I think newsletters may be the perfect marketing tool if you want to keep selling products and services to your current clients while also convincing new prospects to buy from you. Many of my clients have discovered that a simple newsletter, sent out every two months or on a regular schedule, is the perfect complement to their other marketing strategies. Send it out consistently, and you will get sales from it.

The key thing I’ve learned in the past six years is that a successful newsletter must be sent out consistently. This way, your clients and prospects begin to expect its arrival and are more apt to call you when they see it arrive.

What does it take to get a newsletter going? Here are several things to consider:

1. Create a client/prospect database. First, gather the names and mailing addresses of your clients and most promising prospcts. This will serve as your newsletter mailing list. Then, make sure you can print out address labels from this list to attach to your newsletters.

2. Determine your budget. Plan to send out your newsletter every two to three months. Then, take into consideration the costs of having your newsletter designed and written (if you don’t do these things yourself). I design newsletter templates so they can be used again and again, eliminating design costs beyond the first issue.

Also, consider printing and mailing costs (1st class vs. bulk mail) as well as folding, sorting, and labelling costs.

3. Decide on content for your newsletter. Start thinking about the type of information your newsletter will include. Plan to include success stories or case studies, helpful tips and articles, product/service information, special offers/discounts, and contact information for starters.

You can also throw in contests, a quote of the month, sales staff bios, and much more! As you gather content, ask yourself the following questions about each piece:

1. Will this information help sell my services and products?

2. Does it help explain the benefits of my products and services to the reader?

4. Find ways to make your newsletter reality! Through my own experience and that of my clients, newsletters bring in substantial business. After all, nothing’s more satisfying that watching prospects convert to customers!

If you’d like help developing your newsletter (layout, design, copy, print management) or need help getting the newsletter labeled, stamped and in the mail, call Nancy at 425-415-6427 to find out how we can help.