Like any form of direct communication with your customer, newsletters need to reflect and enhance your brand. The first decision to make is the purpose of your newsletter: is it purely informational; is it a selling tool; or a combination of both? Most newsletters combine the two elements, although many focus primarily on information and the sales part is limited to an order form insert and a review of each wine. This approach is not highly sales motivated and is more likely to be a relationship building tool rather than a sales tool. The message is: every piece of communication should maximise the selling opportunity so you need to assess how yours is performing.

Like you, your customers don't have much free time available in their day to wade through reams of copy that may have limited interest to them. So respect their time and keep your communication succinct by speaking to them in a language that they relate to. Start by grabbing their attention with a headline - just like the newspapers do. A vintage snapshot that says "Hottest Summer on Record" is just a statement of fact; "Summer Heatwave Delivers Exceptionally Ripe Reds and Fruity Whites", followed by a lead-in that predicts just how tasty these wines will be but warns of limited supply, will induce further reading.

Reader's Digest has a winning formula with frequency and relevance. But take a closer look at what really hooks you as you thumb through a dog-eared copy in the doctor's waiting room. It's the headlines. They're designed to pique your interest quickly and get you straight into the story.

Tell your Story
Now, if you don't think you've got a story to tell, then perhaps you shouldn't be considering writing a newsletter. Let's take a look at a typical winery newsletter. It opens with a welcome to this season's newsletter and offers a weather report and a prediction about the progress of the vintage to date. Riveting stuff! There might be a review of a new wine, some tasting notes and perhaps some details about where the winemaker has travelled to recently, which just makes the reader jealous and sets them wondering about how you can afford to do that.... In essence the typical winery newsletter talks mostly about the winery, when in fact customers are naturally far more interested in themselves and how what you say relates to them.

Let's take the weather report. Suppose it has been a particularly hot summer and you've been busy bunch thinning in the vineyard and raising the canopy to protect the remaining bunches. How is that news of any benefit to your customers? Well it's not - unless you tell them why you've spent so much time sweating it out in the vineyard while they're sitting on their veranda sipping your crisp Riesling and popping a few oysters. The fact is that all your hard work is to ensure that they will have another great Riesling to enjoy the following summer. And since you've just reduced the crop by a third, they should take advantage of your pre-release offer and reserve a case so they don't miss out. A couple of photos of you hard at work and another of your wine being consumed by happy customers on the balcony of an outdoor restaurant overlooking the beach will consolidate the story.

Make a Compelling Offer
To a large extent, your audience has already been determined, and the fact people are subscribing to your newsletter means they're already interested. But you still have to make them an offer and appeal to their broader wine interests. So in addition to information about the vintage you can include regional information, perhaps about an upcoming event that you're involved in, or highlight some recent research that shows the benefits of drinking red wine in general (and yours in particular) for their health. Is there a little "family secret" you could "let them in on" so they've got another story to tell their friends at their next dinner party while they serve your wine.

Then there's the offer itself. This has to be couched in benefits - for your customer. Your benefit is well known - you want the sale. Tell the reader exactly what they will get, and how they will feel (paint a picture with words); give them some "proof" that their purchase decision is a good one (such as a third party endorsement from a journalist); tell them what will happen if they don't act now (the stock is limited and they'll miss out); then paraphrase it all again and spell out how to make their purchase (phone number, email, etc). And give them a time line for action that is realistic but short. Your offer should be so compelling that they've got no reason to "think about it" and delay for even one more minute.

In summary, follow the AIDA principle:

• Create Attention - This is the role of your headline.
• Generate Interest - state clearly the features, advantages and benefits (your mixed dozen contains a selection of summer-friendly wines... which will match any holiday occasion... so all you need to do is chill them and serve to your guests).
• Elicit Desire - Demonstrate why your customer really has to have this particular offer and how they will feel when they do. Reinforce the importance of acting now and the consequences of missing out.
• Demand Action - Your call to action must be stated clearly. Tell the reader exactly how to go about taking advantage of your offer. Provide the order form, web link, email address or telephone number - or all of them if the choice is available.

And a word of warning: be selective when using humour. What's funny to you might not be for your reader, so unless your personal brand of humour is distinctive and a unique "feature" of your brand promise and communication style, use it sparingly.

Finally, writing just might not be your thing. If it's not, and you know your time is better spent on other aspects of the business, contract someone to write for you and ensure you get the best possible outcome.

Email
Without doubt email has become the preferred method of communication for many people. It is a cheap and effective medium through which to communicate regularly with your customers in a highly personalised manner.

To alleviate the paper crisis, many of your customers will elect to receive your newsletter by email as an attachment, but often including information in the body of the email is more effective. Be aware that many "firewalls" will reject emails with attachments in case they contain a virus. Ensure you indicate in the subject line or the email body that an attachment exists, including a contact number in case it cannot be opened.

If a customer has given you their email address, you can assume permission to contact them this way. That doesn't mean bombarding them unnecessarily with irrelevant offers. It is a terrific opportunity to build a personal relationship by conveying timely news and tailored offers.

Database systems can be programmed to send out emails whenever they have been scheduled to activate. This may be to confirm an order, advise despatch date or invite customers to an event. Systems also offer in-depth reporting tools to analyse response rates and monitor customer responses.

Direct mail and telemarketing are still the major direct marketing activities, but this has now been supplemented with email and Internet facilities.