Here where I live in North Carolina they plant corn, tobacco, and cars. Cars?!

Piled high or strewn about, you’ll find fields of cars wherever you go. In some cases, pine trees have grown up around them, other times, they’re planted amidst the tall, green weeds.

It’s unlikely anyone here actually thinks their planted fields of cars will yield a bountiful fleet of sparkling SUVs because, after all, everyone knows cars don’t grow. Besides, North Carolina’s in the middle of a drought (complete with water rationing), so I suspect they’d frown on watering a field of cars.

Are you planting the equivalence of cars in your company newsletter? Just like these cars take up field space that could be used for forests, homes, crops or exploring 10-year-olds, most newsletters have excess material that’s just there to take up space.

In your newsletter, the cars might be recipes or jokes unrelated to your customers. Or maybe you fill your newsletter space with ads because people are willing to buy the space.

Your Turn:
Grab a recent copy of your newsletter and draw a big X through anything that doesn’t educate your ideal target market, guide your current customers, or demonstrate what sets you apart from competitors. How much of your newsletter’s Xed out? 10%? 25%? 50% or more? In your next issue, try to reduce that percentage.

Get the cars out of your newsletter and each issue will become a lot more effective.