This week I was asked what is involved in editing a newsletter and thought I'd pass it along to others since I advocate every webmaster have a regular e-mail newsletter to keep in touch with potential clients and create a sense of community within their audience of web site visitors.

Editing involves proofreading articles for spelling, punctuation, grammar and readability. There is also formatting the newsletters so that all mail clients from Eudora to Netscape Messenger to Outlook Express can see a properly displayed page with word wrap set at a maximum 65 characters per line. Use a fixed-width font such as courier new to view your work, as it will be seen in mail clients that require them.

Then any stylistic concerns like indenting paragraphs, double spacing between sentences and using specific "spacer characters" such as asterisks or dashes used to create a specific look for each e-zine.

Gathering and editing material or writing original material for each issue is the most important task. Understanding list management software commands and/or list host user interface. Knowing how your work will perform (mailto and hypertext links) in AOL mail clients. Setting up advertiser links to track responses and determine "ROI" for their ad dollars. (Here's a good one to try http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R263_ROIbot for a free trial)

Dealing with advertisers by phone fax and e-mail for ad-supported lists is critical for businesses that value their subscriber lists as traffic generators and advertising vehicles. (Love those machinery metaphors!) So, there you have a job description for an editor/list manager. This is a position every webmaster should strive to fill with either a qualified editor or learn to handle himself. An editor and list manager can make or break your list and dramatically affect your online business!  

Mike Banks Valentine
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