Simon Payn's Effective Customer Newsletters

4 Keys to Business Success after Labor Day

At time of year, many of us press the reset button.

Seems like New Year 's Day all over again, except with more school buses.

So I thought it would be a good time to look at some fundamentals - the four big things that make the difference between success and just grinding along.

As the economy in much of the world continues to struggle, these fundamentals are becoming increasingly important because getting the basics done right is more critical than ever.

These fundamentals are practiced by our most successful clients. Indeed, by the most successful business people anywhere.

1. Long-term perspective and relationships

The reason so many people fail to achieve their objectives is because they don't look far enough into the future.

Ever heard of the marshmallow test? It was successfully used by psychologists to predict how well a child will do in life.

A four-year-old child is given the option take one marshmallow now or to sit and wait for 20 minutes, after which they will get two marshmallows.

Some children wait patiently and are rewarded with a marshmallow feast. Others can't stand it and scarf down the single marshmallow right away.

Studies that followed the fortunes of these children found that those who had patience did much better as they progressed through childhood.

I've noticed that many business people are like the one-marshmallow child. They only do things that bring them immediate results. 

The trouble with that, however, is that they are forfeiting much greater results in the future because they're not building a foundation that will generate long-term success.

My most successful clients have focused on building long-term relationships with clients. To do so, they've created a structure and strategy for their business that puts the emphasis on these relationships rather than the quick-hit sale.

Some of them have been sending out newsletters for years - many writing the content themselves before finding me. They continue to send out newsletters, month-in, month-out. 

Others are just starting out, but are building a structure for their business that will create long-term relationships. They are collecting contact information. They are providing value. They are keeping in touch. 

On the other hand, I see people who are looking for the next quick fix - the magic tool that will bring them a flood of business, with little effort on their part.

These people go from one magic trick to the next, never building a business with a strong foundation.
Long-term thinking beats short-term thinking every time.

2. Time working "on" your business

Of course, to be able to think long-term, you need to do the things that will generate long-term relationships.

The trouble is, many of those things don't bring immediate benefits - you don't see quick results.

So what happens instead is that people spend time working on the minutiae of daily business - servicing clients and fulfilling products. They're working "in" the businesses.

The most successful people I see are able to carve out some time to work "on" their businesses. 

Maybe you can only find half a day per week, but it pays to spend that time doing things that set your business up for the long term. That might include activities that build long-term relationships with clients. Or you might think of systems that make your business run more smoothly.

It might also mean finding time to actually send out your newsletter. 

3. Successful delegation

If you want to find time to work "on" your business, you might consider delegating some of the routine tasks to someone else.

Here's the thing: many of the routine tasks are "below your pay grade" - they can be done by someone for a lower fee than you would charge for what you do best.

So, every hour you spend on one of these tasks you are, in effect, losing money - because you are not earning as much as you could be earning.

The successful people I know have built themselves a team of people and vendors to whom they can outsource these routine tasks. It doesn't mean you have to go hire someone full-time - you just have to find the right people or the right organization for each job.

4. Regular communication

If you want to build relationships with clients over the long term, you need to communicate with them over the long term.

After all, any relationship without regular communication withers, none more so than a business relationship, with so many competitors tugging at your clients' purse strings.

The most successful businesses I know have developed a regular communications strategy for prospects as well as clients. As soon as a prospect comes into that business's orbit, they receive useful, relevant information on a regular basis. 

These businesses use a variety of communication channels: email, print, social media...even personal phone calls, if the spending potential of the client is high enough.

When you are regularly in touch with your clients by providing useful information that makes their lives better, there's little reason for those clients to go anywhere else.  

That's how a business stays in business for the long term.

Marshmallow picture by Gary Knight.

Building Relationships With Newsletters

This post by Sonia Simone is worthwhile reading if you want to make your newsletter more effective.

Here's the thing: long-term business success is down to building long-term relationships.

Newsletters are the most powerful tool you have to build those relationships.

This article mentions the kind of content to include to build them.

Real Estate Agents: How to Make 4x as Much Commission

Here's another of my little charts. This one applies to real estate agents and mortgage brokers in particular - but the general idea applies to any business.

It makes a compelling economic case for keeping in touch with clients over the long term.

 

The chart shows the difference in commission earned by a real estate agent (or mortgage broker) who keeps clients for life compared to one who just does a single transaction with a client.

The difference results in four times as much earned in commissions.

How is it worked out?

Consider that a real estate career lasts 30 years.

The average time a family spends in one house is said to be 7 years.

So, over that 30 years, the family will move 4 times (4x7=28).

Instead of earning one commission over your career from one client, you earn four commissions.

Let's put some numbers on those bones.

If the median home price in the US is $180,000 and commission is 5%, the commission earned would be $9,000. 

So four times that sum is $36,000 - a difference of $27,000.

Of course, this doesn't account for commissions shared, and portions paid to the broker and your costs...but the result is the same. You earn a lot more money by keeping a client for your career.

Of course, keeping in touch with clients through newsletters is the best way to be top of mind so that they call you when they're ready to move.

So how much will it cost to keep in touch with them?

If you do it by email, the cost is practically zero, as emails cost nothing to send.

If you do it by mail, and you send newsletters every month, you are looking at an approximate lifetime spend of $576 per client. (That's made up of $1 per month to print the newsletter for 360 issues, plus 60 cents per month for postage.)

Of course, that doesn't include membership to a newsletter program, running at around $49 per month - but that program can be used for multiple clients. And - of course - results will vary, postage and printing costs will go up, and not everyone will get every client to come back every time.

But still...the economics are pretty compelling:

Commissions earned over lifetime per client: $36,000

Cost to keep in touch with client over lifetime: $576

Total commissions minus cost: $35,424

versus..

Commission earned with one transaction: $9,000

Cost to keep in touch with client over lifetime: $0

Total commission minus cost: $9,000

Difference: $26,424

Now, multiply that by the number of clients you might have, and the math is truly astonishing.

As I say, not everyone will get the same results - you could not do as well. Or, with rising house prices, you could do better.

But when you look at it, the investment in keeping in touch is so low and the benefits are so high that it's something you must consider.

Find out more about newsletters for real estate agents and mortgage brokers.

ABC - Always Be Collecting (and Double Your Leads)

Always Be Closing - that's the sales mantra made famous by the movie Glengarry Glen Ross.

But I have another ABC. Always Be Collecting.

Always be collecting contact info from your visitors so you can keep in touch.

Because if you're not always collecting, you're seeing potential clients walk out the door.

I've ramped up my own ABC this past month. I've put a sign-up box on pretty much every page of my website. It's doubled the number of leads I get.

There are two things to do:

1) Think of a good reason why a prospect might be willing to give you their contact info. It had better be a good reason - maybe a useful free report, a catalog by mail or a free sample. People are reluctant to give up their contact info without getting something valuable in return.

2) Give prospects as many opportunities to give you their information as possible.

• Put web forms all over your website
• Promote your freebies in your ads
• Put flyers promoting your freebies in your store
• Train your staff to Always Be Collecting

Just make sure you give something valuable - and then keep in touch with your prospects until they're ready to buy.

When Customers are 'Just Looking'

"I'm just looking."

You're probably heard that phrase many times. Indeed, it no doubt rolls off your own tongue when a salesperson approaches and you're not ready for a conversation.

While "I'm just looking" sometimes means "go away and leave me alone", it more often means "I'm not ready to buy yet...but I will be later."

Knowing that fact is critical to your success.

Because sometime in the future they will be ready to buy.

The question then becomes: will you be ready to sell?

Unless you've kept in touch with them in the meantime, there's a good chance your customer will go somewhere else.

This is where newsletters (and other keep-in-touch marketing methods) are so valuable.

Because when you keep in contact with someone - not buy saying "ready to buy yet?" but by informing, educating and entertaining - they'll know where to come when the time is right.

[Picture by Rob!]

Excellent Example of a Customized Real Estate Newsletter

I love it when people make an effort with their marketing. (Because - to be honest - so few people really do all that it takes to break through in their market, particularly in the current economy.)

I love it even more when my members take the product I offer one stage further and make it their own. Doing so makes their newsletters even more powerful.

Here's what Vancouver real estate agent Conrad Litz does with the real estate newsletter I offer. (I help him with the final design touches each month.)

1) He uses most of the original newsletter. After all, it's ready to use without customization, if necessary.

2) He makes changes to match his red and black branding, and adds his own custom masthead at the top of the newsletter. All this ties his marketing together, adding strength to his brand in his local area.

3) He replaces the first article on the front page with local market commentary and advice. Here Conrad does a great job, positioning himself as an expert on the local real estate market. 

 He told me:

I spend 1/2 a day thinking about what is important to my current and future customers.  I then try to write in such a way that I continue a conversation in their mind that they are probably having.  I can crank out an article in about 60 minutes usually late at night with no distractions.  I then let it sit over night like a good pot of stew and touch it up the next day or so.  My challenge is I get a little too technical, so as you have advised I always need to get down to that common element that owners or buyers are thinking about.  Also know how your market is interlinked to the whole market in general.

4) He adds listings to the back page with a link to a website that goes directly to a listings search.

5) He includes a testimonial from a satisfied client. Testimonials are powerful because they provide independent proof.

Does this extra effort work for him? He says:

The biggest results I get is when I prospect, they know who I am.  There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.  So even if I don't get their business, there is immediate acknowledgment and respect right from the get go. This makes prospecting much easier.   I don't think I could ever cold call again.   Yes I do definitely get business from my newsletter and it is growing.

Here are Conrad's 5 tips for real estate agents who use newsletters:

1.  Get someone you can trust to do most of it.  I have other options but I choose ReadyToGoNewsletters because they are plugged into the market that I am going after.

 

2.  Add some of your own creative content to personalize your newsletter.  Absolutely critical!!

 

3.  Look for excellent quality printers at very reasonable prices.  If your newsletter is too expensive you will not stick with it.

 

4.  Keep trying different approaches as far as content is concerned to get both a good direct response as well as a delayed response.

 

5.  As part of the bigger picture, only use a proven model marketing system.  Be very careful with creativity.  Remember the pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs.  Find a proven approach and then master it.

Conrad makes one final, but very important point: people call him sometimes several months after they've seen the newsletter. So don't evaluate your newsletter on immediate ROI - it's a long-term project.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People with Your Email Newsletter

Email newsletters – ezines – can be a powerful way to build a relationship with your clients and prospects by communicating with them right there on their computer.

But if you abuse the easy access, low cost and immediacy of email, you run the risk of losing trust in the marketplace. Here’s a tongue-in-cheek look at how to do it wrong:

1.    Send your newsletter as a 10MB attachment, explaining it’s got beautiful graphics…that’s why it’s so large.

2.    Send your newsletter to people who don’t even know you.

3.    Send your newsletter out every six months so people don’t remember who you are.

4.    Don’t put unsubscribe links in your newsletter. After all, people might actually leave if you do that!

5.    Make people log in to your website (using a username they can’t remember) to unsubscribe from your newsletter.

6.    Fill your newsletter with promotions instead of useful information.

7.    Send your newsletter to a list of names you bought from some website somewhere.

8.    Keep sending newsletters even to people who don’t want them. You’ll make them change their mind, right?

9.    Send your newsletter to people who likely have no interest in knowing you at all.

10.    Send your newsletter with just any old content in it. After all, it doesn’t matter what you send as long as you send something, right?

(With a nod to Toby Young’s very funny book, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People)

(Image courtesy duchesssa)

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 newspaper.

Of course, this is what your newsletter can become. Indeed, I have several members who have gone some of the way towards implementing what Seth is suggesting, with what's on guides and ads from other local businesses.

By making your newsletter into a real community resources in (let's face it) a time when many local newspapers are withering and leaving a gap in the market, you will become *the* trusted local expert, the go-to person - and you will own a strong relationship with a section of your community.

Is this the Year of the Customer?

On the same theme as my post yesterday, check out Drew's Marketing Minute Blog and in particular the links from this post to his other articles.

He's right. This will be the year of the customer. It's time to stop throwing money away by ignoring them.

What Links Dell, Your Business, Blogs and Newsletters?

Dell has launched a content-rich website called Digital Nomads. It's aimed at people who, thanks to technology, can work and play wherever they like - people who aren't tied to an office location.

Here's why Dell is being so smart.

Dell is creating a community based upon a common passion. It's serving that community on a daily basis with well-written, interesting and up-to-date content - articles that inform, entertain and engage that community. Digital Nomads will be the go-to publication for people who share that passion.

Of course, it's no coincidence that Dell offers the tools that digital nomads need.

Dell will sell more computers by creating a long-term, deep relationship with its clients and prospects.

It's setting out its stall as the go-to people for information about being a digital nomad - becoming a trusted adviser rather than simply a vendor of computers. It's building a relationship for the long term through regular contact with content that meets the needs of its community. And it's employing reciprocity by giving a tonne of value before expecting anything in return,increasing its future sales by putting cash (in the form of value) into the relationship with its community.

And you can do the same.

Maybe not on the same scale, but the same principles apply to your newsletter or blog:

1) Focus on a customer niche.

2) Provide value to that niche through content that is focused on that niche's needs.

3) Create a long-term relationship with that niche by keeping in touch on a regular schedule for the weeks, months and years to come.

So when you come to create your newsletter, consider this:

1) What niche am I serving? What makes the people who buy from me different from the people who buy from every other company out there?

2) How can I provide value to that niche? How can I serve that niche better than anyone else out there? What kind of information are they looking for? How can I connect with that niche by creating an engaging personality?

3) How will I encourage people to agree to receive this information, and how will I deliver that information over the long term?

Maybe you're not Dell. But there's a lot you can learn from Dell to market your own business.