By Jessica Albon

The other day, I was having an email conversation with a friend about business goals.

She mentioned that she’d started a book only to realize she didn’t want to write one *right now* after all.

She had mixed feelings about the decision, though. After all, *everyone* says a good consultant *must* write a book. And she was feeling the pressure.

In a reply email, I offered her a piece of advice that, as soon as I’d typed it, I knew was really advice for *me* and not her.

Have you ever had that happen? You’re talking with someone and you hear yourself making a suggestion that you realize (on the spot or later on) is exactly what *you* needed to hear?

This final newsletter ingredient continues to be the hardest for me–I grapple with it in nearly every issue. See, persistence, and staying the course with your newsletter, is all about keeping your focus on the things that matter. Not letting yourself get distracted by all those *other* great ideas. The sections you *could* add to your newsletter. The design changes you *could* make. The requests and reviews and … that *might* be good to include.

I find myself going around in circles some weeks–not wanting to start the newsletter, and yet being on a deadline and *needing* to start the newsletter. And, each time I get caught in this circle, the solution is consistently the same. Yet, it often takes me several hours to *realize* that I know how to resolve my procrastination.

For me, what works most often is to STOP what I’m doing (surfing the Internet for ideas, reading someone else’s book or newsletter, asking someone else what they think I should write about, reviewing back issues) and to simply SIT for a few minutes.

I know that’s the solution. And I know it works 9 times out of 10. And yet, I still find myself unwilling to apply it at the first sign of distress.

Then again, I’m the same way about taking medicine ;-). I have to get really, really, really sick before I even think of taking something.

So often, we think of persistence as working harder, as pushing through it, as forcing ourselves to buckle down and “get it done.” And there’s value to that.

But, in this case, I’m speaking of persistence as more of a willingness to repeat those actions you already *know* work for you. So, if you know that a plain text newsletter format works best for you, don’t let yourself wonder if you should publish in HTML every few months. If you know your readers respond best when you talk about your dog, don’t listen to that consultant who tells you to be more buttoned up.

By persistence, I’m asking you to commit to blazing your own trail–doing things your own way. Persist in that. And don’t worry about what everyone says, or what works for everyone else.

P.S. If you find a magical formula for this kind of persistence, I’m all ears ;-).

Your challenge: Today apply that piece of advice you find yourself repeating, but *never* applying in your own newsletter.

By Jessica Albon

Publishing a newsletter is hard work. Whether you publish weekly or monthly or quarterly, there’s research and writing, inspiration-finding, editing and layout to do.

And though the rewards are great, sometimes, that’s just not enough. You know I think newsletters are amazing–and you know I enjoy spending this time with you each week. I love the emails you send me. Your vote of confidence when you forward your issue, or recommend someone read NIF, that means a great deal to me. And, of course, the predictable Monday-morning *sales* boost isn’t exactly annoying ;-).

But, sometimes I find myself wondering if I could put the time I spend on NIF to better use. I worry that I’ll run out of ideas, burn myself out on writing altogether, and start to be dreadfully dull.

Have you ever felt this way about your newsletter?

I took a look at the other newsletter companies out there, the people who are doing what I do, and saw that very few of them offer a newsletter. So, I thought, that means I don’t need one either.

And I considered this break in issues a bit of a trial run. This break was a time for me to see how it felt not to write a newsletter each and every week.

I have to admit, I liked the break!

Because you might be in a similar situation, considering ceasing publication of your own newsletter, I wanted to share with you some advice on how to proceed.

Take a break

Your first step should be to take some time off. You can either announce this to your readers, letting them know there won’t be a new issue for x number of weeks, or you can publish back issues to keep readers busy.

See how you feel during this time. You’ll probably feel relieved! I used to think it was the *time* that goes into a newsletter that makes it a bit exhausting. But after taking my own break, I realize it’s the emotional intensity of it–the worry about whether or not readers will like what you’ve written, the worry about delivery, the struggle to just plain get down to business and start putting words on paper.

Just because this time off is a relief, that doesn’t mean you should stop publishing. But, it does mean you might want to rethink your approach to your newsletter. You could hire someone to handle the parts that weigh most heavily on you, or you could cut out certain actions or concerns (set up a blog alternative and stop worrying so much about distribution, for instance).

Examine your business model

Does your business model absolutely require a newsletter? What are some other formats that could give you similar results (a 6-week autoresponder, for instance)? How else might you stay in touch with your readers?

Get out a pen and paper and spend at least 15 minutes brainstorming all your alternatives. Don’t edit yourself as you go–you’re just generating options, not making any decisions yet.

Once you’ve created a list of options, analyze them–which ones will help you make the *profits* you want? Which ones could genuinely replace the benefits you get from your newsletter?

Does your newsletter fill a part in your business model? What’s its role in your marketing strategy? Is it fulfilling its potential? Is there another way you could get the same or better results for less effort?

Stop seeing your newsletter as permanent

One mistake I noticed I’d made was that I’d just assumed that as long as I was running The Write Exposure, I would continue publishing Newsletters in Focus. But there’s no rule that says you have to stick with one way of marketing forever.

A newsletter is just a marketing tool. And, sure, it’s a great one. But that doesn’t mean it’s always the right one.

Have you been operating under the assumption that you’ll just publish forever, until you close (or sell, or otherwise stop running) the business?

Take a fresh look

I’m not suggesting you stop publishing. But, I’m not suggesting you keep publishing, either. Rather, I’d like you to take a new look at your newsletter. Is it meeting your goals? Is it flourishing? Or is it a weight on your shoulders that’s holding you back?

For me, I realized I really enjoy writing NIF. And, sure, I could get back an entire day if I stopped publishing (I write it in about an hour, but I procrastinate for a good 3-4 first ;-)). But, I discovered during my time off that I probably wouldn’t get much writing done. And I’d miss an incredibly rewarding way of interacting with you.

So, yes, I’ll still be publishing for the foreseeable future. And it’s been extremely enlightening to realize that I *choose* to write and publish NIF.

What if you decide differently? If you decide you’d like to stop publishing your newsletter, you might follow this three-step process:

1. Write your readers. You don’t have to go into great detail, but do let them know the general story behind your decision. If you don’t, they may worry about you.
2. Put your archives up online. This is a good idea anyway, as it’s likely to increase your search engine rankings. By posting archives, you’re letting new visitors to your site enjoy some of that interaction with you.
3. Keep an announcement list. Whatever you do, though, unless you’re closing the business, don’t close your list completely. Let your readers know that you’ll still keep in touch with them, and try to write your list every two months with a new product offering or special discount. These emails can be very short, but do send them.

Whatever you decide, it’s a pleasure having you on my list. Thank you for inviting me into your mailbox each week.