Running an independent bookstore is a difficult task these days: you’re squeezed by the bookstore chains, the superstores and online retailers, all of which offer books (the bestsellers, at least) at a discount.

So I was interested to read an article in The Guardian newspapaper today about an independent bookstore in London, England.

Here’s a quote from the article. (The bold text is mine.)

“For us the idea of a bookshop is that your hardcore customers, the ones
who keep you alive, who buy 50-100 books a year, they want to come in,
chat to us about books, see books they haven’t seen before – they want
to feel like their passion about books is being reciprocated. A friend
of ours, John, who runs a bookshop in Crystal Palace, had a great
saying about Harry Potter. It’s not a book – it’s a book-shaped tin of
beans.”

This attitude is, I believe, key to succeeding as a small, independent business. And what’s more, I know a newsletter can act as a catalyst to multiply the results you get from the passion you put into your business.

Here’s why:

• It’s better to have a small number of hard-core customers than it is to have many who buy only once. This is because the cost of acquiring a new customer is so high.
• So you need to nurture your hard-core group of passionate customers.
• One way to nurture them is by sharing your passion.
• You can share this passion even when they are not in your premises by writing a newsletter.
• Then you’ll continue to build your relationship over time and over distance.
• Indeed, you will build a community of hard-core customers who feel their passion is being reciprocated.
• You’ll then be able to share your new product discoveries with them. And it’s likely, because they are part of your passionate community, that they will purchase those products.
• And so the relationship deepens, and your success grows.

That’s why I believe every business should have a newsletter. And it’s why I’m giving one away every month for free that you can customize and use.