Effective customer newsletters find the right mix of promotional and real content to maximize readership.

Its that time of year when the old college roommate sends round his or her annual holiday newsletter. Admit it, youre happy to hear from them, but its usually too long and its all me, me, me.

The same is true about too many customer newsletters printed or electronic. In the audiobook, Sound Advice on Publishing E-Newsletters, author Michael Katz says one of the biggest mistakes made by company newsletters is that the focus is mostly on the company doing the writing. Its all right to include announcements of recent awards, new employees, and new customer wins, he says, just dont lead with it.

Instead, lead with and focus on what is useful, interesting, and relevant to the audience information that helps customers do their jobs successfully or live their lives better. When it comes to writing a customer newsletter, Katz says, Remember the 80-20 rule. 80% of your newsletter should be focused on helping the reader; 20% should be about you.

Michael Katz offers advice on how to create, write, and publish e-newsletters each week in the free audio-newsletter from Whats Working in Biz, http://www.whatsworking.biz/full_story.asp?ArtID=92