How to Find Fresh Ideas for Your Newsletter

“Stella, how do I find new ways of saying the same thing in my newsletter?”

It’s a question that I get asked often, from business owners who have established their newsletter and blog habit. Some of them have been sending a regular newsletter for years. They are already convinced of the mighty email newsletter as an effective marketing channel to stay in touch with many potential clients at once.

The trouble is, they find themselves running out of juice. It feels like they are saying the same thing. They are starting to bore themselves.

So, what can you do?

1. Read more outside your topic or industry. Go to the bookstore without an agenda, and let yourself wander. Notice which books call to you. Buy and read them. Ask your literary friends to suggest a novel. Our minds are connection-forging machines – read widely, and you expose your mind to new ideas that you can coopt to talk about your work. (Right now, I’m reading Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days on the War on Drugs by Johann Hari, about the US drug policy and addiction and just finished The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, about cleaning and folding. Both have given me insights into my work and my next marketing campaign).
2. Give yourself permission to tweak your newsletter format. Many business owners who have been sending a newsletter for years tell me that it helps to change their newsletter layout. The guiding question I like to ask is, “what would be fun for you?” Fun helps you get things out the door faster. What have you seen other people or organizations doing, that you could swipe and use in your newsletter? Again, don’t just focus on email newsletter. Ideas are everywhere. Look for new ideas in the newsletters or marketing of your local adult education newsletter, the best museum in your town, or your favorite yoga studio.
3. Make a point of experiencing more art. When my idea well is feeling dry, it’s usually because I have isolated myself from art. Art makes us feel and think about the big themes and ideas that are at the core of being human. Writing marketing copy is hard if you don’t let yourself make it creative or enjoy the process. I’ve gotten some great business ideas from the Dear Sugar podcast, where Cheryl Strayed and another writer give advice to people who send in letters. It’s so incredibly real, rich, and human – it reminds me of how I want my marketing and programs to be.

Maybe you find yourself feeling like your newsletter is saying the same thing over and over again. Maybe you are looking for fresh words to communicate your message, and the thesaurus just isn’t cutting it. This is a call to change things up in your marketing. It’s also an opportunity to deviate from what your mentors may have taught you, and to blaze your own trail.

A lot of business owners have been taught a certain formula to write newsletter articles for their marketing. The truth is, templates are great to get you started, but there comes a point when you need to unlearn that structure, and say what you think, feel, and are seeing out there. This can feel a bit naked at first. But what if it’s what your audience has been longing to hear from you?

Mighty thanks to CommunicationsMann’s flickr photostream for the buns.