We are living today in the Information Age where success and achievement depend on, not who you know, but how much you know. People today dont want to be sold. They want information that will help achieve success in their personal and business life. People want and need information about their industry, competition, and new products and services.

Studies show that one of main reasons why customers stop buying from a particular business is because of a lack of communication on the part of the business. Communication is a key to building relationships and keeping customers satisfied. It is how you keep your prospects and customers constantly informed about new products and services.

One of the best ways to communicate news and information to your prospects and customers is with a newsletter. Newsletters improve awareness with your target market and help build your relationship with those who read it. It gives you a competitive advantage, which makes it more likely that your readers will buy from you.

Newsletters provide an opportunity to inform your prospects and customers of your opinions, facts, and ideas on a wide variety of matters. Engaging your prospect and customers in this type of dialogue will not only lead to more sales, but more referrals as well.

Newsletters only work when they are distributed to your prospects and customers on a regular and consistent basis. If you are publishing your newsletter offline, mail it monthly or bi-monthly, but no less than six times a year. If youre publishing an ezine or an online newsletter, distribute it weekly or by-weekly, but no less than monthly.

Your newsletter should be easy to read, contain valuable information, and look nice. Your goal is to have your prospects and customers expect and look forward to receiving every issue of your newsletter before you even publish it.

It is important that your make your newsletter interesting and valuable enough that your prospects and customers read all of it. You want to provide a great return on your readers investment of time. In order to do this, you need to know what type of information your prospects and customers need.

When you get new subscribers, ask them why they subscribed to your newsletter. Find out what type of information they need. Do they learn from stories and case studies or step-by-step bulleted lists? Asking them these questions will not only enable you to give them the information they are looking for in each issue, it also shows them that you care.

The name of your newsletter and front page are very important. Make the newsletters name memorable and unique. Something that will grab the readers attention and make them remember your identity. The front page needs to be well designed, appealing, and hard-hitting to entice people to keep reading.

You should design your articles to inform, educate, and answer your readers most frequently asked questions. Give them free and helpful tips about your products and services. Free tips position you as an expert in the industry and show your willingness to help others. Once your readers are helped by these tips, they are more likely to read more information, and contact you directly for help or to buy from you.

Keep your newsletters short. If you are printing and distributing your newsletter offline then it should be no more than four pages. If you are publishing an ezine or online newsletter you should try to keep it to one page, but no more than two. Use short stories, bulleted information, lists, and other forms of concise information.

Because readers have a short attention span, the information should be presented in a very positive light and humorous fashion. Be careful to keep your humor professional, not amateurish. Stick to the purpose of your newsletter, which is to get prospects and customers to buy from you. Stay focused on the specific interests of your prospects and customers.

If you are going to have advertising in your newsletter make sure the ads pertain to your industry. You want the ads to be for products and services you would recommend for your prospects and customers to use. Any selling should be done subtly, with your readers interests at heart. The last thing you want is to have in-your-face selling to your prospects and customers. This defeats the whole purpose of the newsletter.

Graphics always add to the appeal of a newsletter. You should include graphics, such as charts, cartoons, illustrations, and sidebars. Always put your photo in the newsletter because it can really help to start and maintain relationships.

Newsletters are a very powerful marketing tool. Here are just a few of the ways you can use newsletters:

Use newsletters as a direct-mail piece to your prospects and customers

Have your salespeople hand them out when they make sales calls.

Hand them out at trade shows.

Include newsletters in your information and media kits.

Give them out to prospects and customers who come into your place of business.

Post newsletters on your web site.

Use free subscription to your newsletter on your web site to capture names of prospects.

Newsletters are primarily to give information, but they are also a marketing tool to help you get new customers, make sales, and get referrals. The key to successful newsletter publishing is to always remember to give important news, make them reliable, and have fun.