If you are happy with the way your email marketing company is going but would like to increase the numbers on your email lists, what could be better than start a newsletter? It seems like a good idea. Why not give it a go?

One reason to wait a bit might be that if you are overwhelmed by the undoubted positives you have not really given the matter enough thought. Let’s have a brief run through the negatives.

Newsletters require a considerable investment. Some suggest the biggest is time and others that it is money. There is ample evidence to support both, as there is for the demand for other resources.

To get best value from a newsletter it has to be published with some degree of regularity. Just throwing it out when you have had a bit of down-time will not attract subscribers. And therein lies a problem. You will have to produce it when your customers expect it.

You will also have to give something away. Just sending out information that is already available on the internet might gain a few subscribers but even that takes research. However, if you have data and procedures that might be of interest then you will be putting it out for anyone to use, including your competitors who probably will be amongst the first of your subscribers.

Then there is the risk to your credibility. If you start with a big fanfare, and you will need publicity to get people interested, then if you lose interest after a few weeks, ask yourself what sort of conclusion your customers will form about the way you run your business.

Are you still considering a newsletter? Also consider that it is very difficult to work out whether or not it is successful. Your main target will be to gain subscribers to your email marketing lists. It is all but impossible to know which of those who converted from your newsletter would have done so in any case.

It is not all bad news. Newsletters have a function and one which is underused. More to follow on this later…