Welcome to Part 4 of "Newsletters: How to Create and Develop Your Own Newsletter the Right Way Every Time!" I hope Parts 1 and 2 have been informative to you. Let's continue with Part 4. How do I format my free newsletter?
Well, actually, it is fairly simple to properly format your free newsletter. First let's cover basic structure including how best to build an ezine that will fit email parameters effectively. You can use pretty much any word program you have on hand including Microsoft Word, Note Pad, Note Tab etc.. At the top of your page simply write out the numbers '1 to 10' 6 times. It will look like this:
1234567890|1234567890|1234567890|1234567890|1234567890|1234567890 I have separated each 1-10 number group with a vertical bar. Make sure you use a zero in place of the 10. The idea here is to use this series of numbers as a guide when typing out your ezine. Never overshoot the width laid out by your number graph. By following this example you will never have to worry about making your sentences too long to be delivered in you email. Keep email text under 60 spaces
Now, as far as formatting of the ezine itself, many publishers use more then one format simply because it gives them delivery flexibility.. There are three formats from which to choose.
1. HTML format. This requires a little knowledge of html but not enough to let this scare you. Most autoresponder service providers will include at least a basic wysiwug (what you see is what you get) website editor so that all you have to do is copy and paste into the provided html editor. Using html enables you to use images, pictures, colors and other assets similar to what you might use on your website. You can even select a template to use much as you do in building your website. A template gives you immediate credibility with your subscriber base as it will show as a very professional newsletter that looks like you spent hours upon hours in its development.
2. The next and most popular and easiest format method for your free newsletter is the text method. Here you format your free newsletter content in a text editor such as Note Pad or Note Tab and just copy and paste all of the content directly into your autoresponder text box or into your email message. Most publishers will use an autoresponder service to manage and deliver their newsletter. This and the html methods are often used consecutively when sending out a new mailing. This is a grea convenience to the publisher as it gives them a cahnce to mail to subscribers that prefer text emails as well as to those that can recieve html messages.
3. The third and least used of the methods is to publish your free newsletter content to a PDF file and mail the file directly to your subscribers or have them download it from your website. All you have to do is send them a brief "Your Free Newsletter is ready for download notice email" and that's all you have to do. The problem with this method is that most people do not want to go to the extra step and take the extra time it takes to download and then open your PDF file. So, be careful if you decide to use this method as it may run subscribers straight from instead of straight to your free newsletter. The one time I think this method is warranted is with a paid publication. And many paid newsletters now publish their content entirely top a CD and physically mail it to their subscriber base via snail mail.
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