Content sources
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Previous topic: Common types of content
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Many people baulk at the challenge of supplying a constant stream of valuable content to their readers (another reason why publishers often fall back on the relatively easy option of providing news and updates).
You can tailor your content so that you know you have sufficient skills and resources in-house to cope with its production.
Alternatively, if you don't feel you have sufficient skills and resources to produce your desired content, then you might consider some other content sources, such as...
Articles and content from third-parties
There are numerous sites, people and organizations that provide free content for newsletters. The main benefit to you of such content is that it's, well, free. You can get good, valuable content without spending time or money. There are, however, things you need to watch if you take this route.
First there is the quality issue. Free content can be very good and also very bad. Too often, the information provided is not designed with the reader in mind, but is intended to promote the source of that information.
Second, there is the exclusivity issue. Nearly all free content is provided on a non-exclusive basis. If you're very lucky, you may be able to get exclusive use of such content (if the source is very keen to access your readership, for example). But this is the exception, rather than the rule.
If your content is being reproduced elsewhere, there is the danger that your readers will see the same content more than once. Since one of our criteria for "value" is uniqueness, there are obvious disadvantages to this. So you need to ask yourself how likely such repetition is.
Even if this risk is very low, I wouldn't advise ever relying on free content from other sources. It's much more difficult to generate a consistent pattern to your content and voice if you keep relying on other people's words and topics.
If you never think too hard about what to say or present in your publication, then you can get lazy and indifferent toward it, which can hurt your professionalism.
Paid articles and content are a different matter entirely. Since you're paying, you can exert close control over topics and quality. You can also ensure exclusivity (though you may have to pay more for this right).
Paying for content has its own problems as well, quite apart from the cost. There is the issue of rights, and you have to find and negotiate with writers (most free content comes through an automatic feed or can be picked up readily from central sites).
Partnering
You can be sure that your readers share interests with the readers or customers of other newsletters or businesses. And many of these newsletters or businesses will not be your direct competitors.
Partnering with these newsletters and businesses is an obvious way of sharing the content burden. You provide content for your partner's newsletter, and they provide content for yours. For example:
- a car insurance agency might swap content with a car dealer.
- a sofa refurbishing service might offer content for your cat newsletter.
- a gourmet cheese publication might partner with a wine connoisseur's newsletter.
Readers
An underestimated source of content is your readers themselves. Getting them to produce content for your newsletter has several advantages:
- it's a cheap source of content.
- by definition, you'll tend to get the kind of content your readers are interested in.
- it reinforces the affinity between publication and reader.
- it reinforces the impression that you value your readers.
- people love to see their name in (electronic) print.
So what do I mean by reader content? The obvious example is to publish and respond to feedback from previous newsletters (make sure you get permission if you cite the names and addresses of the readers involved).
But you can also encourage readers to provide articles, jokes, comments, interviews, tips, questions, testimonials and more. Whole newsletters can be built solely on reader input (think of discussion lists).
OK, we've done professionalism and value, now we can look at the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle. It's the bit with no edges that makes the picture, but is difficult to place: personality - the key difference between an average newsletter and a great one.
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