Are Company Newsletters Really Worth Your Time?

hot-news-2-1411510-mThe best newsletters today are e-newsletters. Why? Because they can arrive in your clients’ inboxes quickly, with maximum convenience and minimal effort, for both you and your clients.

If your e-newsletters offer something of value that pertains directly to your clients’ needs, they are more likely to respond and you will have a successful medium through which to share information.

BREVITY IS A VIRTUE

Keep your e-newsletters short and to the point. In today’s busy global marketplace, the saying “time is money” has never been truer. Attention spans are short; grab them with enticing headlines in bold or large font. Many people enjoy the use of color, as well, so make them colorful. It doesn’t cost any more to add color to an e-newsletter. Ensure whatever words you choose have the meaning you want to convey. Readers won’t be happy if you waste their time, and they most likely won’t read your e-newsletter again.

INVITE – DON’T SELL

An e-newsletter shouldn’t be about tooting your own horn, but rather an invitation to your clients to consider how your services can complement their business needs and help them be more successful. Offer quality services, and they will pay attention.

QUALITY LINKS

Don’t forget relevant links: links to your web site; links to pertinent and valuable information. These days, it’s all about quality, quality, quality. If you send an e-newsletter written with honesty and integrity, your clients will pay attention. With responsible links in your e-newsletter, you’ll be helping them gain access to the products/services they need that you can offer them. Again, don’t waste their time with irrelevant links.

PRINTED NEWSLETTERS

Printed newsletters can also be of value, but you need the right kind of circumstances for them to be useful. They are more demanding in time and money, and you will need them to be successful to offset the associated expenses. If you are exhibiting at a particular forum that relates to your business, printed newsletters (again, keep them short and to the point) can be good hand-outs.

Most paper products today, though, end up in recycling containers. Utilizing e-newsletters, your clients can store them on a variety of electronic devices and refer back to them, if so desired. They can also be deleted at the touch of a button, so make them worthwhile to your clients and valuable for them to retain and re-use.

Three Ways Your Business Can Use An E-Book

communicate-4-1162225-mE-books have become the norm for reaching a target audience with your message.  Why?  They are electronic, first and foremost, which is nearly crucial these days to finding success online.  An online e-book can reach many people very quickly.  What can it do, specifically, to help grow your business?

ACT AS AN INTRODUCTION

An e-book can be a handy introduction to your company and your services and/or products.  Like e-newsletters and e-guides, they can provide a short, quick reference to who you are and what your company has to offer.  Seconds matter: getting a prospective client’s attention with a well-written e-book that is concise and to the point can prove extremely valuable to growing your client base. Offer them free on your Facebook page; that’s a great way of introducing your services – plus, you can grow your list of email addresses which might have marketing potential.

MARKETING COMPANION FOR BUSINESS LIFECYCLES

E-books are easier and more cost-effective than traditional publishing methods to produce. They can also reach a vast and wide audience, quicker and more efficiently than traditional books.  As your business moves through different phases (i.e., lifecycles), these short information messengers can help spread news about changes, products and services, recent content surrounding your industry, etc.  EPUB-style e-books should also be a priority as they can be uploaded from iBookstore, as well as Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

ANOTHER SOURCE OF INCOME

As well as being a source to spread messages about your business, your services/products, and your industry, these short electronic books can also become another source of revenue for your business. You can easily add an interesting and informative e-book to your line of business tools by growing interest in a subject and then charging a small fee so others can download it straight from your web site.

E-books can be profitable in a number of ways. Select topics with care, using intuitive thought, and combining images and graphics with refined text that is concise and to the point. Many suggest using colors in a complementary fashion, as opposed to just black and white text. Done on the computer, this is a very easy and cost-effective solution. However you choose to promote your business, using these brief marketing tools can be very beneficial.

 

 

Better Email Communication in 3 Easy Steps

email-or-e-mail-6444-mEmails are probably the lifeblood of what you do, so how do you make sure people will actually read what you’re writing? These three steps can help.

  1.  Carefully Craft the Subject Line: No matter what email client they’re using, that name and subject line are going to be the first thing that hits recipients, so you better spend some serious time thinking about what you want to say. “Company News” is never going to be enough. “Please Respond” might get them, but there’s probably something stronger than that. Draft a few different subject lines to decide what might work best, particularly if this is more than an internal email.
  2. Think Structure: Do you really want to read one paragraph that has thirty sentences? Probably not. Your emails have to be clearly structured for maximum impact. Don’t hesitate to use bullets, but if that’s too formal for the task ahead, just think staccato. Short bursts, small paragraphs. Say what you need to in a simple, clean format, and you’ll reach them.
  3. Timing: If your email hits the desk at 5:55 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, you can bet it’s not going to get their full attention. Time it a bit more carefully, so your recipients have plenty of reading time to absorb what you need to say.

Email isn’t a science, and when it’s just you running the company, it may be tough to find the time to carefully craft things to customers, suppliers, and those who help keep your business running. Whether you want us to help draft the initial email or just edit yours to make it stronger, our writing services can help for less than you think. In fact when it comes to a simple email edit, it’s probably going to cost you less than $10. Contact us today to learn more.

 

Build Better Email Content Now

email marketingEmail marketing is nothing new on the marketing landscape, yet many companies still don’t take advantage of this powerful marketing tool. Those who do often don’t see the results they want. Wondering what you’re doing wrong? See if you identify with any of these common mistakes:

  • Mistake #1 – Length isn’t an issue. We just keep writing until we’ve covered everything. The problem with this is that your customers, or potential customers, have busy lives. Short, sweet and to the point – that should be the key with email marketing. They don’t want length. They just want the information as quickly as possible.
  • Mistake #2 – We just cover the topics we find most important. Your subscribers or potential clients see you as a source of information for a reason. If you haven’t taken a closer look at why they find your information important, it’s time to rethink things. You need to know why you’re writing and what you want the end result to be, then cover the topics that prove important to that. Sticking to just one topic per email can help with that too.
  • Mistake #3 – We pay little attention to the subject line. Your subject line is the best way to either get opened or deleted in a hurry. Make sure you craft it carefully. You’ll want to avoid Spam triggers or those subject lines that just seem to go on forever. Be descriptive and stick to the actual subject of your email.

One of the biggest problems smaller companies face is that they simply don’t have time to craft good email newsletters. Guess what? We can help you out with that. From creation to distribution, we’ll be happy to handle all of your email marketing right now. Contact us for more information.