How to Know if You’re Giving Away Your Crown
Last week, I was speaking with a client (we’ll call her Jane) who was wondering about what she should write about in her newsletter.
Jane’s an independent professional who consults with retailers to help them maximize their sales. She has a loyal client base and has just started her newsletter. She’s on her third issue.
She’s having trouble walking that fine line between educating her readers with valuable information and “giving away her crown.”
Giving away your crown is a term I use at the Newsletter Spa to describe the habit of giving the reader information he or she doesn’t have the expertise to put to use.
Giving away valuable information is the cornerstone of a great newsletter, but in our desire to give away plenty of value, many of us also transfer the crown of our expertise. We say to the reader, in effect, “with this information, you’ll be the expert.”
It likely took you years to get to where you are today in ability and expertise. And it’s likely it would take your readers just as long. Therefore, you can’t expect them to apply information in the same way you would.
Perhaps the easiest way to balance keeping your crown with providing valuable information is to see if your newsletter passes this five question test.
- Is the information in your newsletter focused? Use the old “is the topic narrow enough to write a high school term paper on it” test–could you write about five pages on the topic and cover it well?
- Is the information in your newsletter relevant? Will your readers relate to the information? Is it useful to them where they are today?
- Is the information in your newsletter comprehensive? Do you give readers all the pieces? High-quality newsletters don’t leave any of the details out.
- Do your readers have the experience to apply the information? How will they know they’ve had a success? Will they be able to correct-course in the middle of applying your advice?
- Will your readers value the information? This is key. You can think the content is more valuable than a chest of gold, but if your readers disagree, they’re right.
Your Challenge: Ask yourself these five questions about your next newsletter issue. If you’re not sure of the answers (and perspective is one of those things it’s hard to have about your own newsletter), ask a colleague you trust for their thoughts.
Members: Talk about this topic in the forum.
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About the Author
Jessica helps independent professionals become Indispensable Experts through powerful publishing programs. She works with clients one-on-one as a newsletter designer and writer and in groups through the Newsletter Spa.
Email Jessica directly, to find out more.