This post contains a concept some readers might find distasteful. Reader discretion is advised.

Frankly, I don’t care how many awards your newsletter might win for its design or its writing.

This is the thing: there’s one criterion that is far more important: is it bathroomable? Do you customers take your newsletter into the bathroom?

It’s said that the original Sears catalog was printed with a hole at the corner of each page so it could be hung in the bathroom. People would read it and when…err…done, they would tear off a page and use it instead of bathroom paper.

Hope the ink didn’t come off.

If you can make your newsletter bathroomable, you’ve created a successful relationship-building tool.

Because….

• People consider its content worth reading.
• They consider it worthwhile keeping your newsletter in the house (instead of quickly passing it from mailbox to trash).
• The content is interesting enough – the newsletter is engaging enough – to keep the reader interested in those…special moments.

So how can you make your newsletter bathroomable?

• Make sure the content is about what interests your readers.
• Make the language easy to read.
• Include a mix of articles – informative, entertaining, intriguing.
• Include a puzzle or quizzes.
• Be certain your newsletter adds value to people’s lives.