Whether you are a one-person shop, or small to medium size shop, planning your newsletter is key; it will mean the success, ongoing and immediate, of your newsletter deliveries.

So first ask yourself, "What is my message, or messages?" and then prioritize them. At Bluebird Courier we love designing beautiful newsletters, but simply placing pretty images and designs within the newsletter can still lead to an ineffectual campaign.

Content is key, then think of how to visually render this message to capture the attention and imagination of your audience from your newsletter.

You may be in a hurry and just need to get out the first newsletter, everyone knows this feeling. But at some point soon, take a deep breath and consider the following questions:

1) Think about your audience and who you are sending the emails to. What is the best way to capture their attention with your newsletter?

2) What is your main reason for sending the newsletter and how will that aspect determine your content? Then how should you develop your titles, subtitles, and body content to reflect this message?

And remember, you may only have your readers for a few seconds and they may be reading your newsletter within a viewing pane and only get the very top portion of your newsletters. So in addition to you header, have your main message at top. It doesn't mean your images or titles have to be really big - too big and your readers may not see enough of it; just visually and relatively larger and at the top.

Remember, too, that most often, your readers will not see the images at first, so be sure to use image captions and text that will let your readers know who your are and the reason for the email without images. Then they will open your newsletter and allow images for the full visual impact of your newsletter.

3) What type of emails are you planning to send - all catalogs, or relevant news features, or announcements, or a combination of emails? You also need to determine your timing, which ones to send and to whom (should you segment your audience) and how often?

Too many newsletters and you'll lose subscribers, too few, and they will not feel they have a relationship with you. It all depends on your message and the type of email newsletter you plan to send. Testing a few methods may be necessary at first and discovering more about how your audience responds. The discovery is key, too; for it is the process of learning about your audience that is important. You may strike it rich first delivery. But most often you, the business owner, are part of the process of getting to know your customers through email.

4) If you have existing visual designs relevant to your email campaign, how do you incorporate those images for consistency and to support your message? Your email is not your website or your entire corporate book or catalog. So use your existing images and content in a way that is representative, and send your readers on to your website for further information.

5) And finally, if you see examples of other email newsletters you like, what is it you like about them and would they apply to your current needs in getting across your message?