When you’re trying to figure out what you can send to people in exchange for their email address, give some thought to doing a newsletter.

People in your niche might like the idea of opting in to your list in order to get more information from you, an expert, in this niche. Newsletters turn out to be a great vehicle for delivering information to your subscribers because not only can you give them quality tips and advice, you can also send promotions for your own products and affiliate products.

You may have some questions though… How often should I send it? How much work is it? What should be in it? Will I run out of things to say?

Keep in mind that you want to send out helpful info so that you establish a relationship of trust and showcase your “expert” status. Those two things will encourage people to buy from you.

You might be feeling very gung-ho about your newsletter and you want to send it out once a week, but be realistic. You have a lot of other stuff to do to run your business and unless you’re going to outsource the whole thing, you’ll be creating a lot of stress for yourself. A more realistic goal is once a month.

Your first newsletter will take you the longest to prepare as you try to figure out what you want in it. Establish a format that you can follow with each newsletter. To decide on your format, take a look at some of the newsletters you like to read and note their structure.

Newsletters should be short and jam packed with useful info. Your reader will unsubscribe if your newsletters are long, drawn out, and full of fluff.

Here are a few ideas for your newsletter:

1. Do a monthly top 10 list.
Top 10 favorites, top 10 mistakes, top 10 resources, top 10 tools, top 10 blogs, etc. You’re the expert and they want to know your opinion. Plus, top 10s are fairly easy to put together.

2. Have a tip of the month.
Make it something extra special like a secret about something to do with your niche that not many people know. Here’s your chance to show your stuff.

3. Explain how to do something.
People love checklists, action plans, or blueprints. Explain how you do something or the best way to do it and your readers will thank you and ask for more.

4. Answer a reader’s question.
People will email you with questions about anything to do with your niche. Instead of answering all the questions individually, pick one or two to answer in the newsletter each week.

Here is an example of the structure of one of the newsletters I subscribe to:

Short personal note
Latest industry news – three items only
Link to his short blog post (brings readers to the blog where they might purchase something or click on an ad).
Secret industry tip
Plug for a product (two if one is a freebie)
Reader Q and A
Wrap up and request for feedback

The newsletter owner follows this structure pretty consistently but I’ve noticed he will change it on occasion. It depends on the information he wants to impart on his readers.

Starting a newsletter can be a great way to go to build your list, establish trust, and be seen as a niche expert. The first newsletter will be the hardest, but after that you’ll have a template in place, and eventually you may be able to outsource the whole thing.

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