How Long should a Newsletter be?


The ideal answer is: as long as it needs to be to give value. The real answer is: it depends. Here are some of the things it depends on:

Frequency
  • Typically, the more often you send your newsletter, the shorter it will be. In my experience, though, that tends to be a function of the work involved with preparing it. Is there such a thing as providing too much value?
Goals
  • If one of your goals is to build your reputation as an expert, your newsletters will need to include a fair bit of content in the form of original articles (or images).
  • If you have well-defined goals, these will always help you decide what to include and what to leave out. When in doubt, ask yourself if any of your goals are being met by the content you’re considering.
Your commitment
  • The perfect strategy is to put out as much amazing content as you can. Your actual strategy will depend on many things that are not perfect, such as your ability or inclination to write and curate, the time involved, your technical expertise, and costs.
  • Don’t commit to something you won’t be able to maintain. Consistency is important.
Your newsletter should be a compromise between the perfect strategy and what you can commit to do.  Tweet this

 Once you figure out your goals and strategy, and build your content around them, the length of your newsletter will be a moot point. It will evolve from defining content that provides value.

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