Newsletter content

Every answer 24 answers

• Can a local newsletter be only events?

  Yes, especially at the start. In my post-subscribe surveys about 80% of new subscribers, and up to 90% in some markets, say events are what they care about most. An events-only newsletter gets you roughly 80% of the value for 20% of the work. Add restaurants and news as you grow, and plan for AI making a plain event list easy to copy.

• How do I get local people to contribute content to my newsletter?

  Give them an easy form and a reason: a shout-out, an interview about their business, a spot front and center. People love being written about and they share it. Put submission links in the footer and inside the issue, route each type where it belongs, and promote it, because nobody submits to a section they don't know exists.

• How do I make my newsletter look professional without a designer?

  Use Canva. Section headers, banners and graphics are just images, and a few hours of effort puts you ahead of most newsletters because most people do nothing. Decide your colors, logo and fonts first, build one layout, save it as a template, then swap only the text and images each week.

• How do I name a local newsletter?

  Use the place people identify with plus a simple word: Insider, Scoop, Buzz or Post. Insider is my favorite if I started over. The place doesn't have to be the official city name; a well-known nickname can be better. Then test it like a random resident would: does the name make you want to subscribe?

• How do you find enough local content for a newsletter every week?

  Collect all week, then curate. Watch local Facebook groups and Google News, drop every link into one channel, and pull events from free public calendars before you pay for scraping. Load restaurants and businesses once up front. In a big market the real job is cutting; in a small one, it's finding enough.

• How do you write the events section of a local newsletter?

  Keep each listing to one sentence, cover the day after the send through the next seven days, and stop chasing the perfect list. I pull 20 to 25 events to land about eight usable ones, link each to its exact event page, put the list at the bottom and one big featured event at the top. Send the events issue on Thursday.

• How do you write the restaurant section of a local newsletter?

  Write it like a friend recommending a place, not a food critic. My brief: a 4 to 8 word headline that doesn't use the restaurant's name, then two short paragraphs (or three to four sentences) with one or two direct, interesting specifics. No AI language, no emojis. Restaurants are usually readers' second favorite section after events.

• How long should each story in a local newsletter be?

  About two paragraphs, and often less. Readers can click through for detail, so a story only needs the point and why it matters. I write news in a Smart Brevity style with 'the gist' and 'why it matters,' then link to the source. Never more than two sentences without a break, and cut hard because newsletter space is limited.

• How often should a local newsletter send?

  Start at once a week and never go dark. Add a send day when you sell out the ad slots you have, which for me came around 7,000 subscribers. The publishers I know who went to five days a week say unsubscribes barely moved. Shorter, more frequent issues build the habit and the brand.

• Should I add polls to my newsletter, and what questions work best?

  Yes. I keep a "how did we do?" poll at the end of every issue and add a fun local poll near the top when I have a good question. Clicks tell Gmail people are paying attention and show advertisers real engagement. The best questions tap pride and friendly competition, like asking readers for their favorite beach.

• Should a local newsletter cover crime and politics?

  My default is no: no crime, no police, no politics, nothing negative, and I hold advertisers to the same rule. That's a choice, not a law. The person I know who makes the most from a local newsletter covers crime constantly, and a small town can support covering everything. Decide based on your goals and your town's size.

• Should a local newsletter have a podcast or video section?

  Yes, if the show is short. I run a Podcast Spotlight section that shows the YouTube thumbnail in the email so readers click through to watch. Keep a local show quick, weekly and unscripted, reacting to what's in the newsletter. 20 or 30 minutes is too long. Your newsletter readers are the easiest audience a local podcast will ever get.

• Should a local newsletter have a real estate section?

  Yes. People love real estate even when they aren't buying. I call it Zillow spying. Homes are among my most-clicked items every issue. Feature three homes (starter, normal, the fanciest you can find), change them every issue, filter out land and rentals, and run it before anyone pays, then trade or sell the slot to a realtor.

• Should a newsletter give the value inside the email or send readers to your website?

  Inside the email. The newsletter is the product, not an ad for your website. Give readers quick hits with enough information that they know what's going on without clicking, readable in three to five minutes. That attention is what makes the ads inside it valuable. Longer articles can live on the site as a bonus.

• Should a newsletter include memes and GIFs?

  Yes. A landscaping company newsletter I do has about a 60% open rate, and the owner credits the memes at the end of every issue. Put memes at the end, an image or GIF in most sections, and a poll when you have a good question. Local media is boring; being the fun one is the easiest way to stand out.

• What is a B2B local newsletter and how is it different from a regular one?

  A B2B local newsletter is written for business owners and white-collar professionals instead of the general public: Morning Brew-style local business news, six-figure jobs and business events. The audience is about 80% smaller, so cover a whole county or metro. Mine reached 700 to 800 subscribers in three weeks at 80 to 90 cents each.

• What is the best day and time to send a local newsletter?

  Early morning, Tuesday through Thursday. I send at about 6 AM, and most local operators I know send between 6 and 6:30 so the issue is one of the first emails in the inbox. Thursday is events day because people are planning their weekend. Treat send time as something to test, and send from a person's name.

• What should a local newsletter include?

  Events first, restaurants second, then everything people actually care about: a couple of local news items that matter, a local business, real estate with one fancy house, a pet or volunteer spot, and a short personal editorial. Skip crime and council-meeting coverage. Start with easy, engaging sections, not hard news.

• What should a realtor or small business put in a newsletter so people actually read it?

  Give readers what they want, not your pitch: a few local events, a laugh, interesting stuff from your trade, a featured home if you're a realtor, and a short personal note. Your listings and calls to action ride along. Send it weekly. Most business newsletters are 'me, me, me' or just a link somewhere else, and nobody reads them.

• What should an industry newsletter cover so professionals actually read it?

  Write for the operators, not the investors. Cover what's happening in the industry that affects someone doing the job, keep the value inside the email, and make it entertaining. Most trade media is old magazines covering mergers nobody in sales cares about. And don't brand it around a tool, like "AI for [your industry]."

• What should you check before sending a newsletter?

  Send yourself a real test email, not just the platform preview, and open it on your phone. Then check: the subject and preview fit in one or two lines, the email isn't so link-heavy that Gmail clips it, images are sized for a phone, and every listing is still current and honest. Make the test send a required step every time.

• Who reads local newsletters?

  Mostly upper-middle-class women, 40 and up, who own their homes. Across my 20-plus launches, readers are typically 70 to 80% female, 50 to 70% homeowners, and roughly half earn over $100,000. Some markets skew much older: over 70% aged 55-plus in one. Busy young families read less than I expected.

• Why do AI-written newsletter drafts need so much rewriting, and how do you fix it?

  Usually two problems at once: thin facts and the wrong voice. When a writer on my team was rewriting almost 100% of AI drafts, about half the fixes were factual and half were voice. The fix: give the AI the full source, two or three real examples per section, a stronger model, and a spot for a local's own notes.

• Why does a local newsletter need a real person's voice instead of AI aggregation?

  Because a real local person is the one thing AI aggregators can't fake. A short weekly editorial (your weekend, your kids, the local insight only a resident has) gives readers something to grab onto. Use AI for most of the curation, then put a human voice on top. It doesn't have to be the owner, but it has to be someone real.