Simon Payn's Effective Customer Newsletters

2 Useful Articles on Email Newsletter Marketing

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How to Get Free Articles and Pictures for Your Newsletter Using Creative Commons

As you know, it's not a good idea to copy articles from the internet and use them in your newsletter.

There's a good chance you'll be breaking copyright. And anyway, it's not cool to use other people's work in your newsletter without asking.

There are, however, many authors and photographers who are happy for you to use their work, under certain conditions.

One way to find these content creators is through Creative Commons, a system set up to give writers and artists a standardized way to grant copyright permissions.

For example, many are happy for you to use their content if you give them attribution.

Content creators add a Creative Commons copyright license to their work. The type of license they choose depends on how they are willing for the content to be used. Some will allow it to be used in any way, as long as there is attribution; others don't want their work to be used for any commercial products.

You can search for Creative Commons work online through the Creative Commons website. Then, when you find content that you like, you can check which type of copyright license it carries.

Of course, it relies on trust. But it's a two-way thing. After all, you might like to consider putting a Creative Commons notice on any articles you post online. If all you want is a link, for example, you could gain some web traffic from anyone who chooses to use your content.

How to Make Writing Your Newsletter Easier

For many people, writing a newsletter is somewhere down there with going to the dentist, washing the car and clearing out the eves troughs.

A right royal pain in the butt.

The thing is, you can't see it like that if you are going to continue with your newsletter for the long term. (And the benefits really only kick in if you keep at it for a while.)

So... it's a good idea to make writing your newsletter a little less of a chore.

Here are some ideas:

Don't put so much pressure on yourself: Your newsletter doesn't have to be like the New York Times or Vogue. The most important thing is that you express your ideas and your personality. I advised one person last year simply to write her newsletter in the form of a long letter. It worked wonderfully, because she was able to express exactly what she wanted to say without having to worry about layout, pictures and headlines.

Collect ideas as you go along: If you try to come up with all your ideas on "Newsletter Day" you're asking your brain for a sudden burst of creativity. Not easy. Instead, get into the habit of writing down newsletter ideas as soon as they occur. Then you can dip into your ideas when the time comes. I use my cellphone to take notes of ideas, or if I'm online I use Twitter as a kind of public notepad.

Don't worry about writing: The best newsletter writing is relaxed - it's how you speak. Don't feel you need to resort to some kind of formal, business-like writing for your newsletter. Just be yourself and type as fast as you can. You can go back and edit later.

Use the speech-to-text method: If you think you talk better than you write, record yourself talking to someone and then transcribe it. (You can find cheap transcription services online).

Use the Q&A method: An easy way to write an article is to create a list of common questions about a subject and then set about answering them. It's easier to write when you are addressing a single point.

Use bullet points: It's easier to write articles in bullet points rather than as a great slab of text. Not only is it less daunting but it also makes it easier to organize your thoughts. It's also easier to read.

Use numbered lists: The "22 Ways..." or "11 Things..." articles are the easiest to write. By their nature they give you a structure to follow.

Collect links: Make part of your newsletter a set of useful links from around the web. Collect any links you think might be interesting to your readers and add them to your newsletter with a brief introduction.

Use a ready-made template: Buy newsletter templates online, either with content or without content. Customize them to your own liking. They give you a great starting point - often doing all the difficult work for you.

(Picture by jazza)

Your Email List Is of Absolutely No Value to Me

One of the questions I get from potential new members of my real estate newsletter program  - the email version - is whether their list of clients will be safe if they upload them to my website.

They're afraid I - or someone else - will steal all the email addresses and sell them to some Viagra salesman.

Here's what I want to say, but don't dare: Sorry, but your precious email addresses are worth zilch to me. I wouldn't accept them if you offered them to be on a silver platter with a cherry on top.

Why?

Because if I go sending an email to your list, I am spamming them. And spamming - apart from being ugly - is not the way to build a business.

Not only do you have to send gazillions of spam emails to make it work, but a real business is built on creating a relationship with people who want to hear from you.

The people on this client's email list haven't the faintest clue who I am. And they don't care.

Now, if this client had a list of people that I was interested in contacting - because they had expressed an interest in hearing about the kind of stuff I talk about - then I would be happy for her to send an introduction to her list which mentions that I'm here and I offer great info.

That's something entirely different.

But I don't want someone else's email list. It's worth nothing.

5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Newsletter

Here's what I believe: Every Business Needs a Newsletter.

No excuses.

Even funeral homes.

Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Monsters in the Dark (because, especially right now, people want to do business with people they know and trust)

Trust is at a premium these days. After all, who can we trust? Not the banks - they've shown how something apparently rock-solid can turn to dust. Not the investment industry - Bernie Madoff put pay to that. And not politicians - we've never felt able to trust them anyway.

So if you can build trust, you're a step ahead.

The thing is, no one trusts you right away. That's especially true if they've found you online. Trust needs to be earned by fulfilling promises and building relationships over the long term.

A newsletter works as a tool to build those relationships of trust. It gives you a track record of providing valuable client-centered information and opens up opportunities for two-way communication.

2. Forget-Me-Not Followers (because people are more forgetful than you can possibly imagine - so keep saying "hello")

You know how it is - we're bombarded with choices. It's hard to keep them all in your head. And it's also hard to remember who's who and what's where.

Just think what it's like when you do a Google search - you visit scores of websites and they turn into a kind of website soup in your head.

So it's no surprise that people forget to come back.

It's not that people are ignoring you - it's that they are simply overwhelmed.

A newsletter helps by starting and then maintaining a relationship. If you can collect a prospect's information when they visit your website (or store), then you can contact them with a valuable newsletter to remind them that you're there. And if you collect a customer's information at time of purchase, you can keep in touch so that they won't forget you next time they need what you offer.

In a sea of choices, your newsletter is like a life raft. It's no wonder clients reach out to you.

3. The Go-To Guy or Gal (because people want to do business with an expert, not a salesman)

So here we are, with an ocean of choices but none of them to trust.

What to do?

You can build trust quickly by proving that you know what you are talking about and that you have your clients' best interests in mind (instead of just being out for a quick buck).

Sharing your knowledge in the form of articles, blog posts and videos quickly makes you stand out: you become to go-to-guy or gal.

A newsletter helps as a vehicle to distribute that knowledge to people who are interested in hearing what you have to say. And over time, articles build on articles, advice on advice, to prove to readers you know your stuff and that you can be trusted.

4. The Elephant in the Balance Sheet (because most businesses are leaving thousands of dollars on the table by failing to sell to existing clients)

One of the truest (and saddest) facts of business is this: most profits are made from existing customers - not new ones - yet many businesses fail to get the second sale.

After all, how often do you buy something, have a very happy experience, and then never hear from that business again? Probably 99% of the time.

It's a giant waste, because it costs often hundreds of dollars to attract clients in the first place (they have to find you, trust you, contact you). So once you've got them in your sphere of influence, you can sell to them again without that massive up-front acquisition cost.

Indeed, I'd go further: failing to keep in touch borders on rudeness - like a one-night stand.

Newsletters help because they make it easy to keep in touch with past clients. Just collect their contact information and mail or email them with information that will make their lives better. And if you make offers that match their interests, they'll be back to buy from you again.

 

5. Soul Fuel (because when business becomes a relationship it's much for fun and fulfilling):

This is the part that no one ever talks about.

You went into business on your own for a reason, right? You know that you want to spend your day doing something you care about instead of whiling away your life in a cubicle. You have passion for what you do, you care about what you do - and you enjoy sharing all that with the world.

Isn't sharing all that stuff kinda fun?

A newsletter helps because it gives you a vehicle to share your passion, helping make your clients' and prospects lives better.

You give (and that feels good) but you also get.

It makes your life that much more fulfilling.

(Pictures by aNDesign chrissi MikLav fluffbreat Egilsha)

How to Use Twitter for Your Newsletter

Gotta love Twitter. It's like a world-wide networking party - without holding a glass of orange juice in one hand.

Here's how I use it to make my newsletter.

I tweet (and link to) anything I find online that I think would be interesting to my Twitter followers and my newsletter readers. After all, networking - and Twittering - is about adding value to your community.

One of the great things about Twitter is that you can re-tweet other people's tweets that you think are worthwhile and want to share.

Then, when it comes to putting together my newsletter, I visit my Twitter profile and go through my recent tweets to find articles online worth mentioning in the newsletter. I also find some of my own tweets that might be expanded into newsletter articles in themselves.

So Twitter becomes like a notepad of good ideas - a notepad I'm happy to share with the world.