Simon Payn's Effective Customer Newsletters

8 Newsletter Tips from Our Clients

Today I'd like to share with you some of the ideas that Ready to Go Newsletters members have come up with for their own newsletters.

As you know, we've been running our Newsletter of the Year contest - and we've had some good entries.

I'll be announcing the winner in the next couple of weeks, but here are some things that members have implemented.

Using the newsletter as a business card

As soon as they meet a potential new client, this entrant provides that person with a copy of their current newsletter and asks if they may put them on their newsletter mailing list. Action idea: Keep copies of your newsletter with you; and ABC: Always Be Collecting - that's how you build your list.

Personalizing it with local, relevant information

Almost all the people who entered the contest did this. Real estate agents put local market conditions, for example. Community news and information is something any business can add. Action idea: Add something relevant to your clients to encourage them to read the newsletter.

Contests with prizes

Although the newsletter already comes with a quiz, some entrants went further and added their own contests with prizes. Some got these prizes sponsored by other businesses. This increased the number of people contacting them about the newsletter - building important relationships. Action idea: Prizes are a great way to get people to engage with you - they're a useful motivator!

Giving space away to charities

One entrant gives space away to local charities to advertise events. It's a way to make the newsletter relevant while creating a feeling of goodwill in the community. Action idea: Community groups are glad of the free publicity - it's a win-win.

Links worth sharing

An entrant with an email newsletter put in useful links. This encouraged people to share the newsletter with their friends. Action point: the more useful, relevant information you include, the more action people will take.

Getting the most out of the content

Entrants put the newsletters on their websites and used the articles in other advertising. You're welcome to use the content however you like, so why not make the most of it? Action idea: Your marketing doesn’t just stop with newsletters - the more ways you can find to reach people with useful, interesting information, the better.

Multiple versions of the newsletter

I've said many, many times that relevance is key. One entrant makes three versions of the newsletters to various types of clients and other contacts. Action idea: How can you tweak the newsletter to make it relevant to different types of people?

Extra communication

One entrant used the email newsletter system to communicate with clients after storms hit their area. As this entrant is in the insurance business, they were able to tell clients that they were there, ready to help them. Action idea: don't just wait until it's newsletter time to contact your clients. If you think they need you know, contact them right away!

And in summary...

There seems to be one thing that all the entrants have in common - how much they do! The thing about newsletters is, the more you put into them, the more you get out of them. That's why I make these newsletters 100% editable...because I know that the more of yourself you add, the better results you get.

 

The Most Important Number in Your Business

Do you know the most important number in your business?

I bet that 9 out of 10 people reading this don't know the answer to that question.

That's OK, because neither did I until not so long ago.

But here's the thing: knowing the answer is super, super-important.

Because if you don't know the answer, you could make some big mistakes.

That number is: Lifetime Customer Value. Or, in English, how much a customer is worth to you. How much they spend in their entire lives with you.

Consider this:

Imagine you are a real estate agent. What is your average commission? (And even if you are not a real estate agent, the same logic still applies.)

Then, think about how many times a client could, in theory, come back to you in their lives.

If you agree that a person moves home every seven years or so, there's a good chance that they will use your service maybe three or four times.

So, that average commission should be multiplied by at least three to find the Lifetime Customer
Value.

See how valuable each client is?

Or maybe you are in the insurance business. How much is the average commission you earn from a client for a typical policy?

Then consider: how many years could they keep renewing that policy?

How many other policies could you sell them?

How much does that add up to? Quite a lot, I would imagine.

This is why this number is so important.

The trouble is, most people have no idea how much a customer is worth, so they tend to assume a customer is worth just the value of the first sale.

They ignore everything else!

And that leads them to make some bad decisions.

For example, they cut your own wrists when it comes to marketing because they think they can't afford to spend money on marketing (because they think a client isn't worth that much).

Or they forget to follow up with clients and keep in touch with them because they don't know that their lifetime value is many multiples of the value of the first sale.

Or they just go after new customers (instead of retaining existing clients) because they mistakenly believe that the value is that first sale rather than where it really is, which is in the follow-up sales.

So here are my questions:

What is your average Customer Lifetime Value? And if you don't know the answer (that's OK), how much could it be if they bought from you as much as you think they should? (Remember, if you offer a valuable product or service, people should be buying from you more.)

Nice number, isn't it?

Makes you look at your business in a whole new way.

Something to think about

Newsletters can help you raise your Lifetime Customer Value. Why? Because they help you keep in touch with customers and sell them more stuff. Period.