3. Experienced Consultant
Your newsletter can take on the role of consultant. In this role, the consultant offers wisdom gained from long experience with the industry or with clients similar to you. This newsletter offers valuable information or advice, without the hefty price-tag you'd pay a consultant. This type of newsletter�written in the first person�is the most obvious way to establish a bond with subscribers because the consultant talks directly to them.

Business coach and motivator Robert Middleton's newsletter, More Clients, is a good example of a newsletter that offers up a consultant's expertise. It is personal, conversational, informative, and practical. In the May 10, 2005 issue of More Clients, Middleton weaves anecdotes and experience to show subscribers how to get winning testimonials from clients. He writes "Remember the paving contractor I mentioned a few issues ago?" then goes on to share the advice he gave the contractor for getting testimonials. Middleton then explains how to apply his advice to your business.

4. Storyteller
Everyone likes a good story, and newsletters that tell good stories create powerful bonds with subscribers. What kind of stories do your subscribers want? Very likely they want the "back story" of a company's success. How did Widgets Unlimited double widget sales? Like a good fable, the story ends with a moral�lessons learned. (The Tortoise and the Hare: "Slow but steady wins the race." Widgets Unlimited: "Offer a life-time warranty.")

Case studies are a key component of many of Marketing Sherpa's newsletters, including their business-to-business and business-to-consumer newsletters. Their case studies tell marketing success stories gleaned from interviews with high-level marketing executives. The case study defines the marketing problem, gives the back story�what was tried and what worked�and presents the lesson learned. In "How AFLAC Raised Its Consumer Brand Awareness From Almost Zero to 92%," Sherpa tells the story of how a company with an obscure and meaningless name became a brand almost universally recognized.

5. Subscriber Stand-In
An obvious role for a newsletter is stand-in for the subscriber. The publisher contacts the experts and asks the questions subscribers would ask if they had the opportunity and the access. In each issue of CRMGuru.com's CustomerThink Advisor newsletter, founder Bob Thompson "sits down with" and "picks the brains" of one or more thought leaders in the CRM sales and marketing arena. The tone is conversational and informal�the way you would talk if you were meeting over a beer.

In the April 5, 2005 issue of CustomerThink Advisor, Thompson moderates a teleconference with three Call Center experts. The topic: Can a Call Center also be a profit center? In his role as subscriber stand-in, Thompson asks the questions on his subscribers' minds: Is it really feasible? Is it really happening? He elicits frank responses: Companies are struggling with the concept, but those who have revamped have seen remarkable success.

So, can your newsletter take on more than one role? Of course. But be careful not to play too many roles or your subscribers won't be able to figure out who you are or establish a bond. Perhaps e-newsletter publishers should take the advice John Wayne (who really had only one role) gave to other actors: "Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much."

(c) E-WRITE, 2004.

Marilynne Rudick and Leslie O'Flahavan are partners in E-WRITE, a training and consulting company that specializes in writing for online readers. Rudick and O'Flahavan are authors of Clear, Correct, Concise E-Mail: A Writing Workbook for Customer Service Agents.