A newsletter is a recurring email sent to subscribers. It gives people a reason to hear from your business between purchases, whether that's useful advice, updates they need or offers they've asked to receive.
Before choosing a design, decide what someone will gain from the first issue and name the topic of the second. If both answers are vague, work on the idea before inviting subscribers.
Give people a reason to subscribe
“Sign up for news” leaves the reader guessing. Say who the newsletter is for, what it contains and how often it arrives. Mention offers if you plan to send them.
Take a fictional product photography studio serving small online shops. Its signup text could read:
One practical tip each month to help you prepare for product photography, with occasional studio offers. Unsubscribe whenever you like.
Choose a frequency you can maintain alongside your other work; monthly is only an example. Outline a few issues that fit the promise, such as preparing products, choosing camera angles and deciding where the images will appear.
Put the promise beside the signup form, with your business identity and privacy information easy to find. Ask people to subscribe explicitly and include an easy unsubscribe option in every issue. Someone requesting a quote or buying a product shouldn't have to guess whether they're also joining your mailing list.
If you rely on consent under the EU GDPR, it must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. A clear affirmative action is required; preselected boxes don't count. Keep evidence and make withdrawal as easy as giving consent, as the EDPB's small-business guidance explains. Email marketing rules vary by country and circumstances; a previous purchase alone isn't universal permission to send a newsletter.
Prepare one useful issue
Answer a question inside the email so readers have something they can use. For the fictional studio, that's a list of what to prepare before a shoot.
Use a recognizable sender name and a subject that describes the topic. Preview text, the short line often shown beside the subject, can add a useful detail. Choose one main next action. In this example, a reply is enough.
Here's a complete fictional issue. Replace the footer placeholders with your business details and a working unsubscribe link from your newsletter tool.
From: Product Photography Studio
Subject: What to prepare before your product shoot
Preview: A short list for the products, views and files you need.
Hello,
Before packing products for a shoot, make a list of the images your shop needs. A front view may show the shape, while a close-up helps explain a clasp, texture or finish.
Start with these checks:
- List the views needed for each product, including details a customer might otherwise ask about.
- Check and clean the actual items being photographed. Inspect labels, packaging and surfaces before sending them.
- Note dimensions and identify each color or size variant. Mark which variants need separate images.
- Confirm where the photos will be used. Share any required image dimensions, file formats or background requirements before the shoot.
Keep those notes with the product list so the photographer can confirm which photos to take before work begins.
Which product or detail is hardest to show in your shop? Reply with a short description.
Best wishes, Product Photography Studio
You're receiving this because you subscribed to the studio's monthly photography tips and occasional offers.
[Your business name, address and contact details]
[Insert the unsubscribe link provided by your newsletter tool]
This issue delivers the promised advice. Save promotions for when you have a relevant offer to share.
Choose a newsletter tool
Look for a newsletter tool that records signups and leaves unsubscribed addresses out of future sends. Check that you can edit an email comfortably, send a test and download your subscriber list if you decide to move to another tool. Check how the price changes as your list grows.
Before sending, follow the tool's instructions to verify your business email address and set up your business email domain, the part after the @ sign, for sending. This setup helps receiving email services check that messages came from an authorized sender. If the instructions ask you to change domain settings, ask the person who manages your website's domain to make those changes, then use the tool's check to confirm they're complete.
Keep the layout simple and write the message as real text. Photos can illustrate a point, but the instructions and next action should still make sense when images don't load.
Test the whole subscription process
Test with a list containing only addresses you control. Go through the process before sending a real campaign:
- Subscribe through the form. Check that the form explains what you're signing up for. Complete any confirmation step your setup uses, then find your test address in the tool's subscriber list.
- Send the issue to your test address. Check the sender, subject and preview, then read it on a phone. Hide images and confirm the message still makes sense.
- Follow the main action. If the email asks for a reply, send one and check that it reaches a monitored inbox. Check any other links too.
- Unsubscribe through the received email. Confirm the platform records the change and excludes that address from the next test campaign's recipients.
Record the results and resolve failed checks before adding real recipients.
After a real send, review replies, responses to the main action and unsubscribes. Questions about hard-to-photograph details could give the studio a topic for its next issue. One send won't establish whether the newsletter brings sales.
Copy the example above for your first draft. Replace the studio's topic with a useful answer for your customers, add your business details and unsubscribe link, then run the checks before sending.
