Designing and Sending Your Newsletter

The key here is to make everything you send out represent you well without going broke or spending much of your precious studio time on it. The info below should help you a lot. For extra in-depth info use the links.

Reeealllly important:  Good clean design, consistency and readability.  Like your artwork, everything you send out should have a signature style that identifies it as YOU. This helps build your marketing brand. Also, always, only use great images of your work.

Don't be "penny wise and pound foolish." It's worth the investment to present the professional image you'll want to have when you're wildly successful. Do it NOW. It's easier (and cheaper) to grow into a professional image than to grow out of an amateurish one.

 
Printing/mailing:
To design your newsletter, just about any word processing or desktop publishing software will work. To save time, look for templates you can modify and then re-use the finished newsletter and adapt it so you're not starting from scratch every time.
 
If you're only going to print a few at a time, get yourself some good paper, supplies and check postage rates. Matte or glossy presentation paper is wonderful, cheapo inkjet or laser paper is NOT and makes your images (and you) look dull and lifeless.  
 
If you have more than a few to print, use an online or local printing service. Faster, better results, the ink won't run when it gets damp, and it may actually be cheaper than doing it yourself. Some will do the mailing for you, a big time-saver.
 
Emailing:
The #1 most important tip I can give you is this:  Use a good online system to design and send them.
 
Do NOT send them from your own email software unless you are an expert and are sending quantities below what your ISP will tolerate. Really, the results will not look professional and many (or all) will bounce or end up in spam folders. They won't do you any good if people don't get them or won't look at them.
 
Online broadcasting companies like Constant Contact*, MailChimp, and iContact are great. You want a good ethical company (one that doesn't support spammers), with easily customizable templates, stellar customer support, and great stats on your email campaign. When you choose a good company with features you can use now and grow into later you, will be ready for the future and you won't have to re-do it all again later. Cheap or free still has a cost, choose wisely.
 
Oh, by the way, if you don't already know what I do for a living, I bet you can guess. Yes indeed, I help fine artists get it all done. I can work one-to-one with you on one thing, or everything, to put your plans into action: newsletters, postcards, email broadcasts, mailing lists, databases, all of it. Click here to read more about moi, then contact me for a complimentary 15-minute consultation.

All my best to you and yours,

Robin Sagara
Web Marketing Mentor
robin@artistcareertraining.com

* I am an affiliate of this company and receive compensation from referring clients to them. However, I only refer to companies I love. The money is minimal, I refer because they're the best and that's why I'm an affiliate.