Unless you have a marketing team that helps pull things together, sending a newsletter every month can feel like a Herculean effort. It takes time to create content. And it takes money to get the newsletter produced and mailed.
Because of that, many otherwise good newsletters never make it into existence—newsletters that keep you interesting and connected with your target market, position you, help you gain authority and status, and bring in new leads, clients, and cases. Below are strategies to overcome the two biggest obstacles that stand between attorneys and successful newsletter marketing.
I Don’t Have Time to Write Content
First take a moment to shift your thinking about producing content: it is a valuable opportunity to connect with your market. You don’t have to produce content, you get to produce content.
- Keep your eyes and ears open. This is called your “content radar”. It’s always looking for things you can put in your newsletter. They can come from everyday experiences at work or at home, books you’ve read, your travel, or feedback from your clients.
- Make an idea file. When an idea for an article comes, write in an idea file that is easily acces-sible. Or voice transcribe it. It doesn’t have to be perfect or eloquent. You can polish it later or use AI to polish it for submission.
- The more content ideas you have, the more likely you are to write. You can comment on na-tional news, share a funny story, a win, or a struggle, spotlight a business or an individual, share pictures, review a restaurant, run a contest, and so on.
- Repurpose a blog post, an excerpt from your book, or other published material.
- Get others to contribute to your newsletter. (Family members count as guest writers).
- Do you have a foreign language market? Expand your reach for greater results. Translate newsletters to reach that market.
It Costs Too Much Money
Direct mail is not cheap, with most of the cost going to postage. But marketing is an invest-ment. Often you can break even with just one referral or case from your newsletter. Below are some ways to reduce the cost:
- Send your newsletters 6 times a year instead of 12.
- Alternate with a newsletter postcard which can be less expensive.
- Include offers and engagement to get people to act.
- If you have a small list, print and mail your newsletters yourself.
Once you see begin to see results, you’ll see that newsletter marketing is not just another ex-pense or “to-do” item on your list, but a valuable platform to share your ideas, connect with your subscribers, and attract greater leads and cases and opportunities for growth.