Small Business Newsletters That Rock

If your inbox is flooded and you decide to do some housekeeping. What is the first to go? Newsletters. There are emails you've stopped reading, stopped opening, or simply don't get value out of anymore.Why?  Because the content isn't useful as you hoped, It became monotonous, Or maybe just isn't relevant to you life any longer. 

Let's be honest, loyalty to a brand or business can not always stand the test of time — people’s taste change and they move on to other options. But if you're putting out valuable content, readers will continue to open and engage. Our advice to business owners that regularly send out newsletters is: 

Try to find different ways to catch readers attention and keep them interested, while they're subscribed and listening to what you have to say. 

"Great — How exactly do I do that?" This post is the first of our "Small Businesses Newsletters that Rock" blog series, showing you how to catch and keep attention.  We're featuring local businesses and proving you don’t have to have a huge marketing budget to produce successful newsletters.

Turnable Kitchen

It’s hard to find unique blogs and business concepts that make you say; “I wish I had thought of that!” Turntable Kitchen is one of them. It combines two of my favorite things – music and food. Both things mean so much to people, not only do they bring people together but also they evoke happy memories and create good new ones.  

Turntable Kitchen is the brainchild of husband and wife team Kasey and Matthew who created an out-of-the-box (literally) business concept of a "Pairings Box"— a monthly subscription plus blog and a newsletter. The box includes exclusive vinyl or a digital mixtape, three seasonal recipes, with tasting notes and some premium ingredients. 

I have been following Turntable Kitchen’s newsletters since I met Kasey a couple of years ago at San Francisco’s ALT Summit, and I always look forward to reading them.  Here are 4 reasons why their newsletters work: 

1. Engaging Content

Turntable Kitchen promote their upcoming curated Pairing Box by being one step ahead to what their follower’s needs. Their newsletter presents ideas that start to get people thinking about what they can cook and listen each month, in terms of entertaining that time of year. This is something most B2C businesses (especially in lifestyle industries) should be considering when planning their newsletter (and blog) content in line with an editorial calendar.  

ProTip:For example this time of year, consumers are planning their holiday parties, entertaining in their homes, gift ideas for family and friends.  Help them out by offering solutions to their seasonal needs using your services or products suggestions. Last week's How To Write Impactful Copy touched on this by saying: "Focus your content on how your product or service benefits your readers. What does it do for them? How is their life experience made better because of it?"

2. Tone

Turntable Kitchen use a warm and friendly “come over to our house” tone in their copy. For example when talking about getting ready for holidays, it sounds like this: "Started thinking about the holidays yet? We're already prepping recipes and music for December so we're feeling the spirit. But between now and then, there's a lot of delicious food, music, and drinks, so let's revel in the moodiness of the season."

ProTip: The key to most success newsletters is to make it sound personable, like you are talking to a good friend and sharing something useful with them. Try explaining your newsletter to a colleague or a friend, and notice which casual words you're using.

3. Great Photography

Their newsletter contains modern lifestyle imagery that is appealing with plenty of beautiful food pictures that inspire me to cook for family and friends.

ProTip: Take the time to select great photos that will appeal to your dream customer, or invest in a great product or lifestyle photographer who can transform your products from mediocre to lux “must-have” items.

4. Length

The length of their newsletters is manageable, and the spacing between the lines are easy to read. If you scan though something that looks too long and detailed (with big blocks of text), the chances are that you will flag the email with the intention of coming back to read it later, but you are so busy that you rarely do.

ProTip: Break blocks of text up by keeping to short paragraph and listing key things like benefits or tips as bullet points that are easy to scan read. We also talk about other important tips to keep readers engaged in our series How To Start Your Blog Today. 

Sending out regular newsletters is a great way to keep people up to date on what your brand is doing, such as special offers, inviting them to events etc. It is also a great way to cross-promotion with like-minded brands to widen your reach. Has newsletters been a successful vehicle for your business, if so how? 

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