Newsletter Riches -- How to Make Money with Newsletters

You probably have a pretty good idea of what a newsletter is already, but just to make sure we're all on the same page, let's go over it quickly.

A newsletter is a regularly published collection of text-based content that people subscribe to for various reasons. Newsletters typically focus on a specific topic (such as motivation, real estate, blogging, online business, or even making money) and may feature anything from interviews to lists of tips to commentary on current events.

A newsletter can be online or off-line (with off-line letters going into people's physical mailboxes), but we'll be focusing on online letters here.

So how can newsletters be profitable? We'll cover that next!

There are a lot of ways you can make money with a newsletter, so I'll just be scratching the surface here, but I bet it'll get your creative money-making juices gushing!

Make advertising/affiliate money from repeat visits

Most people who land on your website, blog, article, lens, etc. surf in via the search engines and surf right back out again. Maybe they click an advertisement and maybe they don't, but either way the chances are they'll never find their way back.

How depressing!

By adding a newsletter and encouraging them to sign up, you'll be able to keep in touch with these visitors, reminding them of your existence and bringing them back to your site again and again.

If you have written a new article, reviewed an affiliate product, or published a new lens here on Squidoo, include that fact with your latest newsletter (or even publish an issue dedicated to the same topic) and place links in the email that direct your readers back to your site.

In this way you can get the same people coming back again and again, so instead of clicking one ad and disappearing forever, they may click on something every month, and as they come to trust your recommendations (because you're only recommending quality products, right?), they'll be more likely to buy through your affiliate links.

Make money by increasing page impressions

If you're a Squidoo publisher or write articles for Associated Content, eHow, or other sites that give you performance bonuses based on page impressions, you want as many people as you can get looking at your articles.

A newsletter can be a fantastic way to make people aware of your latest articles. Again, include a link in the email, and many of them will click through to see what you're talking about.

If you put out a quality newsletter, your subscribers may even forward it to their friends. It's a great way to get the word out about your articles (and get more people's eyeballs on them!)

Insert ads or affiliate links directly into newsletters

Not only can you use a newsletter to direct people to your website, blog, articles, Squidoo lenses, etc., but you can make money from the "page estate" in the newsletter itself.

If you put out a valuable newsletter on a regular basis, and you have a large base of readers, then it's possible to make good money from the email itself.

You can insert affiliate links, and there are also plenty of advertisers out there who will pay to appear in a niche newsletters (i.e. someone selling diet information, weight loss supplements, or exercise videos would jump at a chance to have a small advertisement in the middle of a weight-loss newsletter).

Sell your own products

Do you have a business? Then you absolutely must have a newsletter!

Anyone with experience in business will tell you it's easier to sell a product to someone who comes to you and is interested in what you have to say (and sell) than some one you're "cold-calling."

People who subscribe to your newsletter are raising their hands and saying, "I'm interested!"

Once someone is a fan of your business or your work, a newsletter reminds them about you from time to time, so when they need another product (the kind of thing you offer), they'll naturally think of you, and they may even refer their friends to you.

You don't have to be particularly tech-savvy to start a newsletter (I'm certainly not). The easiest way is just to sign up with a program that hosts mailing lists and automates all the "opting in" people need to do to sign up.

Finding a newsletter host

Aweber is considered the gold standard by many internet business owners, and it's the service I use.

It's not free, but it's best to avoid the freebie services as you typically get what you pay for. It's best to start out with a solid paid service such as Aweber, so you don't have to migrate your newsletter subscribers to a new service as you grow (due to spam restrictions, it's not just a matter of copying and pasting to get your subscriber list moved--you'll probably have to get all your subscribers to resubscribe to the new service, and that inconvenience may cost you many readers).

If you're serious about making money with a newsletter, invest in Aweber or another quality service right off the bat.

Right now Aweber costs just under $20 a month (with discounts when you pay for more months at once), but if you use the methods I wrote about above, you can use your newsletter to make far more than that $20 a month. There's literally no limit to the potential.

Creating the newsletter itself

If you use Aweber, it's pretty easy to get started creating a list. Just watch their tutorial videos and check the FAQ for any questions you might have.

Basically, you'll name it, set a few parameters, and then get started writing a few messages.

What you'll probably want to do is write the messages in advance and then program them to go out once a week or twice a month or once a month. It can be as often as every day, but most people will get tired of hearing from you if you're writing that often!

A lot of internet business owners who believe in automating as much of their work as possible (always a good idea!) will write a whole slew of newsletters and have them programmed to go out every week like clockwork. Any new subscriber who signs up, whether it's on the first day you add the form to your site or a year later, will receive that first message and then start getting the following ones at the frequency you set.

This let's you start a newsletter and "set it and forget it" as the saying goes. And if you've got affiliate links or ads in your newsletter, the money will just keep rolling in while you're sleeping, playing, traveling, or whatever. It's a pretty cool feeling!

If you've already got a niche you enjoy writing about (and maybe you've got a blog or website devoted to it too), then you may already have an idea what subject your newsletter should cover. If you're passionate about a subject, and it's consumer-oriented enough to have profit potential, then definitely go with that.

You may, however, be like a lot of people in that you haven't quite discovered your muse.

The most important thing a newsletter can do is inform people. It can be full of tips, product reviews, how-to articles, advice, or any sort of content that makes people's lives easier. That's the main reason they'll stick around and listen to what you have to say.

To brainstorm ideas, you can head to one of the big bookstores and browse the magazine section. If there's a magazine on a topic, that means there are people out there interested in it!

Successful newsletters I've seen have covered everything from real estate investing to living frugally to paying off debt to woodworking to training dogs.

There aren't a lot of limits as to what you can create a newsletter about--just make sure it's something you can monetize.

If you've got a blog or an existing website that is bringing in traffic on a daily basis, then it's going to be quite easy for you to start building up a list of subscribers. Just stick a newsletter sign-up box somewhere on your site (the favored spot is on the upper right-hand side).

It's okay if you're starting from scratch too.

Many folks will create a successful newsletter just by building a one-page site with useful information related to what their newsletter will be about.

Often referred to as a "landing page," this page's whole point is to direct people to enter their email addresses to sign up for the newsletter.

Getting visitors to a new one-page site can be a little tricky, but if you like to write, you can simply create articles and submit them to directories such as ezinearticles.com. Include a resource box, or "bio," that has a link back to your landing page. Make sure that bio is appealing and encourages readers to click through!

While it's possible to set this up on a free web hosting or blog hosting service, you will look more professional (and have more freedom to do what you please) if you invest a few dollars a month to buy web hosting for your landing page.

BlueHost Web Hosting is a popular and reliable service with affordable hosting packages.

If you've read down this far, and the idea of creating your own for-profit newsletter is exciting you, then there are a few books and ebooks on the subject that you may want to look into. These are written by folks with tons of experience building newsletters for business and for making money.

Earn from Your Own Ready Made Newsletters With PLR Newsletters -- This ebook teaches you how to make money using already-written newsletters.

E-Newsletters That Work -- This ebook teaches small business owners how to maximize profits with an effective newsletter.

Starting & Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine -- This paperback has been called "a bible of startup publishing" and is great if you want to create something large and lasting.