Creating your own mailing list is a must for any business. But small businesses struggle to work out what to do after they have someone’s name and email address. We’re all told to ‘build a relationship with our subscribers’, but what does that involve and should it include a newsletter?

Building the relationship

When it comes to building a relationship with your mailing list, it really is quite simple. Give them what they want. What is it that they signed up for? What do they want more information or help on? What can you offer to support them?

Part of building a relationship is knowing when to back off and when to push forward. The only time you should be pushing is when you have a launch of some description. The rest of the time needs to be spent sending out a mixture of helpful, informative and useful content. Whether that involves emailed articles, links to your existing blog posts, recommended resources or other peoples products/services, is up to you.

Should you send a newsletter?

There are several different things you can put in a newsletter – including a summary of your month and new products you’re working on etc. – but this only works if you have that content to share!

If you have that content, great! Create a template in your auto responder account, add a few images and you’re good to go. Just make sure to keep the promotional elements to roughly 10% of the total content (90% informative). It’s also a good idea to have only one call to action – sign up for a discovery call, buy the launch product etc.

If you don’t have that kind of content and it really doesn’t sound like you, you’re better off concentrating your efforts on blog writing. You can then share information about your launches etc., via your blog content.

What can go in a newsletter?

You can add a wide variety of items to a newsletter, including:

  • personal updates
  • what you’ve been up to that month
  • what you’re currently working on
  • links to your blog posts
  • feature article
  • monthly roundup
  • competitions
  • launch information
  • promotions and discounts
  • affiliate products

I’d suggest creating a template in your auto responder account as not only will this save you time, it will also ensure uniformity and branding continuity.

If you’re unsure whether to send out a newsletter to your mailing list, why not ask them? Send out a brief email (asking for thoughts and opinions) or set up a survey, querying what information they’d like to see included – and even if they want to see a newsletter on a regular basis.

How do you feel about creating a newsletter for your mailing list? Is it something you already do or are considering doing? Or are you doing something else, such as combining emails and social media posts? Why not share your opinions and tips in the comments box below.