Trying to create, write, and distribute an investment newsletter is a significant undertaking. It’s worth it — if you find the secret sauce, you can make boatloads of money with little overhead. All you need is some good research (you have to provide value), some good packaging (it has to look good), and some good marketing (potential subscribers need to know why they should buy it).
After you create a theme, segment between your premium content (what you charge for) and your free content (what you give away), and you begin marketing like pimp-daddy Tim Sykes, it’s time to learn from pros in overlapping fields and co-opt many of their techniques for creating compelling content, marketing allure, and flat-out sales bombs.
Some may think that aping others is somewhat not pure. Not so. I think learning (not copying) from proven pros with proven techniques is what life is all about. You can try to recreate the wheel — I just think it’s easier to build your wheel using others’ designs.
I’ve made your life easier and provided a one-stop resource list to aid you in making oodles of money from your investment newsletter.
Copy writing/Marketing/Selling
Unless your newsletter just kills everything else in the market in terms of performance (in which case, it can look and read like a middle school newspaper), it will need to be written sharply with clear calls to action. Your free content will need to be written compellingly enough to convince your subscribers to pay up for the real deal.
- Copyblogger: I like Brian Clark’s blog a lot. A serial Internet entrepreneur, Brian Clark writes articles with clear action points and should make everyone write better content, build readership and monetize their content. Brian says: “Copywriting is all about words that get people to take some form of action. That action could be a purchase or a phone call, or it could be a link, bookmark, or vote at Digg that leads to the traffic you need. In other words, copywriting is all about people responding the way you want them to.”
- Problogger: Darren Rowse is a master blogger making six figures with his blog network (and not just through Google AdSense). He’s creative and has incredibly useful, why-didn’t-I-think-of-that type tips for people just beginning to write for the web or those more advanced content producers looking for tips of all types, including marketing.
- Seth Godin: Seth is the man when it comes to strategizing about content, your website, and your business. Writer of numerous books on marketing, Seth’s blog is actually the number 1 most influential blog as ranked by AdAge.
- MarketingPilgrim: MarketingPilgrim is Andy Beal’s blog on exclusive and breaking news stories, in-depth analysis of marketing trends, and comprehensive reviews of new products and services. Less a how-to guide like Copyblogger and Problogger, read MP’s analysis of trends in search, blogging, and the Internet in general.
- DoshDosh: Dosh Dosh is a blog offering internet marketing and blogging tips, alongside social media strategies. With thinking outside the box (like this post on using infographics to propagate an idea or market a website), this is a great resource for aspiring bloggers. Also discusses broader aspects of running a website like analytics and lead generation.
- Chris Brogan: An Internet marketing veteran, Chris takes the tack of delivering some of the best advice for blogging, content and taking an internet-based business to the next level. Can be very useful in building out your investment newsletter blog.
Usability
- Useit: Jakob Nielsen’s writing is a must-have for designing websites, usability issues and writing for the web. Nielsen has been a pioneer in this field for at least 100 years. This is a great place to start as you begin thinking about designing your newsletter, your website, or anything that gets read by another human being.
PR
- PR 2.0: Brian Solis has been the voice for current techniques in building brand and voice via PR over the Internet. Brian’s got tremendous insight and has turned this into many free resources on his website available in ebooks like PR for Startups and The Essential Guide to Social Media. Learn how to create a social media network of like-minded bloggers who can help you get the word out about your newsletter/content.
- Web Ink Now: David Meerman Scott’s blog on everything PR 2.0 including using social media and blogs to promote your business. Great resource and definitely a frequented subscription in my RSS reader.
Networking
- Keith Ferazzi: The Fonz of Internet and offliene networking, Ferazzi has written a great book, never eat alone, and runs The Greenlight Community on his website to help people connect and share valuable tips on networking. Put simply, Ferazzi describes his site as a “gathering place for a global community of individuals who believe in the power of relationships for success and happiness.” Sign up to get his weekly tips.
Learn from the best and innovate on what you learn to become the best. I hope these were useful. These are some of the best resources online with tons of tips and help to assist you in making a great investment newsletter. Ping me at zack.miller [@] gmail.com to let me know if you’ve found other ones that are working for you.
Also check out our page of all the newsletter resources you’ll need to get your newsletter off the ground and making some dough.
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