To survive in business, you've got to focus your attention on the areas that will guarantee you success. Your clients are your greatest asset. Taking the time to educate them and connect with them will pay big dividends over the long haul. There are lots of ways to spend your marketing dollars. But I've found that the number one most effective marketing tool around is a newsletter. This is the perfect time of year to fine tune - or develop - yours.
Hey! It's good news! What sets your newsletter apart from all the other stuff that comes across your clients threshold everyday is that a newsletter is perceived as good news. Think about it, the stuff in the newspaper is general pretty dismal. The rest of the stuff in the mail is either advertisements or bills. Take advantage of that perception of your newsletter being something good.
Please don't insult your clients' intelligence by cloaking a hard sell as a newsletter. Marketing surveys across the country have shown that newsletters are very well-received and the best way to stay in touch with your clientele. Make your message, and your practice, stand above the rest by making each issue interesting and informative.
More education equals more work for you Your clients probably have very little idea what all you do. Your newsletter is the perfect forum to raise their understanding and appreciation of the advantages of your services. By just elevating their awareness of the scope of your expertise, your laying the ground work for future business.
There's another added benefit that bares mentioning. When your clients know more about what you do, they talk about it to their friends. A personal referral is ten times more valuable than someone that responds to an ad. They're already prescreened and warmed up for you.The other plus of this educational approach to your newsletter is that it reminds your clients that they need your services. With so many distractions in our world today, things that are important tend to slip into the background. Each issue you send gently reminds them of the importance of your services
.Just because I said that you shouldn't use your newsletter for a hard sell doesn't mean that you shouldn't use it for promoting gift certificates or special offers or rewards for referring new business. It's the perfect place to unveil new services.
Above all else - reflect professionalism Never forget that your newsletter acts as your representative to all that see it. People who may have never met you personally will make judgments about your services solely by what they think of your newsletter.
Each issue may get saved and passed onto friends and associates. These are introductions to you services. They must make a high-quality presentation. Take some time to get the look and feel right. If you're using a word processing program, for example, to produce your newsletter, you're really selling yourself short. That may have worked all right 15 years ago, but in today's reality it's just not going to give you a professional looking piece. Of course, since I run a newsletter design service, I'm going to tell you to seek out the services of a professional - but that would be a sort of hard sell. At least, collect some examples of newsletters that you like and use them as guides.
The number one problem most people have when doing their own newsletter is to stress over content and then put too much into each issue. A good rule of thumb for a standard 4-page newsletter is three articles of 500 - 700 words. Be sure to work in some higher quality graphics to break up the text. Never, never, never use graphics that you've down loaded from the web. Their resolution is much too low to be of any worth in print. They'll just make your newsletter look tacky and low end.
Make the commitment When you send your newsletter consistently, it communicates to your clients that you're professional. You're establishing a presence and it says that you plan on being there for them in the future. This is guaranteed to help you build a stronger business that's not overly affected by outside economic factors.
This article was written by Barbara Saunders, owner of Newsletter Associates, a complete newsletter service helping companies and organizations build their relationships to fuel their business. For more information, visit www.newsletters-inc.com. (c) 2004 Barbara Saunders. All right reserved.
Newsletter Associates is run by Barbara Saunders, a leader in the newsletter marketing industry. Years of experience creating marketing materials and newsletters for large corporations have honed the expertise that will guide a company in creating, developing, and maintaining relationships. And relationships are the fuel that drives business. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. There is no more effective marketing tool than a newsletter.
Rolling Meadows Cadillac Escalade rental .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareIf you want to succeed, build a great team. A... Read More
Layout1. 1-2 pages in length.2. Double-space.3. 1.5 to 2 inch... Read More
When you are planning to call a reporter for the... Read More
When is your best advertisement not an advertisement? When it's... Read More
Public relations is popular because it is very cost-effective and... Read More
So you have spent hours and hours writing, shaping and... Read More
I recently worked with a group dealing with an unusual... Read More
If you're trying to promote your store, but you don't... Read More
Ain't a gonna happen unless business, non-profit and association managers,... Read More
"Cindy, where's that story? I need it yesterday!""Coming right up,... Read More
The practice of public relations is often misunderstood, thus overlooked... Read More
The message is determined by analyzing the brand being marketed,... Read More
Press releases are one of the most cost-effective ways to... Read More
As a business, non-profit or association manager, what do you... Read More
The short answer is, it works best when its fundamental... Read More
You never want to inundate a reporter with information, but... Read More
Aren't you tired of hearing how extremely easy it is... Read More
Everything, that is, if you ignore those folks whose behaviors... Read More
When I talk with business people, they tend to believe... Read More
Because PR can be difficult to control, it is often... Read More
For those business, non-profit and association managers committed to PR... Read More
Southern grandmothers have often said, "there are only three... Read More
Have you ever noticed that when someone is interviewed on... Read More
A great way to celebrate your achievements and capitalize on... Read More
Non-news professionals often have a hard time understanding why their... Read More
Des Moines rental limo ..A well structured press release in an excellent way of... Read More
Some people think that publicity is all about paparazzi snapping... Read More
THE NATURE OF MEDIAThirty years ago, Marshall McCluhan, the father... Read More
It's one thing for a senior manager to approve story... Read More
A new public relations blueprint could be a good idea... Read More
Aren't you tired of hearing how extremely easy it is... Read More
Imagine that you are a radio producer. You have to... Read More
Managers ? the business, non-profit and association sort ? really... Read More
Here's the point: people act on their own perception of... Read More
Reporters, by nature, are curious people.If you can get them... Read More
Without a solid, well-designed foundation, few buildings successfully withstand the... Read More
One study found that as many as 90% of the... Read More
If you are in Australia at the moment, it is... Read More
Simply that the behaviors of their most important outside audiences... Read More
E-mail is becoming the preferred way to receive media releases.... Read More
1. Appearing in other types of media is the best... Read More
You have a story to tell. Your company has developed... Read More
It can bite you and waste your public relations budget... Read More
?lose the confidence of your key target audiences? discourage them... Read More
You want to sell your products or services, and that... Read More
As a business, non-profit or association manager, what do you... Read More
Public relations and news releases are synonymous in the minds... Read More
Sure, as a manager, you have a talented member of... Read More
Anything that lets managers achieve their managerial objectives is a... Read More
One big mistake that many marketing-minded financial planners make when... Read More
Public Relations |