Today I have an unusually long quote from someone else. It's probably a violation of Fair Use, actually, if you know what I mean. (So I hope you don't!) I think of it as an homage to Michael Katz, so if you like it, please run over to Blue Penguin Development and buy something.
Anyway, if you aspire to be an expert, as I do, then you want to share that expertise. Which means you have to dominate the conversation. Publishing a newsletter allows you to pick the topic, in hopes that some day someone will join you in conversation. Or, at least, listen. Or notice that you seem to know what you're talking about. We can only hope.
Solo Professional e-Newsletter*: A Random Writing Recipe, 2011-Nov-11, by Michael Katz
- At their best, your newsletters represent an ongoing conversation, not chapters in a book.
And so while it makes sense - and I recommend - coming up with a big list of topics when you begin publishing, that's really just to get you started. Your most memorable issues will be those in which you notice something - in your work or in your industry - and are able to comment on or explain that something's relevance from the perspective of the experienced expert that you are.
Insights, not information.
- Redundancy is not a big problem.
When writing their newsletter, lots of people are overly concerned with "not saying something I said before." My recommendation? Don't worry about it.
First, because practically no one other than you will remember what you said and when you said it. And second, to the extent someone else does (you should be so lucky), they'll simply think of you as someone with a consistent point of view.
*Wasn't this originally called "The e-Newsletter on e-Newsletters"? I liked that name.
