As you can imagine, I know a lot of copywriters. Some are absolute poets at their craft. Others solid hitters who nail the project first time out. I am in awe of their massive and respective talents.

But many copywriters, perhaps even most, fail to remember their running a copywriting service business. They don’t work with contracts. They’re not assertive about being paid their due. They are reluctant business owners. (Not me, but we’ll save that for a future post … or two.) 

But even I share on common characteristic with these writers. I hate drumming up new business. After 20+ years, I rarely have to since my referral network continues to work for me — and I spend a lot of time on listservs and forums where my colleagues and prospects hang-out, where I add to the dialog and get my name and signature out into the universe.

It’s all good.

In the last few years I’ve also experimented with newsletters and newsletter systems as a way of staying in regular touch with my own clients and prospects.(I hope to restart one or something like it.)  I also use a newsletter for my online store, AdoptShoppe to inform customers about new products, discounts, etc. (And I’m pretty religious about it because wow, it really works!)

Many of my clients rely on email/newsletters to communicate with customers, sell stuff and disseminate information. I know because I’m usually the copywriter (and sometimes designer) behind the missives. So I thought I’d share about two email/newsletter systems that I’ve used, like, and would recommend for folks like us who aren’t techies but want to get the job done right.

Vertical Response
Nice templates for newsletters, very straightforward interface, easy data management, pretty good statistics. The biggest plus? It’s a pay-as-you-go system, no monthly fees or terms. The per piece rates are very reasonable. So if you’re the occasional newsletter sender, this is a great choice. I’ve used Vertical Response for AdoptShoppe (I email approximately 3,000 a month) for several years now and it does a superb job.

Constant Contact
An excellent system if you’ve already laid out your email, newsletter schedule and are ready to go. Monthly rates start at just $15. Terrific selection of templates and a robust data manager and statistics package. The biggest plus? You can use it risk-free for 60 days. Can’t beat that with a stick. Constant Contact has been a real favorite with my clients. Most have remained with it. It’s just too easy not to.

So why use an outside service instead of doing it yourself?

Because these services know all the NO-SPAM laws, have all the NO-SPAM systems in place and manage it all for you so you can concentrate on writing and generating revenue.

Both make it easy to add a little code to your blog or website to start collecting email addresses for your own email and newsletter campaigns. They handle the opt-outs, single and double opt-ins, the whole deal. (Personally, I spend enough time in "techy-land". I’ll let these folks do the heavy lifting when it comes to managing my subscribers and clients.)

There are many other terrific email/newsletter systems out there, but I haven’t used them. (If there is a service you really like, let me know. I’d love to take a look.) I’ve used these and think they’re worth a good look.

Essential Takeaway Point:
Drumming up new business is a necessity, but email/newsletters — even if you have a blog — is still an effective way of reaching prospects and customers on a regular basis. Don’t, however, kill your valuable time being a tech-head. Choose a solid service and let them do all the tech work – you just write ‘em and make ‘em pretty.