The Make-Believe Newsletter

Fictional newsletter character, Karen

We all love a good story. The kinds of stories we use in newsletters tend to be real life experiences. It’s a good strategy to share experiences that illustrate a point and teach readers a lesson.

For some professions, real life success stories can present a challenge.
  • Confidentiality:  Not just names but also circumstances can be difficult to share without compromising a client’s privacy.
  • Professional liability:  Providing advice can be risky for some if it’s taken out of context.
Unfortunately, this limits some professionals in using these very effective content strategies. A new client of ours has found an alternative and, based on feedback, it’s working great.

Corinne is a lawyer so confidentiality and liability are valid concerns when it comes to her newsletter. When one of your goals is to build your reputation, sharing experience and advice are pretty important to achieving that. So, Corinne invented Karen, a fictional character who represents her ideal client. By telling Karen’s story, Corinne can teach us about many legal aspects of business ownership. Readers can learn from Karen’s experiences and share in her decision making.

Depending on what you do, a disclaimer may still be desirable. Keep it brief, very simple, and add some humour if it makes sense.

Confidentiality and liability issues are no longer reasons not to have a newsletter.


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