Why I’m Not Making ‘Newsletters’ Anymore
Listen up. I’m not making “newsletters” anymore. Let me tell you why. I guess I was bored. And I was boring. I was embarrassed when people asked me what I did for a living. “I make newsletters for real estate agents and other people,” I would tell the ground. Then silence. Well, there isn’t anything…
Real Estate Agents: How to Make 4x as Much Commission
Here’s another of my little charts. This one applies to real estate agents and mortgage brokers in particular – but the general idea applies to any business. It makes a compelling economic case for keeping in touch with clients over the long term. The chart shows the difference in commission earned by a real estate…
Give Before You Take: the Art of Nurturing Leads
So much of business is common sense, it pains me to write about it. Yet so much that business owners do goes against simple common sense that…well… I guess I just have to point out the obvious. Here’s today’s topic: give before you take. Imagine you meet someone for the first time and they say,…
How to Increase Email Newsletter Open Rates
Although I believe that email open rates aren’t the most important statistic, it’s still worth investing time in raising the percentage of subscribers who open your email. Here are some things to test: Subject line: Is the subject line really relevant to your reader? Does it indicate that the information inside will help him do…
Do Email Newsletter Open Rates Matter?
Ever invited 100 people to a party and then only 20 show up? Kind of disappointing, isn’t it? You feel like you’re No Friends Simon. But actually… look at the 20 who did show up. Aren’t they your best friends? The people you’re closest too? The ones who really matter? Email newsletters are a lot…
ABC – Always Be Collecting (and Double Your Leads)
Always Be Closing – that’s the sales mantra made famous by the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. But I have another ABC. Always Be Collecting. Always be collecting contact info from your visitors so you can keep in touch. Because if you’re not always collecting, you’re seeing potential clients walk out the door. I’ve ramped up…
When Customers are ‘Just Looking’
“I’m just looking.” You’re probably heard that phrase many times. Indeed, it no doubt rolls off your own tongue when a salesperson approaches and you’re not ready for a conversation. While “I’m just looking” sometimes means “go away and leave me alone”, it more often means “I’m not ready to buy yet…but I will be…
Permission Marketing and “Too Many Emails”
I got a curious comment yesterday from someone who has been receiving messages from me about marketing by newsletters. She said I’d talked her out of joining my real estate newsletters program because I’d said that you need permission to send email newsletters to people. That, she said, made her realize that people “don’t want…
How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot During a Recession
Ding! Here comes an email from a client. “We need to cancel our newsletter membership because business is slow.” Here’s the thing (and whack me if it sounds self-serving, because it’s not meant to be): Now’s not the time to be cutting back on your marketing. It’s time to be investing in your marketing –…
How to Use a Newsletter to Position a Neighborhood Bar as a Community Hub
I was was chatting on Twitter this week about what you would put in neighborhood bar’s newsletter. I said (in 140 characters or less, of course) that it’s about positioning the bar as a community hub. After all, that’s the role of many neighborhood bars. They’re the place where everyone knows your name. So that’s…
Why Even Funeral Homes Need a Customer Newsletter
Every business needs a newsletter. Even funeral homes. There are always eyebrows raised when I say that. What, for heaven's sake, can a funeral home put in a newsletter? Why would they need one? Imagine this: In town there are two funeral homes. Let's call them Dyer and Co. and Restinpeez Brothers. They're both as…
How to Use a Newsletter to Prove that a ‘Commodity’ Product Can Be Special
Here’s a fascinating case study from a company that sends out a newsletter in every box of eggs it produces. Yes, eggs that come with their own newsletter. I’ll give you what I see as the big takeaway first: You might think that eggs is eggs. But, as we’re told, some eggs are better than…
Newsletter Delivery: Local Newspaper vs. Direct Mail
Here’s an interesting anecdote from one of the members of my real estate newsletter service in Ontario, Canada. This real estate agent uses his newsletter for lead generation (by mass mailing it) and to keep in touch with past clients. For the first seven months he was a member, the newsletter was delivered in the…
How to Avoid Boring People with Your Newsletter
I went to my dentist this week. Great guy. Excellent dentist. Super team. He makes me want to floss. He also has a newsletter – at least he used to. I didn’t see it this time. I didn’t get to ask if it was working for him, but I suspect it wasn’t too well. Why?…
Your Clients Want Smiles not Frowns – an Antidote to CNN’s Doom and Gloom
A request from a new member of my real estate newsletters service came in yesterday. (As he’s new, he doesn’t know I do this already…but it’s always good to be reminded.) He said he is looking for newsletter articles as an antidote to his clients. For example, the headlines in the newspapers show doom and…
Why Most Content Producers are Thinking of the Wrong Person
Content marketing – and that includes sending print and email newsletters – is becoming an essential part of the marketing arsenal. But this new chart from Marketing Sherpa shows that most marketers are getting it all wrong. They’re breaking Rule #1 of newsletters, not writing with their customer in mind. The chart shows that content that…
How to Use Newsletters to Bring in New Business
I was asked by a member of my insurance newsletters service last week about the best way to use newsletters to bring in new business. Here’s what I will tell him. Of course, this applies to any business – not just insurance. Why Newsletters Work to Bring in New Business Newsletters are most famously used…
Book Review: What Would Google Do?
What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. See his blog at https://www.buzzmachine.com. If you’ve been feeling left behind about how the internet is changing business (anything from the falling fortunes of newspapers and the music industry to how people are making big bucks selling personalized t-shirts) this is a worthwhile book. If you’re already up…
An Example of How Targeted Content in Newsletters Pays Off
I’ve said before and – watch out – I shall say many times in future that the number one rule for newsletters is: write for your reader. That’s because if you make the content relevant to your readers’ interests, they are more likely read your newsletter, engage with you and – frankly – buy stuff.…
This Ain’t the Corporate Newsletter
Not far from where I live in Toronto there’s a bookstore called This Ain’t the Rosedale Library. (Rosedale, for those who aren’t from here, is the city’s most upscale neighborhood.) This Ain’t the Rosedale Library is an alternative bookstore – some of its titles wouldn’t sit comfortably in Rosedale drawing rooms. So think of this:…