Your email inbox is probably just the same as mine. It’s filled each day with dozens of newsletters that suck up space in your inbox and your brain. You turn on your computer and in they come flooding, one after the other. Sometimes you wonder if you actually signed up for them all or you’ve been added to a list somewhere.

In fact, you’ve probably subscribed to lots of newsletters because they looked interesting. The problem is that, after the first one, they morphed into something that doesn’t ring your bells or they didn’t live up to your expectations. You don’t bother to read them anymore. You click delete or sometimes the unsubscribe button and that’s all the action they’ll see.

That’s what other people might be doing with the newsletters you send out.

Why are you writing that newsletter?

If you’re writing it just because everyone tells you that you should or because it’s a good vehicle for sharing your business message, then you might as well quit now. All you’re doing is adding another task to your day.

Before you start writing your next newsletter, ask yourself why you’re doing it. If your answer doesn’t involve your client – if it isn’t client focused – you probably need to revise your strategy.

By client focused I mean that your newsletter is not written to promote you and your services, it is written to meet a client need or to show them a way to solve their problem.

It’s about giving them what they want, not what you want them to have.

If you are considering introducing a newsletter to your clients, start by listening to what they are talking or complaining about, questioning, or even celebrating. Read your Facebook comments, your customer feedback and reviews of your business. Start listening to what they are saying and then write a newsletter that will participate in that conversation and give them the answers they need.

That’s how you get value into a newsletter and that is what will stop them hitting the delete button.

Before you start work on your next newsletter, go and check the discussions on your Facebook or Twitter pages. That’s where you will find your starting point.

In my next post I will show you how to make sure that your newsletters are being read.  Watch for it.