Get More Readers With These Health, Beauty, Lifestyle and Family Topics
Last night's group coaching was, in a word, “fantastic”! (To find out how to join next week's session, click here.) Throughout this month, every Thursday night, we've been talking about the who, what, where, when and how of newsletter publishing. I can't wait to see all the great newsletters I'll be subscribed to now.
By popular demand, I am posting the 51 Great Topics For Your Newsletter that I shared on last night's call. While these topics are perfect for Indie Beauty businesses, most of them are also suitable for any woman-owned Indie business. We'll be covering blogging during the month of March, and you can use most of these topics for your blog as well! In either case, you are informing and entertaining your readers while also creating conversations that encourage your readers to buy your products.
LIFESTYLE
1. Recipes: quick and easy meals. Include a pictue of the dish for a unique graphic your readers can't get anywhere else.
2. Productivity: this study discusses whether productivity is related to number of hours worked. Share it with your readers and offer your spin on the topic.
3. Share recipes for using essential oils in food products. For example, add a drop of organic lavender oil and a tablespoon of organic lavender buds to a recipe for oatmeal cookies. Delicious! Link your readers to your Amazon account for a book called “Aroma” about using aromatic oils in foods.
4. Interview a leader at a non-profit organization that your business supports.
5. Share information about the book you are reading at the moment. Make makes it fun and interesting, and how is it changing the way you live your life?
6. Cite to this New York Times article about boredom at work New York Times encourage your readers to pursue their best and follow their dreams.
7. If you tried a new restaurant in your hometown, share the experience by taking pictures of the dish, interviewing the chef and recreating the recipe at home. Share the recipe with your readers.
8. Share a new website you discovered that carries fantastic tea or coffee, or even chocolate.
9. Add a “my two cents” or similarly named column to your newsletter and share your two cents about some issue of the day. It could be politics, global warming, the life or activities of a celebrity, a new fashion trend, music, a new book, the latest thing going on with Oprah, technology, gas prices, parenthood, entrepreneurship — the list is endless.
10. Site Seeing: share a favorite website and why you like it. If you purchased something there, let your readers know.
11. Pick an indulgence that you love and share something about it in each issue. It could be eye shadow, nail polish, shoes, vintage clothing, cars, cupcakes, cookies, herbal tea — whatever it is, share about it with your readers and think of ways to relate it back to your products.
12. Find an informative article or study on stress (here'e one) and relate it to how self care can help relieve stress.
HEALTH
13. This study reports that telecommuting: study investigates where telecommuting harms workers left in the office.
14. This 2005 East Carolina University study shows that scent may help patients with Alzheimer's disease.
15. This study shows that familiar scents can help a slumbering brain better remember things that it learned the evening before.
16. This study shows that baby products are a possible source of phthalate exposure.
17. This February 2008 article says Americans still eat too much sugar, even though we have cut down fat intake. Tell your readers to try agave sweetener instead. If you make a product that contains sugar (like a sugar scrub), remind them that they can get a sugar fix without the calories.
18. This 2006 Mayo Clinic article says eat more fish for heart health: The best fish include those high in Omega-3 fats like salmon, mackerel and herring. Include a recipe — you have to fix dinner anyway.
19. If you are an avid exerciser, rock climber or have other fitness related interests, research how they are helping you stay healthy and share it with your readers, along with places they can go online to learn more.
20. Check out this article about preservatives in cosmetics, then share your views on preservatives. Of course relate them to your products.
21. Include a frequently used filler or synthetic that you don't use in your cosmetics. If there's a “natural” substitute that you use, make the comparison.
22. Include a health trivia question in each issue. Collect the names and addresses of people who guess and add them to your mailing list for direct mail pieces. Announce the winner and prize in the subsequent issue. If enough time has gone by, include the winner's comments about the prize.
BEAUTY
23. Recipes: beauty recipes you can make at home. Don't make it bland. Use interesting ingredients like cherries, shredded coconut, vanilla beans, chocolate, guava, passion fruit, carrot juice and coffee.
24. If you make mineral makeup, match your colors to flowers and take pictures of the color and the flower. Name the color after the flower and write an article abou the flower — it's traits, how it was first discovered, where it hails from, etc.
25. This 2007 article discusses ingredients (some of which are natural) are good for your skin and the products they can be found it; compare the products to your own with similar ingredients.
26. Share your 10 best selling products of all time, and include buyer testimonials. Include pictures of the ones who will allow it. Have a sale on those products that month.
27. Trade interviews with another Indie who makes products that are complementary to yours.
28. Do a series of essential oil profile focusing on those used in your products.
29. Have you discovered a new possible ingredient to use in your products? What is it and what are you thinking about doing with it? Ask your readers what they think.
30.Take pictures of the manufacturing process of one of your products and share it with your readers. Put that product on sale that month.
31. Show your readers pictures of some of your products in production and ask them what they think. Offer to send some testers to a few people and get their feedback. They get the free stuff in exchange for agreeing to let you publish their feedback in your newsletter.
32. Compare your product to a similar mass market product in terms of price, synthetics, fillers and other things.
33. If your products are reviewed in a beauty blog, write about the experience and link to the review.
34. Write about scent and personalities and which of the scents in your line go with which personality types.
35. If any celebrities use your products or products that are similar to yours, but yours are a great Indie alternative, share that with your readers.
36. Do you have a new wholesale account? If they are in your area, deliver their next order in person and take a picture of the event with the shop owner. Interview her about how much she and her customers like your products and publish the interview and picture with a link to her site.
37. Go to your local chamber of commerce meeting and share what you learned.
38. Send your bar soap or a bath bomb to Will It Blend and ask them to test your product in their blender. Even if they don't choose you, write about the experinece. They may respond and you can share the response. If they choose your product, you'll be all over YouTube.com.
39. Test your products to see how many uses you get out of them, then share the results so your customers can know how much they are paying per use. Publish results only if it's cheaper than the mass marketed stuff.
40. Did you read an interesting beauty article in the latest women's magazine? Share it with your readers, relating to your products of course.
41. Write an article about different skin types and which of your products work best for each type.
42. When you do a trade show or craft show, take pictures and share the experience with your readers. If you do these regularly, make your schedule a regular part of your newsletter and share with your readers how they can visit you there.
43. List your favorite beauty resources.
FAMILY
44. Work At Home: A 2007 Careerbuilder.com study says that sales reps are among the most sought after workers now you're looking for some!
45. The Healthy Families Act requires certain employers to set work hours so that employees have an opportunity for work/life balance (whatever that is), thereby promoting more healthy families. Tell your readers what you think and ask them what they think.
46. Interview your husband or significant other about what it's like to be married to an Indie. Take a picture of him and use it for the newsletter.
47. Take pictures of your kids playing in your products and share the story behind it.
48. Take a picture of your spouse or significant other packing up boxes or stirring soap and share a little about what it's like to work together.
49. Share some of your best money saving and economizing tips, perfect during these stressful economic times.
50. For a Mother's Day feature, ask your readers in March to share their favorite mom stories with you and ask them to send a photo. Publish some of the stories and photos in your May issue.
51. Write an article about how family members can help take care of each other using your products.
What About You?
Do you have some great ideas for articles or posts? If something has worked well for you, share it here, with a link to it so we can see!
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