FAQs about HiRoad newsletter services

With social media, you’re  subject to the viewing habits of your audience. That’s when they log in, how frequently they visit and what the platform decides to show them. The people you want to see your posts may never see it. With an email newsletter, you’re communicating directly with a list YOU own. That greatly increases the likelihood that your intended audience will at least see your message—and, if you give them a reason, open it, read it and respond.

People don’t necessarily dislike email. They dislike email that wastes their time. Share information that can help them personally or professionally and you give them a reason to open. That starts with the subject line. You’re competing against an entire inbox, so your subject line needs to quickly show readers why your email is worth their attention.

It depends on your business and your audience. For many small businesses, once a month is a good minimum. For others, weekly makes sense. Frequency typically isn’t what annoys readers. Lack of value does. If every email is a sales pitch or doesn’t offer anything useful, people will tune you out. Give your audience something worthwhile and they’ll have a reason to keep reading.

Start with the questions your customers ask you. Those questions usually come from pains, problems or concerns they’re experiencing in their business or personal lives. Make a list of those questions and you’ve already created the beginnings of an editorial calendar. You can also ask newsletter readers for feedback. Their questions and comments frequently provide ideas for future editions.

No. When you take the HiRoad, we can handle as much or as little of the newsletter as you need—writing, designing, list management, distribution and social sharing. Over the years, I’ve found that one of the most effective approaches is to interview you as the expert. You know your business. I know how to turn that knowledge into copy people will read. From there, HiRoad can draft the newsletter, design and lay it out, and send it to you for approval.

For most clients, not much. Often, a 10-minute conversation gives me enough information to draft an article. More complex subjects might require a longer discussion. Many newsletter topics can also come from content you already have on your website or blog. Then it becomes a matter of reshaping that information for an email audience rather than starting from scratch. Your review and edits can take up to an hour or less. Usually much less.

You could. But copying and pasting it usually isn’t enough. Here’s the difference: website visitors have already decided to visit your site. Newsletter readers have an inbox full of other messages competing for their attention. Newsletter copy needs to earn the open with the subject line, capture attention quickly and give the reader a reason to take the next step—whether that’s clicking a link, downloading something or calling you. Good website content can provide the raw material. The newsletter needs to package it differently.

There’s no magic word count, but shorter usually works better. For many clients, I recommend a lead article of around 250 words along with a short sidebar, testimonial or other supporting item.

As a Smart Brevity practitioner, I write newsletters that identify the one thing you want somebody to take away from the newsletter, explaining why it matters and giving readers a place to go if they want more information. Your newsletter doesn’t always have to contain everything. Sometimes its job is simply to make somebody want to click.

Yes. Whether you realize it or not, every newsletter sells something. Sometimes that’s a direct sale: Call us. Schedule an appointment. Buy this product. Other times, you’re selling through education by helping readers understand a problem and why your solution matters. The call to action could be to download a white paper, watch a video, read an article, request more information or contact you. The important thing is giving the reader a logical next step.

Open rates are one measurement, particularly when you compare them with typical results for your industry. But they’re only part of the story. Clicks can tell you whether readers are interested enough to learn more. Multiple clicks can tell you even more. Replies are another great indicator. Sometimes somebody will simply respond to say they enjoyed an article or found something useful. That may be one person who took the time to reply, but chances are good other readers noticed it too. Remember, the goal isn’t simply sending email. It’s generating engagement and staying top-of-mind.

Your list is never too small if it contains the right people. I once wrote a newsletter for a professional organizer whose list had only about 150 people. Her open rate was around 60 percent. As a solopreneur, she could only serve a finite number of clients anyway. That list gave her a way to communicate with current and former customers, stay top-of-mind and generate referrals.

A smaller, engaged list can be far more valuable than a huge list of people who don’t care what you have to say.

It depends on how much you want us to handle. If you only need newsletter copy, the cost will be toward the lower end. If you want HiRoad to handle the writing, layout, delivery and email-platform or CRM management, the investment will be higher.

As a ballpark, newsletter services generally range from $200 to $400 per edition, depending on the scope. There is also an initial fee if we’re designing a newsletter template from scratch.

I’ve worked with Constant Contact, AWeber, Mailchimp, HubSpot and a number of other platforms. I’m a Constant Contact and AWeber reseller, but if you already have a platform you like, I’m happy to work with it.