Newsletters Made For You- Exceptional Living

We like to think we’re unforgettable.  The truth is, most of our customers forget us pretty darn quick.

Our challenge is to be extraordinary…  so exceptional that our clients think about us even when they DON’T need our services our products.

We do this by building familiarity with our customers.

One way to make this happen is with a tag line – a simple phrase that people can use to remember you and what you do.

Find inspiration from the top ten advertising slogans of the 20th century, identified by Advertising Age magazine.

1.  Diamonds are forever (DeBeers)
2.  Just do it (Nike)
3.  The pause that refreshes (Coca-Cola)
4.  Tastes great, less filling (Miller Lite)
5.  We try harder (Avis)
6.  Good to the last drop (Maxwell House)
7.  Breakfast of champions (Wheaties)
8.  Does she … or doesn’t she? (Clairol)
9.  When it rains it pours (Morton Salt)
10.Where’s the beef? (Wendy’s)

Here are the top ten TV ad slogans of the last century:

1.  You deserve a break today (McDonalds)
2.  Be all that you can be (U.S. Army)
3.  Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot (Pepsi Cola)
4.  M’m, M’m good (Campbell’s)
5.  See the USA in your Chevrolet (GM)
6.  I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener (Oscar Meyer)
7.  Double your pleasure, double your fun (Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum)
8.  Winston tastes good like a cigarette should (Winston)
9.  It’s the Real Thing (Coca Cola)
10.A little dab’ll do ya (Brylcreem)

Look at these lists again. Most of these slogans haven’t been used in decades. Winston Cigarettes hasn’t used their slogan since 1971. McDonald’s stopped using “You deserve a break today” in 1983.  Yet many people can still identify the company by just saying the slogan.

Here’s the thing about big companies:  They can abandon things that work because they have huge advertising budgets.  You don’t.

So stay with things that work.

An example of this is a customer newsletter. It can also build strong familiarity with your clients – and it will do this every single month you send it to them.

Got a great slogan? Plaster all over your client or patient newsletter!

Print customer newsletters are not perceived as regular marketing. They’re seen and read as being informative and fun rather than simple advertising. People keep them longer and will often pass your newsletter on to friends, neighbors and associates -  it’s a great way for your business to get referrals.

You need to use everything you can to create familiarity in mind of your customer or patient.  When the time comes and they are ready to buy – YOU will be the only business they think of.

That’s how you build  a relationship and get clients for life.

Let’s make it happen,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Like what you read? Tell me (leave a comment) and tell others (retweet me).

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Ask any MBA (MBA stands for More Bad Advice, by the way) what they think is your most important business asset and you’ll get all kinds of goofy answers:

- Intellectual property
- Employees
- Cash in the bank
- Inventory

No doubt… these are important. But they’re not your MOST IMPORTANT ASSET.

Every now and then you find one who’s close, but still doesn’t quite get it — he’ll say “your customers.”

But even this isn’t quite right. I know lots of businesses who have huge lists of customers that are just plain worthless.

The real asset in any business is the strength of your relationship with your customers.

That and that alone is the real asset in any business. Why? Because the better your relationship, the more they buy from you. It really is that simple.

It costs a lot of money to get a customer — but if you treat them right, if you build a PERSONAL relationship with them, they will buy from you for years and years, almost like an annuity. That’s where the real profit is in any business… and a client newsletter will make that happen.

Exceptional Living client newsletter has proven for years it is the ultimate personal relationship building tool for your clients — and the August issue is now ready for viewing and editing.

Sign in and get started now:  Click Here

Let’s make it happen,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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So… you have concluded you need to a send out a monthly print customer newsletter.

Congratulations! You’ve just rocketed past 95% of other businesses by implementing a marketing program that guarantees you will get and keep clients for life.

As with some other aspects of life… size matters when it comes to print newsletters.

The size and format you select for your print newsletters speaks volumes about your publication. It sets the tone how your clients perceive your newsletter and more importantly, how they view YOU.

One the basic decisions you will need to make is what format will you use.

Letter-sized customer newsletters: One page, 8 ½ x 11 printed on both sides.

This is the easiest size of newsletter that people can produce. It is also the cheapest. But this really isn’t a newsletter… it’s just a fancy letter.

Here’s the big problem with little newsletters:

1. It rarely gets read because it has no substance or importance associated with it because it appears insignificant.
2. It screams:  “I’m too cheap and you’re too unimportant for me spend any time and money on you.”

Avoid this newsletter size like the plague.

Legal-sized customer newsletters: One page, 8 ½ x 14 printed on both sides.

This format is a bit larger than the letter sized newsletter, but still smaller than the 11 x 17.

Everything that was said about letter-sized newsletters applies to legal-sized;  it pretends to have substance, style and value for your clients, but it is sadly lacking in all of these areas.

11 x 17 customer newsletter format: Printed on both sides.

This size is essentially the equivalent of four letter sized pages.

This newsletter size tells your clients you take them seriously and you want to really communicate with them.  Most people expect a certain kind of professionalism and formality when it comes to newsletters in this size. With its capacity for large amounts of information, people also expect a four page newsletter to offer valuable information that is relevant to them.

Add an insert – which is really pages 3 and 4 – and now you have much more than a newsletter. You have a piece of literature for your customers to enjoy.

Print it in full, edge-to-edge color (like Exceptional Living) and now you have elevated your print customer newsletter to magazine status – something that gets passed on to others after it’s read by your client.

Dull boring content is all about you.

Of course, no matter how polished and professional your newsletter looks, the content (articles) must match the formatting.  Boring content cannot be fixed by a newsletter even if it has the proper ‘fit and finish.’

As pointed out many times in this blog and other articles, content is king.  Make your client or patient newsletter personal, interesting, engaging and fun.

If you can win your customer’s hearts… their wallets will follow.

To skyrocketing your profits,

David Gruttadaurio

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Rule #4: Avoid constipated marketing.

All of your marketing needs to be regular – there can be no blockages or obstructions to getting it out on a regularly; it CANNOT be hit-or-miss.

This rule applies especially to your print newsletter if you want clients-for-life.

Here’s what the dumb businesses do:

They think a client newsletter is a good idea – that’s smart. They grasp the first three rules I have already outlined – that is really smart.

Here’s where they suddenly get dumb:

They want save a buck… and decide to send it out quarterly. They try to disguise their cheapness by calling it a ’seasonal’ newsletter (i.e. Summer, Autumn, etc)

If you don’t send a customer newsletter monthly, don’t send it at all.

Here’s why:

You are fighting against all of the reasons a print newsletter marketing program works.  It keeps your name ‘front and center’ in the mind (and hears) of your customer and patient.

By sending your newsletter monthly, you become part of the pattern of your customer’s lives. They pay their bills monthly, they get their favorite magazines monthly … and they become accustomed to getting your cool, killer, client newsletter monthly.

It becomes an integral part of their familiar routine.

And that, my friend, is how you create clients for life!

Maximize ALL of the benefits of sending a customer and patient newsletter by doing so regularly every single month.

It will pay for itself in spades!

To skyrocketing your profits with newsletter marketing,

David Gruttadaurio
The Print Newsletter Expert

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Rule #3: Get personal

A client newsletter is relationship building marketing tool.

Never forget that.

Yes, you send it to keep clients for life.  You want to make money and to get more referrals and testimonials by sending a monthly newsletter.

But none of those things will happen if you don’t connect with your customers and patients on a personal level.

- That’s why I tell you to put your picture in your newsletters, preferably on the first page.

- That’s why I tell you to share a ’slice of your life’ with your customers.

Your personality has to come out in what you send to your clients. This is especially true with your monthly customer newsletter, but it applies across the board to ALL of your marketing.

The objective of ALL your marketing – including your client newsletter – is to have your customer or patient know, like and trust you.  That won’t happen if you are hiding from them behind your company name or logo.

YOU need to be front and center in their minds.

An easy (and fun) way to do this is to have a monthly column written by you and about you. You can call it “My Corner”.

Use this small space in your newsletter to talk about what you have going on in your life.  Been on vacation? Write about it.  Get a new pet? Tell your clients. Something funny happen recently?  Share it with your customers.

You may think this all sounds like it would be boring to your clients, but I assure you it is not.

People are curious by nature. They wonder what you do when you are not ‘in your business’.  Give them a peek into your world.  They’ll feel closer to you and begin to you view as a friend, not just a business owner.

Plus… you will earn yourself clients for life.

Next post: The fourth and final rule – Avoid constipation!

To skyrocketing your profits with newsletter marketing,

David Gruttadaurio
The Print Newsletter Expert

Clients for Life, Newsletter, client newsletter, company newsletter, customer newsletter, customer newsletters, newsletter template, newsletter templates, newsletters, patient newsletter client, Clients Newsletter, customer, marketing, newsletters, patient, service for life, template, templates

Rule #2: Make it look professional.

There are two distinct schools of thought about this.

One says to make your customer newsletter look ‘personal’.  By that they mean it should look like you printed it off at home. No pictures, no color, no graphics.

The other camp says to make your client newsletter look attractive and eye-catching… in other words, professional.

This is what Exceptional Living is all about.  And here’s why it is a clients for life newsletter:

The newsletter is an extension of your business. You pride yourself on providing personal, professional service or selling quality products. Your print newsletter must match your reputation.

This is what must be a part of your customer or patient newsletter:

Have an attractive layout design. Print your newsletter on high-quality paper. Use color pictures and graphics.  Write appealing articles. Include contests and give-aways with REAL VALUE – get your clients involved!

If your print newsletter looks like it was published by your 7th grader, you’ve wasted your time and money.  And even worse, it will be boring!

A customer or patient should look forward to their newsletter each month. If your newsletters are dull and unimaginative, they won’t get opened, much less read and acted upon by your clients.

Next post: Get personal!

To skyrocketing your profits with newsletter marketing,

David Gruttadaurio
The Print Newsletter Expert

Clients for Life, Newsletter, client newsletter, company newsletter, customer newsletter, customer newsletters, newsletter template, newsletter templates, newsletters, patient newsletter client, customer, marketing, Newsletter, newsletters, patient, service for life, template, templates