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…
Why Your Newsletter Must Be Relevant to Readers to Succeed
Here I go again: back to rule #1 – write for your readers. An interesting chart came along in the email today from Marketing Sherpa. It’s the results of benchmark survey. Highlight: the biggest reason (cited by 58% of respondents) why they stopped reading or unsubscribed from email newsletters was that they were not relevant to…
How Much Content is Too Much Content?
I was asked an interesting question the other day by a Realtor who is part of my real estate newsletters program. He wants to include much more content on his website, but he wonders: is there such a thing as too much content? “I’d love to hear your suggestions on where to draw the line…
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:…
An Example of a Newsletter with Personality
If you don’t know about HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and you are interested in getting media coverage, then check it out. Basically, it’s a service that connects journalists (who are looking for sources for stories) and PR people/companies with products seeking publicity. It goes out as three emails per day. Very simple. Very effective.…
How to Get Free Articles and Pictures for Your Newsletter Using Creative Commons
As you know, it’s not a good idea to copy articles from the internet and use them in your newsletter. There’s a good chance you’ll be breaking copyright. And anyway, it’s not cool to use other people’s work in your newsletter without asking. There are, however, many authors and photographers who are happy for you…
How to Make Writing Your Newsletter Easier
For many people, writing a newsletter is somewhere down there with going to the dentist, washing the car and clearing out the eves troughs. A right royal pain in the butt. The thing is, you can’t see it like that if you are going to continue with your newsletter for the long term. (And the…
Your Email List Is of Absolutely No Value to Me
One of the questions I get from potential new members of my real estate newsletter program – the email version – is whether their list of clients will be safe if they upload them to my website. They’re afraid I – or someone else – will steal all the email addresses and sell them to…
5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Newsletter
Here’s what I believe: Every Business Needs a Newsletter. No excuses. Even funeral homes. Here are 5 reasons why: 1. Monsters in the Dark (because, especially right now, people want to do business with people they know and trust) Trust is at a premium these days. After all, who can we trust? Not the banks…
How to Use Twitter for Your Newsletter
Gotta love Twitter. It’s like a world-wide networking party – without holding a glass of orange juice in one hand. Here’s how I use it to make my newsletter. I tweet (and link to) anything I find online that I think would be interesting to my Twitter followers and my newsletter readers. After all, networking…
The Long Tail of Newsletters
I often hear stories that clients consider amazing. It goes something like this: I sent my newsletter to this person six months ago. And today they called me! Can you believe they kept the newsletter all that time and then got in touch? Well, yes, I can. If the newsletter is good. Here’s the thing:…
Why Quality beats Quantity in Newsletter Subscribers
I was listening to an interesting webinar from Vertical Response (they’re the guys I’ve partnered with for my email newsletter service) today. Several things came out of it worth noting – I’ll blog about them all in the coming days. One of the stand-out points was about list size. The bottom line on list size…
Good and Bad Email Newsletter Campaigns
At least twice a week I have a conversation with a client or potential client about who they can sign up to receive their email newsletter. This conversation most often occurs with people who are new Realtors, insurance agents or mortgage brokers because they don’t yet have a list of past clients. Can they sign…
The Best Way to Send Out Email Newsletters
A common question I receive from people interested in my real estate, mortgage and insurance customer newsletters is whether they can send them using their own email software rather than the hosted service I offer. (With a hosted service, you upload your email list to a website, which looks after the design, list management and…
An Excellent Email Newsletter to Model
I’ve been on the mailing list of Printing for Less for some time and have always been impressed by their monthly email newsletters. January’s is perhaps one of the best, so I thought it would be interesting to talk about why it’s so good. 1. The newsletter starts with a topical comment that “enters the…
Real Estate Agents (and Others): The Newspaper Newsletter
I hate it when people have an idea similar to mine and then blog about it first, so that I don’t get the chance to claim it. Anyway, that person is Seth Godin, so I’m not mad. Real Estate agents (and anyone else with a local business) should read his post, Time to start a…
Small Gift, Big Benefit
‘Tis the season for giving. My dry cleaner hasn’t forgotten that. When I brought in my shirts and pants today, the owner handed me a lint remover and thanked me for being a customer this year. Every business should do something like this, because: It recognizes the relationship between the business and its clients, cementing…
Find Newsletter Writing Daunting?
I had lunch the other week with a new entrepreneur. She thought a newsletter would help one of her clients in the not-for-profit sector to communicate with its donors. A good idea. But she was daunted by the prospect of having to create one – designing it, finding pictures, writing headlines, making sure everything lined…
The #1 Secret to a Successful Newsletter
I was involved in an interesting discussion about newsletter marketing the other week. Some of the entrepreneurs I was talking with used newsletters – or at least believed in their value. Two questions were raised: What should a newsletter contain? And how often should you send it? Of course, there are no easy answers to…