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CEO Notes:
I came across the e-mail newsletters on Email Marketing and found it
interesting and thought that some of you may find it interesting, too.
Gordon Dill
ceo@chamber101.com
You're receiving this email because you subscribed to the the Hints & Tips
list. Please
confirm your continued interest in receiving email from us.
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Dear Gordon,
 This
issue is all about email newsletters. You'll
learn how to make yours better than ever or
successfully get started with one. You'll
find an interview with email newsletter guru
Michael Katz, plus an article with top tips
for creating excellent email newsletters.
This issue also features a number of other
email newsletter "helps," including a free
webinar, four excellent examples, technical
how-tos, and much more.
We are eager to hear your ideas on this
topic. Many of you produce email newsletters
and, no doubt, have tips of your own to
share. To get the conversation going, please
visit our Hints & Tips forum.
Let's talk email newsletters!
Oh, and when you are done reading, please
let me know if you found this issue helpful.
Best wishes,
Amy Black
Editor,
Hints & Tips E-Newsletters
P.S. Show and tell! If you have an email
newsletter archived and want to share it,
please
post it in the forum and tell us about
it.
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In This Issue of Hints & Tips
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 E-Newsletter
Advice from an Expert
An interview with email newsletter pro
Michael Katz
by Amy Black, Editor, Hints & Tips
e-Newsletters
At Constant Contact, e-newsletter expert
Michael Katz is something of a legend. I may
be overstating it a bit, but it's true that
several of our executives mention Michael's
newsletter often as an excellent example of
compelling content.
Michael also uses his newsletter skills on
behalf of the clients of his business,
Blue Penguin Development. In our
interview, he shares some of the same pearls
of wisdom with us that he does with his
clients.
Why are you so passionate about email
newsletters?
I stumbled onto the power of e-newsletters
by accident. In 2000, I was writing a
newsletter that went to about 30
people. After a little while, I noticed that
people I'd never heard of were asking to be
added to the list. I also started getting
requests from readers to help them develop a
newsletter for their own client
base. Eventually I switched to doing email
newsletters exclusively.
What I love about e-newsletters is how well
this one tool covers so much marketing
ground. A newsletter keeps you in front of
clients, prospects, and colleagues; gives
you a platform for sharing your focus and
perspective; and helps you clarify your
point of view. On top of that, it's easily
forwarded, easily archived, interactive, and
has almost zero variable cost. For a small
company, a newsletter all by itself can
serve as a powerful marketing program.
Get Michael's tips for your newsletter
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The Recipe for Excellent E-Newsletters
Four essential ingredients for email
newsletter success
By Amy Black, Editor, Hints & Tips
e-Newsletters
Email newsletters have amazing potential.
When done well, they keep you connected to
the people who mean the most to your
business or organization and help to build
their confidence in your brand. In addition,
great e-newsletters help drive repeat
business, new sales, event attendance,
donations, and more.
So what makes an excellent email newsletter?
There are a number of essential ingredients.
Get the recipe for email newsletter success
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Featured Resource:
E-Newsletters That Work
 In
his book, Michael Katz teaches you
how to create e-newsletters that
work for your business or
organization.
Learn about the book
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New to Hints & Tips?
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Email Newsletters that Hit the Mark
Four examples of quality newsletters
The following Constant Contact
customers' e-newsletters follow many
of the best practices we cover in
this issue. Click on the images to
see the full versions of these
campaigns.
 Association
Newsletter
The
Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Education
Foundations
is made up of 500 education
foundations. Their newsletter,
Members' Monday Report, goes
out to more than 1500 education
foundation leaders.
The Monday Report stands out
for its clean design and clear
branding (click-through to their
website
to see how similar the experience
is). The ample white space makes it
easy to move from section to
section.
The content of the newsletter is
equally impressive. It educates its
members with a recap of a speech
given at a recent conference,
inspires them with a fundraising
success story, and informs them of
available resources.
The choice of template also allows
the organization to highlight their
sponsors in a way that doesn't
distract from the focus of the
content.
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 Business-to-Consumer
Newsletter
Magic Beans,
a retailer of baby products with a
storefront and online presence,
sends its beanstalk
newsletters once a month. While the
goal of the newsletter is to make
customers aware of new products,
Magic Beans includes helpful
educational information as well.
In the April issue, highlighted
here, the content on the left side
of the newsletter has an Earth Day
theme. Articles give ideas for how
moms can be green and point out the
opportunity to reuse the shop's
bags.
On the right rail of the newsletter
are featured products, many of
which relate to the "going green"
theme.
From a design perspective, the
newsletter is attractive to look at,
easy to read, and is a great
representation of the company's
visual brand.
Business-to-Business Newsletter
Jean Gogolin
has served as a speech writer for
some big names in business; she also
was an editor for
Boston Magazine. She
knows how to write and she showcases
her skills to potential customers in
her monthly newsletter WordWright.
WordWright is an email
newsletter for communications
professionals. These are the people
who work for companies that can hire
Jean when the workload gets too
heavy.
Jean's newsletter is simple yet
impactful. She includes a brief,
personalized introduction, a
thoughtful and insightful article
with a supporting image, and a
creative plug for her business. She
also may incorporate some other
interesting tidbits that she
believes will be of value to her
readers.
WordWright is easy and
enjoyable to read and it reminds
those who receive it that a quality
writer is available to them when
they need her.
Nonprofit Newsletter
The Potter League
is dedicated to protecting and
helping animals. They send a monthly
newsletter to keep their supporters
updated on new initiatives, animals
available for adoption, events, and
other noteworthy news (in this case,
a number of awards).
Their newsletter has a simple design
and is easy to read. The header is
the same as the one on their website
and they use their organization's
green brand color as the accent
color in the newsletter.
If you click on the campaign for the
full version, you will see that the
Potter League does a nice job of
balancing text with images. The
images they've chosen serve specific
purposes and are easy to see.
Readers who wish to get a quick
overview of what's covered in the
e-newsletter should be able to see
the table of contents without
scrolling (in most browsers) because
it's right up top.
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Do you have an email newsletter you want to
share?
Share your email newsletter in this forum!
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"How to" Tips for SpeakUp!SM
Email Marketing
The help you need to put best practices to
work with Constant Contact
This month's tips teach you how to add email
marketing features that will make your
newsletters more successful. Click on the
links below to learn how to use these
features:
Sign-Up Box for Your Website
How do I add a Constant Contact Sign-Up link
to my MS Outlook email signature?
What site visitor Sign-Up Box options do I
have?
How do I add a site visitor Sign-Up Box to
my MySpace page?
How do I add a Join My Mailing List Sign-Up
Box to my email?
Email Archive
How do I archive my emails?
Can I separate newsletters from surveys
within my archive?
On the Support Blog
Painless Newsletter Printing
Want more product-focused tips?
Search our FAQs
or
visit our support blog.
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What's New with Constant Contact
Autosave, improved copy and pasting, new
templates, and more
New!
Autosave - Now you can relax and
focus, free from the fear of losing your
work, while you create your emails. Why?
Because now they'll be automatically saved
every five minutes even if you forget to
click "save."
Improved!
Copy & Paste - Love to copy and paste
content into your email template? Don't like
the annoying formatting that often comes
with it? We've improved our copy-and-paste
feature so you can paste content as text
only (by using the right-click feature on
your mouse!). Want to keep the formatting?
Select "Paste with Formatting" from the left
toolbar.
New! Travel
Templates - If you're in the
travel business, you'll love this. We've
added a host of new Travel Templates
featuring Itinerary, Last-Minute Deals, and
Specials themes.
New! Basic
Templates - Many have been
asking for simple, "no-frills" templates.
Our Basic Templates offer the structure to
easily create your email without
color, design, or imagery.
Enhanced! Contact
Remove Option - We've made it possible
to remove a single contact from just one
list. Simply select the contact you want to
remove and click the "Just This List"
option. Want to remove a contact from all
your lists? Choose "All Lists." It's that
simple.
Learn about additional updates,
including those made to ListenUp! Survey.
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