Elements of a successful newsletter: 11 – The Mailing Options

This is the eleventh in a series of posts about the elements of a successful newsletter.  11. The Mailing Options There are 2 decisions you need to make when considering your mailing options: Envelope or no envelope? Bulk mail or first class? Envelope or no envelope? An envelope will help protect your newsletter from getting…

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Your front-line marketing staff

Just back from a week of traveling, I thought I’d relay to you a couple of experiences. They both share a theme: that your front-line staff — the people who face your customers — are among your most important marketing tools. Airline KLM was hit by the stormy weather in western Europe the other week.…

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Survey on the value of newsletters

This isn’t a new survey but it’s an intersting one, and I don’t think I’ve shared it here before. Standard & Poor’s conducted a survey called The Value of Newsletters to Financial Services Companies. Here are the main results: Summary: Overall, the survey results confirmed and underscored the effectiveness of newsletters as a communications channel…

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A remarkable store

One way to go upscale and charge premium prices for a premium product. In Toronto there’s a great butcher’s store called Cumbrae’s. Sometimes I visit for a little ‘meat tourism’. (Vegetarians can look away now, but you’ll miss some useful marketing lessons.) I’ve no doubt this store (actually, there are three of them) is enormously…

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If you make an offer – tell your staff

This post should be in the blindingly obvious category. But if it’s so obvious, why did this happen…? I call a cable company to consider switching my telephone to them (it’s so competitive, each provider continually sends through new offers). But the person on the phone hadn’t been told of the offer and tried to…

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Elements of a successful newsletter: 10 – The Contact Information

This is the tenth in a series of posts about the elements of a successful newsletter.  10. The Contact Information If the main goal of your newsletter is to generate extra business, either from new customers through referrals or from your existing client base, you will want to make it as easy as possible for…

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How to be ‘the’ expert

Seth Godin tells us about an article in the Times which refers to  “Jun Kaneko, the ceramic artist” — not ‘a ceramic artist’. He says it’s much better to be a ‘the’ than an ‘a’. I agree. Isn’t it better to be ‘the landscape gardener’ in your neighborhood or ‘the cosmetic dentist’? An expert, not…

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The one cent difference

Here’s a nice marketing idea. Postal rates are going up a penny here next week. Boo Hiss. But every cloud has a silver lining, if you’ve got your marketing head on. A real estate agent who farms the area I’m currently staying in (farming is the real estate agent term for nurturing a list of…

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Accountants who get it

Karin over at The Kiss Business Too blog points us in the direction of her accountants’ website. Before you yawn, it’s got a lot of interesting stuff worth checking out. Lots of things they do right. As Karin points out, they have a regularly updated news page (which would be even better if it had…

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The problem with those compact fluorescent bulbs

Everyone should be using compact fluorescent bulbs.  Except we’re not — and that’s despite these bulbs saving electricity and preserving the thing that really matters: the environment. This is the thing: saving the planet is still a hard sell, even though it shouldn’t be. And so is saving money on power. Why? Because, as Seth…

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Elements of a successful newsletter: 9 – The Title

This is the ninth in a series of posts about the elements of a successful newsletter.  9. The Title Many people spend hours thinking about what to call their newsletter. I’m here to say that, really, it doesn’t matter all that much. The most important thing about your newsletter is not the title, it’s the…

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Elements of a successful newsletter: 8 – Headlines

This is the eighth in a series of posts about the elements of a successful newsletter.  8. Headlines In a minute, I’m going to give you a way to write great headlines for your newsletter that is as easy as painting by numbers. But first… Several years ago, I worked as an editor on a…

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