You will write, test and send one newsletter issue to your list using the format you chose.
The first issue of a newsletter is the hardest one to send. You have the list, the format, the subject line ideas and a draft, and still the cursor hovers over the send button while you wonder whether there is a typo you missed or whether anyone will read it. This exercise gets you through that first send, with checks that catch the real mistakes so the nerves have less to work on.
You will write one issue in the format you chose in lesson 5.1, test it, send it to your list, and keep a record you can compare against next month, all in about forty minutes.
Start with the body and leave the subject line for later. Pick the topic from the three you listed in lesson 5.1 and write the email to one subscriber, as lesson 5.3 described: one main idea, one main link, short paragraphs.
Then read it on your phone, or at least in a narrow window, and cut anything that does not serve the one idea. If the email has drifted into two topics, save the second for the next issue.
Only now, knowing exactly what the email says, write the subject line and preview text. Start from the pairs you drafted in lesson 5.2 and check each against what you actually wrote, since a line written before the draft often promises something the final email dropped.
Write a few options and pick the clearest. If your tool lets you test two subject lines and choose the winner by clicks, set that up with your two best. On a small list, treat the result as a hint, as lesson 5.2 warned.
Go through the email in your tool's editor and its preview, and check each of these:
every link in the body, clicked one by one to confirm it goes to the right page the unsubscribe link in the footer, present and working the sender name, a real person your readers recognise, as set up in lesson 4.3 the reply address, going to an inbox someone reads the preview text field, filled in so the inbox does not show filler any merge fields such as a first name, with fallback text for people without one alt text on every image, and the email still making sense with images off
The unsubscribe link deserves particular care. It is what the Spam Control Act and the Gmail and Yahoo requirements from module 3 expect, and a missing or broken one is the fastest way to collect spam complaints.
Send a test to yourself, on two devices if you can: your phone and a laptop, or two different email apps. If a colleague or friend is willing, include them, since a second pair of eyes catches the typo you have read past four times. Check the inbox view first, with sender, subject and preview together, then open the email and run through it as lesson 5.4 described, in light and dark mode.
Fix anything you find, send one more test if the changes were large, and then send to your list. The audience should be the subscribers with marketing consent, after the suppression you did in lesson 3.5. Most tools ask you to pick a list, tag or segment at this step. Double-check it.
Straight after sending, record the basics in a simple log, one row per send, with these columns: date, time sent, audience name and size, subject line, preview text, the one main link, and a notes column for anything unusual. Leave space for results, which you will fill in later.
This record feels like admin, but it is what makes next month useful. Without it you cannot compare issues fairly, because you will not remember whether the better result came from the topic, the subject line, the day or a bigger audience. Module 8 builds your monthly review on exactly this kind of log.
Here is how it went for Priya. Her first issue went out on a Thursday evening. The topic was the working-backwards heuristic, with one worked example and a link to a printable practice question on her site. Her subject line was "The heuristic most P5 children skip", with the preview "One worked example, and a question to try at home tonight."
Her test caught two things. The practice question link went to last year's version of the page, and the greeting showed "Hi ," for a test contact with no first name. She fixed the link and set the fallback to "Hi there". The final send went to 312 parents in her newsletter segment. Her log row recorded the date, the time, the 312, both lines of text, and the practice question link.
You have sent one newsletter issue to your consented list, after testing it on at least two devices. Your log shows the date, time, audience and size, subject line and preview text. Send your issue now, then fill in the record the activity below asks you to keep.
Send one newsletter issue to your list and keep a record of the subject line, preview text, send time and audience size.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).