Once upon a time, there was a newsletter publisher who bemoaned the trouble he had keeping his readers’ attention.

There was but one solution–ask the town’s citizens. So, he wrote up a proclamation and posted it around the town: “Wanted: Ideas for writing a better newsletter. Prize Awarded for Best Solution.”

He received suggestions from kingdoms far and wide. Some of the suggestions were downright silly: “Write the newsletter on candy-flavored paper,” and “Write the newsletter articles in fireworks.”

Others sounded like too much work like: “Spend more time writing the introduction paragraph,” or “Write about topics your readers are already interested in.”

It was a dark and stormy afternoon when the newsletter arrived in my inbox. It was the most recent issue from Dan, a new client, and he wanted the scoop on why his newsletter wasn’t working.

You’ve seen newsletters like his–attractive design, polished articles, but something just seems missing.

He had all the basics covered in his newsletter–it balanced promotion with information, he had specific goals, and he published on a consistent basis. He was even starting to integrate some advanced newsletter techniques like storytelling.

Newsletters are magical things–they can attract customers, increase company profits, establish expertise and much more. But, did you know they can also help you increase your search engine rankings?

A newsletter can be a fantastic way to lure new customers, but without the right bait, you can send out line after line (or issue after issue) and not get a single bite.

What should you be baiting your newsletter with? Let’s take a look…

May I ask you something sort of personal? Does your newsletter seem like too much work sometimes? If it does, you’ll definitely want to check out today’s feature article which is all about where your newsletter can get out of alignment and why it’s so crucial to keep things *in* alignment. (And, of course, I can’t possibly leave you without a practical, easy-to-apply solution–or without revealing my least favorite childhood rainy-day activity…)