Did you know that, on average, “email delivers sales at an average cost per order of less than $7,” according to BtoB magazine. That compares to $12 for catalog orders and $82 for retailers without websites according to Shop.org.

In other words, using email to make sales is really cost effective.

But, that doesn’t mean its without pitfalls…

Remember the ant and the grasshopper from Aesop’s Fables? The ant works hard all summer long, storing food for the winter, while the grasshopper enjoys the summer sun and loafs around. Come winter, the grasshopper starves because of his lack of foresight, while the ant enjoys his stores of supplies.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve often found myself being the grasshopper when it comes to my newsletter!

If you’ve found yourself being a grasshopper from time to time, too, let’s get to work on creating an article stockpile just for your newsletter.

Rachel wants to stand out in her industry. So, she jumps up and down in the middle of her office and yells, “I wish to stand out!” Then, she taps her heels together, and poof! A fairy godmother appears. “As you wish,” says the fairy godmother, and with a shake of her magic wand, Rachel has three heads.

Three beautiful heads, mind you, but I’m sure you’ll agree, no matter how beautiful the heads, three attached to one set of shoulders is simply two too many!

What went wrong here?

Is your newsletter languishing because you don’t have time to write new articles? Has your blog gone un-updated for months on end? Are you tired of feeling completely guilty because you’re not generating as much content as you’re “supposed” to?

If you’re not contributing to the hourly doubling of Internet content, it’s time to change that. But when you’ve already got too much to do in a day, how do you become more prolific? By following my advice, of course!

Lately, I’ve been sending out occasional note cards that have included things like candies and dog cookies. (If you haven’t been getting these mails, it’s because you’re not on my top secret mailing list–if you think you should be, send me your mailing address!)