Not everyone needs a newsletter

You don’t necessarily need a newsletter.

This may be an odd statement to receive in a newsletter about writing newsletters, and I think it’s important to write a newsletter because you actually want to and not because someone’s told you that you should.

When it makes sense to write a newsletter:

• You’re hoping to move away from social media (or not get started in the first place) and want a way to stay in touch with people who have expressed an interest in your work.

• You’re interested in exploring your craft and growing as a clinician as you think and write in public.

• You want a way to serve your community and your potential clients, even when they’re not working with you 1:1

• You have the time and inclination to send newsletters regularly.

• You’re willing to keep sending newsletters as a form of practice, even though they may not be perfect.

When it doesn’t make sense to write a newsletter:

• Your practice runs on referrals. Most people find you through word of mouth and sign up based on this.

• You have other ways to stay in touch with people who have recently met you or come across your work. For example: social media, a podcast, etc. You are consistent at showing up in these ways, and people regularly sign up for your paid offers through these channels.

• You don’t have the time or inclination to write one.

• If you did write one, it would be primarily to check off the box and may not reflect well on your practice.

Two of the biggest roles your newsletter serves related to marketing are 1) It helps people who aren’t ready to work with you yet to get a feel for who you are, how you work and whether you’d be a good fit, and 2) It reminds people that you exist so that they remember you when they’re ready to work with you.

If you don’t want to write a newsletter, you can fill these roles by regularly showing up in other places (social media, podcast, YouTube) and/or you can turn to different marketing practices like building your referral network.

For me, a newsletter has been well worth it. It’s not always - or even usually - easy to write one consistently. By stretching myself to write publicly, to show up regularly, to share pieces of myself in my writing, to center my readers, and to clearly express myself, I’ve been able to build a practice that sustains me and brings in just the types of clients I’m hoping to work with.

I hope your newsletter will do the same for you 💚

Take care,

Camille