The following is an excerpt taken from “The Automatic Marketing Machine”, written by RJon Robins and Danny Decker.
We know – an email newsletter isn’t sexy. But it just works.
A monthly email newsletter is very simple, low-cost, and effective. It’s an easy way to reach your entire network – current customers, past customers, and referral sources – all at once, with the click of a button.
Every single business should be sending out a monthly email newsletter – and depending on the size of your business and the size of your customers list, you should strongly consider a print newsletter, too.
What goes into your newsletter?
The first thing to understand is that 99% of the value is received when the recipient sees it – because that flash of recognition is enough to remind them that you exist and that you’re still in business.
Second, to be most effective your newsletter needs to provide real value to your readers – there needs to be a compelling reason for them to pay attention. So the old, boring, narcissistic style of newsletter – recapping new hires and staff birthdays – isn’t going to fly.
Instead your newsletter needs to deliver content that is relevant and useful to your readers. What a crazy idea!
Think back to the exercise we did earlier in this chapter. What are some of the needs, questions, problems and concerns that your past customers are likely to experience?
Create content speaking to those issues. Write an article or shoot a video. Then put that content into your newsletter each month.
The idea is to create content that is relevant and useful to your readers, while at the same time reminding them of the type of work that your business does and the great results that your business provides for your customers. This keeps you top-of-mind and keeps them primed to send referrals.
You can also create content that’s fun for the sake of being fun – cartoons, comic strips, or a “Joke of the Month.”.
As you’re creating this content, it’s important to inject some personality into it! Your newsletter can quickly become dull and boring, so look for opportunities to share your personality, your sense of humor, your unique perspective on the world – the more you can communicate your authentic self, the more your newsletter is going to resonate with your audience.Include a Call to Action in your newsletter. A link to schedule an appointment, for example.
Your goal is to make it quick and easy for a reader to schedule an appointment – or forward the newsletter to a friend so they can schedule a consultation.
