatic | | | | the problem components of your broadcast. |
| subscriber management (where subscribers can go in | | | | 8. Upload the ezine. In most cases, this means you |
| and change their email address or take themselves | | | | need to copy and paste the HTML coding from your |
| off a list) as well as the ability to customize your | | | | editor into your broadcast program. |
| opt-in and thank you pages. | | | | 9. Use personalization. When a subject line of an email |
| 2. Determine your software needs. There are several | | | | contains your first name, doesn't that quickly grab |
| heavy duty website design and HTML editing | | | | your attention? If your broadcast service permits |
| programs out there to help you design your | | | | you to personalize either the subject line of your |
| newsletter template. If all you plan to do is create a | | | | broadcast or the content of your broadcast, take |
| newsletter, there's no need to spend lots of money. | | | | advantage of this feature and use it! This is an easy |
| I recommend that you try this easy-to-use HTML | | | | strategy to increase your newsletter's open rate. |
| editor found at If you're really interested in web | | | | 10. Send out a test broadcast. To ensure that your |
| design, I recommend you purchase DreamWeaver, | | | | content displays like you think it will, send yourself a |
| which has a steep learning curve but will serve you | | | | test copy to yourself. I also send test copies to my |
| well over the long-term. | | | | AOL, Hotmail, Google, and Yahoo addresses, as many |
| 3. Create your newsletter template. Your template | | | | of my subscribers have those addresses. Evaluate |
| will probably be a simple table format that | | | | your test copy and make any corrections or |
| incorporates your logo and a few other graphics. | | | | adjustments needed. |
| Your newsletter should not exceed 600 pixels in | | | | Now that you've completed these steps, you're |
| width, as you want to ensure that your readers | | | | ready to send your broadcast. |
| won't have to scroll across the screen to read your | | | | |