Letters to the editor get read in small-town newspapers. People like to know what their neighbors are thinking.
An advantage that a letter to an editor has is this: editors are always looking for copy. They have to fill the newspaper in order to justify charging money to advertisers. So, in a small town, the editor is tempted to run letters, as long as they are relatively short.
The problem with people who write letters to the editor is that they think they are columnists. They think the editors are going to be fascinated with their opinions. The editors do not give any credibility to people who write letters criticizing what editors have published, or local bureaucrats have done. But editors do want copy, so they are willing to consent to publishing letters that are formatted properly.
There are basic rules of writing letters to the editor. Here are a few of them:
1. Start with your main point: one strong, inflammatory sentence.
2. If you are responding to someone, make this clear in paragraph 1.
3. Keep the letter short: three paragraphs, three sentences each. Two paragraphs would be better.
4. Include a short URL (e.g., bit.ly) to your full article.
This strategy is simple: grab people's attention early, and then give an opportunity for interested readers to go to your website. Your website is going to develop your letter's main point in considerable detail. But no editor is going to publish a long article. Very few readers will read a long article. You are after the handful of readers who will read the whole article in its excruciating detail.
A letter to the editor should be the first step in a multi-step process. If it is both the first step and the last step, it isn't worth your time. Almost nobody cares what you think. Why should they? But a tiny fraction of readers will care, but if they have no way of following up on their interest, then your letter to the editor serves no purpose. It should be a recruiting device, not a very short platform. A short platform doesn't accomplish anything significant.
Your strategy should be to get somebody to sign up for your weekly report, or your tip of the week, or whatever it is that you are sending out to them regularly. In other words, your letter to the editor should be the first step in a multi-step campaign to get these people reading your opinions on a regular basis.
Nobody is going to remember your letter in any degree of detail, but people may recognize your name. If you are trying to promote yourself locally, and you want some of your neighbors to recognize your name, this is a legitimate goal for a letter to the editor. But what if they do recognize your name? What benefit will this bring you? Is this part of a larger campaign? If it isn't, why waste your time writing the letter to the editor?
If you want your letter to serve as a one-shot device, you are wasting your time. If your letter is not part of a strategy to get people to your website, you are wasting your time.
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