Do you ever wonder who writes and publishes those small newsletters you see around town? They’re the 4- or 8-page briefs that are distributed at the grocery store, the gym, your child’s school, and many other businesses in town. If you belong to any online communities, you’re probably familiar with the numerous electronic newsletters available, too. Basically, if you leave your house at all or surf the Web for a minute or two, you’ve glanced at your fair share of these brief, newsy pamphlets.

What you may not know is that many businesses would love to have their own newsletters for use as marketing or to distribute information, yet they don’t know who to hire to write and publish theirs. Freelance writers are the perfect people for the job! And, convincing a business to spend a nominal fee for this service is easy, because it’s often cheaper than buying newspaper, magazine and television advertisements.

Whether you’re a technical writer, a freelance news reporter, a fiction writer, or a poet, you’ve got the skills to make money as a newsletter writer and editor. Add a little desktop publishing experience to the mix and you may even decide to make newsletter production a your full-time, freelance gig. If you’re organized, diligent, and creative, it’s time to consider adding this type of writing to your resume.

The first step, of course, would be researching your market. You probably already have some of these newsletters coming to your mailbox each month. You will also find them sitting on counters of businesses throughout town. You can see how other companies are pitching their wares via newsletters, which will give you content ideas for your future clients.

Speaking of clients, you already have several potential clients in your address book. From your family doctor to your accountant to your local beauty parlor, almost every business can benefit from sending out a warm and informative greeting to their existing clients and potential new clients. These PR nudges, when blended with quality editorial that helps their customers, can bring in more repeat and new customers than an ad in the local newspaper.

Your next endeavor would be to create some template newsletters and to arrange meetings with your community contacts. You can then build on those relationship and get referrals for even more clients.

If you need help with pitch letters, newsletter templates, content ideas, or anything involved with newsletter writing and desktop publishing, I invite you to register for my class, Cash In on Newsletter Writing and Publishing: How to Land Corporate Newsletter Clients.

Unlike magazines, which receive dozens of query letters each day, few businesses receive offers to write a customized newsletter. If you capitalize on this, and prove yourself to be professional and dependable, you should be able to build up a client list in no time. Good luck!

Victoria Groves is a freelance writer and newspaper reporter living in Massachusetts. She has written for numerous publications including Baltimore Magazine and Chesapeake Family News Magazine. Her newsletter clients include private, municipal and non-profit organizations for which she creates both print and e-newsletters. Victoria has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public policy and administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has spoken at a variety of writing workshops and conferences on both newswriting and newsletter writing.

This article may be freely reprinted/redistributed as long as the entire article and bio are included.