Newsletters That Sell: The 5-Part Formula You Need to Use (No More Guesswork)
Struggling to make your newsletter convert? Use this 5-part formula to create newsletters that sell, engage, and keep readers coming back for more!
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How to Structure a Business Newsletter That Converts
Newsletters can be one of the most powerful tools in your business—if you do them right. The problem? Most business newsletters are a snooze-fest. They’re either a wall of text that no one reads, a messy collection of updates with no clear purpose, or worse… just another sales pitch that gets ignored.
If you want your newsletter to actually convert—meaning it gets opened, read, and acted on—you need to structure it with intention.
The 5-Part Formula for a High-Converting Newsletter
A great business newsletter isn’t just sent—it’s designed. Here’s the formula that works:
1. A Hook That Demands Attention
Your subject line is the difference between getting read and getting ignored. It needs to create curiosity, urgency, or a compelling reason to open.
🔹 Bad: "February Newsletter" (Yawn.)
🔹 Better: "The Surprising Mistake That’s Costing You Sales"
🔹 Best: "I Almost Deleted This Email… Then I Realized Something HUGE"
The first sentence is just as important. You need to hook your reader immediately—don’t waste time on fluff.
2. A Clear & Engaging Main Topic
Every newsletter should have one central theme or idea. Too many business owners treat newsletters like a dumping ground for random thoughts, but that only overwhelms your reader.
Choose a focus:
✔ A valuable lesson you recently learned
✔ A client success story that proves a point
✔ A behind-the-scenes look at something relevant to your audience
✔ A business mistake people should avoid
Make it engaging, useful, and easy to skim.
3. A Personal Touch (People Want to Hear From YOU!)
People don’t just subscribe to newsletters for information—they subscribe for connection. Your audience wants to hear your perspective, your take, your stories.
A little personality goes a long way. Maybe it’s a funny anecdote, a lesson from your own experience, or just a conversational tone that makes them feel like they’re hearing from a real human, not a corporate robot.
4. A Call-to-Action (Because Readers Need Next Steps)
What do you want people to do after reading your newsletter?
📢 Reply with their thoughts?
📢 Click a link to read more?
📢 Book a call with you?
📢 Follow you on social media?
Most newsletters just end—leaving the reader thinking, Okay… now what? Always include a next step, even if it’s just “Hit reply and let me know what you think.”
5. A Signature & Contact Info (So People Know How to Work With You)
It’s wild how many business owners send newsletters without a clear way for people to contact them or hire them. Don’t make it hard for people to find you.
Include:
✔ Your name & brand
✔ A short sentence on what you do
✔ A link to your website, calendar, or booking page
Something simple like:
"P.S. Need help with building your business? Click here to work with me!"
You’ve got a big vision and a pile of chaos. I build, document, and train out systems that actually work—so founders and creative misfits like you can stop bottlenecking your own business and finally scale without losing your mind.
Click here and let me turn your chaos into clockwork.
Two Final Tips That Work For Me
I'll leave you with two final tips that work for me.
Use Substack. I use substack to run several newsletters. After a ton of research and some specktacular flops, I finally found Substack and I'm in love. It's easy to use and manage - very little learning curve. But the thing that really closed the deal on Substack for me, they don't charge per email address. That one always killed me with other newsletter platforms. Email address is a dud? You pay. Email lands in the spam folder? You pay. Reader never reads but also never unsubscribes? You Pay. Not with Substack. It's free, forever, for all the features, for an unlimited number of email addresses. The only time you pay Substack is if you offer a paid subscription to your newsletter - and then, you only pay when you make money - 10% of earnings. Seems more than fair to me.
Create a draft template. In Substack, they don't formally have a template feature. So create a new post for your newsletter, add your header, create your format structure, add your call to action, add your signature. Next time you need to create an edition of your newsletter, click the … button next to your draft template and select "Duplicate to Drafts". This will copy your template. Then you just go in and edit, add your content, publish.
BONUS TIP: Get up and running on Substack, FAST! My on-demand workshop, “Launch Systems Activated” will take you through setting up your substack, ensuring you have all the most important parts setup to maximize your branding and results. Step-by-step with screenshots! You can launch your newsletter in a single day with my workshop setting you on the fast track to success.
Your Newsletter, Your Rules—But This Structure Works
Once you have a repeatable format, sending newsletters becomes so much easier. You’re not reinventing the wheel every time—you’re following a structure that keeps people engaged and moving toward action.
Now, go write that newsletter. And if you already send one, make sure it follows this formula—because a newsletter that works isn’t just read. It converts.
The Library 📖 at the Business Witch Academy is a reader-supported publication. Knowledge is my product. Like you, I have bills to pay and loved ones to care for. If you ever have, or would, pay a college or university for sharing knowledge with you, and you find value in my writing, please consider a paid subscription so that I can continue with my work.
Stay Magical,
Cheryl
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