A Brand You World
I’ve been using my mp3 player the past few days to catch up on the teleseminars from A Brand You World – the global summit celebrating a decade of personal branding. From the site: In 1997, Tom Peters wrote his now iconic article “The Brand Called You” in Fast Company. Now ten years later, the…
Another excellent newsletter example
Earlier this month, I showed you an example of someone who took one of my ready-to-go newsletters and customized it themselves to make it even better. Today I’ve got an example of a real estate newsletter. This one is by Linda Frankl, a Realtor in Connecticut. Here’s what I think she has done well: Prominent…
An excellent example of a customer newsletter
I’d like to show you what I think is an excellent example of someone using a commercially available, ready-to-use newsletter and customizing it to make it even more powerful. As you may know, I operate a service that provides ready-made newsletters for real estate agents and other professionals. The newsletters are delivered to my subscribers…
How to encourage newsletter readers to contact you again
One of the main reasons for having a newsletter is to build a relationship with your clients and prospects. A way to deepen that relationship is to encourage readers to interact with your content. Increasing the amount of interaction has several benefits: People spend longer with your newsletter – and hence with you People change…
Too little, too late
You already know I’m a big fan of keeping in regular touch with clients and prospects. With clients, keeping in regular touch increases the likelihood they will stay as clients and that they will buy even more from you. With prospects, it gives them multiple chances to buy from you and increases the chances they…
Elements of a successful newsletter: 13 – The Publication Schedule
This is the thirteenth in a series of posts about the elements of a successful newsletter. 13. The Publication Schedule Newspapers, magazines and even websites have a publication schedule. Everything is run like clockwork, to deadline. There are many external reasons for creating a schedule. But there’s one good internal reason: without one, nothing would…
Now say it like you mean it
I’m a big fan of using greetings cards as a marketing tool. I send them myself. They’re a good way to keep in touch with clients and prospects because they allow you to write a personal message that’s delivered in a format which is likely to get read. But if you’re using cards, you’ve got…
A Marketing Lesson (With Rice and a Naan)
It’s a good day when dinner comes with some great marketing ideas. I’ve just come back from ordering at Veda, a new chain of Indian takeouts here in Toronto. Thought I’d share with you some marketing lessons. 1) Positioning. Most Indian takeouts (and I’m from the UK, where chicken tikka masala is the national dish!)…
Why Smart Businesses Happily Spend Money on Marketing
There are two types of business owners: those who spend as little as they possibly can on marketing; and those who spend as much as they can. The difference between the two is that the former looks just at the cost of marketing, while the latter looks at the cost of marketing and, most importantly,…
On your existing customers and real estate ‘heart and soul’
Here are a couple of great posts by other bloggers over the past few days. All are worth reading and all have relevance to anyone using printed newsletters as a marketing tool. Becky Carroll wonders why so many companies give their best offers to new customers only while neglecting their existing ones. She gives some…
Why smart marketers don’t fear the postal rate increase
Many marketers are gnashing their teeth this week after the US Postal Service hiked postal rates. Here’s why you shouldn’t be afraid of this price rise. If you monitor Return on Investment (and you should) you’ll know exactly the effect of the price rise. You’ll know that it costs x dollars to send out your…
How to use the postal rate increase to your advantage
Postal rates in the US went up this week, hurting the budget of anyone who markets by mail. Here’s one way to use the postal rate increase to your advantage and turn it into a marketing opportunity. How about you send your best propects and clients stamps to the value of 2 cents, with a…
5 Reasons Why Every Business Needs a Newsletter
I’m on a drive, called: A Newsletter for Every Business. After all, I believe they’re so powerful that every business should have one. That’s one reason why I give one away free at Ready to Go Newsletters. So here are the 5 Reasons why every business needs a newsletter: Customers forget. People are busy. While…
We appreciate your patience, please continue to hold
This is a story about turning one lost customer into 10 lost customers. I’m writing this entry while on hold with Vonage, the VOIP telephone company. You see, I want to cancel my account (wasn’t using it — quality too bad) and Vonage is trying to stop me canceling. It’s like a war of wills.…
The best kind of picture
I’m actually a words man. So I don’t always go along with the “one picture tells 1,000 words” mantra. After all, words are incredibly powerful things when they speak to the needs and desires of the reader. But pictures are a great way to illustrate your newsletter because they provide visual proof of what you…
The independent bookstore — and your newsletter
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…
Don’t forget to recycle your newsletter content
If you’ve written articles for your newsletter, don’t waste them. You can use them again in a variety of formats. Then you’ll get much more mileage out of everything you write. Try using them… On your website: you’ll add several search-engine friendly pages to your website that will attract more viewers and keep them sticking…
Elements of a successful newsletter: 7 – Pictures
This is the seventh in a series of posts about the elements of a successful newsletter. 7. Pictures While a picture may say a thousand words, the pictures you see in some newsletters — unfortunately — say a thousand words of gibberish. Why are so many pictures not up to scratch? First, it’s difficult to…