Below are some simple tips to help you create an effective newsletter.

1.    Choose a nice template: It’s important to choose a layout that gives readers a good first impression of the newsletter. In order to impress someone before they begin to read what you’ve written, you should create a template that attracts the eye, catches the reader’s interest, and makes the reader want to keep viewing it.

2.    Be Selective with your headlines: A good headline is essential to creating an effective newsletter. Many people will read the headline, and, depending on whether or not those words make the article sound interesting, they will either continue reading the whole story, or just move on to the next. So be sure to write a headline that summarizes, in just a few words, what the article is about – but leaves the reader wanting to know more.

3.  Nice graphics: Readers often look at pictures that are related to a story before they actually read any of the material. Therefore, it’s important that you have attractive graphics to pull the reader into your story.

4.   Allow people to unsubscribe; No one likes spam: Who hasn’t received e-mails they never look at before sending them immediately to the trash folder? If a reader who doesn’t read your newsletter wishes to discontinue receiving updates or e-mails from your newsletter, he or she should have the option to unsubscribe.

5.   Have a web version in-case the e-mail client does not render it correctly: Having copies of the same article available in different forms, and from various sources, is essential to a successful e-newsletter. In case someone’s e-mail for some reason doesn’t work correctly – and as a result they don’t receive the newsletter – be sure to have a copy of the information on your website so they can still read the articles while receiving the proper updates and latest news about your company.

6.   Try to make it interactive (ask your readers to take a poll or survey): Everyone has their own opinion and wants to get it out there. By providing polls to ask your readers about their outlook on something going on the community, or about any changes you are thinking about for your newsletter, you can benefit by making your newsletter more appealing to your readers – and possibly attracting more subscribers. More importantly, it is a great way to draw additional people to your website.

7.      Send on a regular basis; don’t get lazy (but don’t send too often): If you overload your subscribers’ inboxes with several updates a day (or maybe several in a week) they could become annoyed and this could lead to unsubscribing. Therefore, keep the updates limited to a respectable number; otherwise you may be losing more readers than gaining.

8.     Check out your competitors e-Newsletters for ideas: By reviewing what your competitors are writing about in their e-newsletters you can gain inspiration or new ideas of topics to put into your own newsletter, to make it more appealing to readers and therefore get more attention from the subscribers.

-Jackie Trillo