Newsletters Made For You- Exceptional Living

Do you have a commodity-oriented biz?

Or…

Think you can’t sell a premium version of your product or service?

Then consider this:

High end toilet paper… well, you know what I mean… luxury tush tissue.

BTW: This info courtesy of DK’s ‘Marketing To The Affluent Letter’.

Andrex is THE toilet paper brand in the U.K. with sales of $550 million annually.  Last year they came out with a luxury brand, enriched with Shea Butter (Google it).

This is the product description (you really must read this):

“Offering a multi-sensory experience, this luxurious new toilet tissue has some new and exclusive features that will make you feel truly fabulous… the pack is a deep, rich luxurious brown color, matching any contemporary bathroom design.  It feels soft, smells divine and looks gorgeous which will make you feel really fabulous! ”

Yep. This is same stuff we all wipe our butts with.

Now go back and read the descriptives that I italicized.  This copy has absolutely NOTHING to do with toilet paper. It’s all about a luxurious [fabulous] experience… while in the loo!

Marketing lesson:  No one can ever say they can’t create a premium upsell or product/service option.

If there was ever a commodity product, this is it. And yet, somebody is romancing it, elevating its social standing and selling an upscale version of it.

Surely you can dream up a way to do this in your business.

If you have – or plan to – let me know. I’d love to hear about it.

Taking action just feel right.

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: There’s still time to get your March newsletter order in – now just $1.49 each – printed, mailed first class in 6 page, edge-to-edge, full color.

Copyright 2010

This post is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of David Gruttadaurio

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Romancing the client is a lot like a real romance.

Both relationships require a bunch of effort to be successful.

Both also need good communication skills.

When a customer relationship is cultivated, it grows stronger. Just like a real romance, it can last a lifetime.

Most entrepreneurs don’t bother with this. They think it’s a waste of time and money. So, they’re constantly prowling around for new customers.

That’s a really, really dumb thing to do.

Here’s why…

When you ignore your clients, they tend to ignore you.  And if your clients feel that you’ve forgotten about them, they WILL forget you.

BTW: Every business needs new clients – just not at the expense of overlooking your existing customers.

Did you know it costs 6 times more to get a new prospect to buy your stuff than it does a current client?

What does this tell you?

When a client relationship is ‘romanced’, it continues to be productive, long-lasting and (most importantly) very profitable. Yep… even in a recession.

Marketing relentlessly to them isn’t a business cost – it’s an investment.

Look at your return on investment ROI). NEVER look at just the ‘cost’.

For example, would you spend $1000 to make $10,000?

A 10-to-1 ROI? It’s a no-brainer.

That’s how you should look at relationship marketing – as a smart investment.

A customer newsletter – or a patient newsletter – has the marketing magic to easily accomplish this for you.

Try Exceptional Living for free – the first month is on me.

Your clients will ADORE you for it.

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Wanna get touchy, feely with Exceptional Living? Click here and I’ll send you three free issues to check out.

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“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  So said Mark Twain back in 1897.

Print newsletters have been saying it for the past ten years. Why? Because many business owners feel…

– With the internet, all they have to do is post content online; everyone will flock to their site to read it. Plus it’s FREE!

– Email is king!  Just send an ezine. It’s FREE!

– Postage keeps going up along with printing costs… but email is FREE!

There’s no question about it. Print newsletters should have died a long time ago.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the funeral.  The print newsletter suddenly became Lazarus and a resurrection took place.

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Click here to find out what the fuss is all about.  Tell me where to send your 3 free samples of Exceptional Living.
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Why print newsletters are still here:

1.  Printed mail gets delivered – It’s never blocked or caught in spam filters.

2. People still prefer to hold, touch and feel what they are reading.

3. Readers retain much less of what they read online compared to reading printed material. So, if you have an offer with a call to action, wouldn’t it be nice if it was remembered for more than 30 seconds?

4.  Print newsletters have more perceived value. How many companies are willing to print and mail a newsletter?

5.  Print newsletters stick around. People keep print newsletters for further or future reading. And they usually get passed around.

Still love your ezine? Then do both. Send an email newsletter on a weekly basis. But, send a monthly print newsletter, too.

There is a GOLD STANDARD to determine which one is best for you.

Just ask your clients. Survey them to see which one THEY prefer. After all… isn’t it all about what our customers want?

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Click Here to tell me where to send your 3 free sample issues of Exceptional Living

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Ruthless Rob Was Stunned – I Was Just Surprised
Got a call from Ruthless Rob this week.

He’s a good marketer. He understands direct response marketing. Plus he writes some pretty good copy.

Rob is a ruthless maniac about his marketing ROI. He tracks EVERYTHING.  If that sucker isn’t performing, it’s history.

He’s been using Exceptional Living for months, but he sent it as a PDF attachment in his emails.

Since he watches his marketing like a hawk, he knew the attachment wasn’t getting opened – in fact his emails were rarely opened.

So he took the ‘print newsletter’ plunge. He went to WebtoPrintIQ and created his October customer newsletter and uploaded his list. Then I printed and mailed it for him.

Here’s why he was stunned…

He got an 11 to 1 ROI, right out of the gate. Not only did they act on his offer, they called and emailed him raving how awesome it was. Exceptional Living was a monster hit with his clients.

At first I was surprised.

I tell our customers it takes time to build anticipation, to get their clients ‘in the groove’ as it were. Typically it takes about 3 – 4 months before it really takes off.

Then it hit me…

Rob’s clients were hyper responsive. They had been trained to react to his offers because of his direct response marketing. Exceptional Living newsletter was just the icing on the cake to his customers.

Sometimes I love being wrong.

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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I just watched the latest ad for Verizon Wireless.

The first teaser ad a couple of weeks ago for their new Droid left many stunned. Verizon flat out declared the iPhone was… (gasp)… in some way deficient!

The newest ad has left no doubts that Verizon has taken off the gloves and is ready for a bare-knuckled brawl.

What does this have to do with you?

Controversy is our friend. Nothing gets attention like good, old-fashioned hullabaloo.

Think about it: The more you conform to everyone else, the more you’ll blend in. You don’t stand out.

That’s why it’s not a bad thing to be different.

Create a little controversy now and then.

You’ll never going to please everyone, anyway.  Why not step out of your marketing comfort zone? Throw your customers a curve ball every now and then.

Another direction on this is what marketer Bill Glazer calls “Outrageous Advertising”. Its off-the-wall marketing gimmicks that get noticed – isn’t that what we  want anyway?

Would you have an offer celebrating Ben Franklin’s discovery of Electricity? “Get Plugged Into Our Shock and Awe Event…”

Or instead of a promotion for the 4th of July, celebrate Bugs Bunny’s birthday. “We’ve Gone ‘Bugs’ For Our Clients…”

These are  just two of the suggested offers we’ve created in Exceptional Living client newsletter for our customers to use in their marketing.

They work because taking the road less traveled is very profitable.

If you haven’t guessed by now, we are a marketing company.

We happen to sell print newsletters. And postcards… thank you cards… reminder cards…

Well, you get the idea.

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: In case you’re curious, here’s the link to the Verizon Ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JgrBtn8XdU

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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‘Cheers’ was the place where “everybody knows your name.”

In marketing, there aren’t too many things more important than the Cheers Factor.

Here’s why…

If people don’t know you, they won’t trust you. And they until they trust you, they aren’t going to spend a dime with you.

It’s that simple. No trust – no sale.

Obviously your first marketing mission is to get known. Once your client knows something about you, the door to trust is opened, which leads to sales, referrals and profits.

Fortunately, getting known isn’t that hard. For proof of this, just look at Paris Hilton and all those Kardashians. If THEY can become famous, anyone can be become well-known.

So while its great if “everybody knows your name”, getting those same people to trust and to like you is much more difficult.

This is where a customer newsletter like Exceptional Living is extremely valuable to you. It’s the ultimate portal to creating a trusting client relationship.

Here’s why this is important:

Gallup Poll research shows that the key to wooing customers isn’t product or even price. It’s emotion.

A newsletter that reveals your own emotional engagement leads to a more loyal and profitable customer list. People go out of their way to deal with someone whose values they respect, whose style they like, and whose sincerity they appreciate.

When people believe in you, they demonstrate it with their loyalty and by bringing in more business to you.

Exceptional Living does this in many ways. The best example is right on the first page, with the ‘My Corner’ column.

The October issue talked about the Despicable Pet Owner. Buttons were pushed and people responded. It generated a ton of emotionally-charged calls and emails to our office.

It also increased sales by 27% over the previous month.

Check out what the fuss was all about.  You can read the October issue.

Just go to WebtoPrintIQ, activate your free account and check out Exceptional Living.

While you are there, you can also view the issue coming up in November and even inspect the September issue as well.

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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Maybe these reasons will resonate with you… or, maybe you think they’re a pile of crap.

7 reasons you DON’T need a client newsletter:

1.   Your customers don’t need to be reminded you appreciate their business.

2.   Everybody knows who you are and what you have to sell.

3.   You have more important worries than promoting your business.

4.   Your customers would never ‘jump ship’ for a competitor.

5.   Your competitors are not ‘gunning’ for your customers.

6.   Newsletters are just another business expense – not an investment.

7.   No one else uses newsletters, why should you stand out and be different?

Even if only ONE of these reasons sounds dumb to you, then get to work and start a kick-butt customer newsletter program that leaves your competitors confused and slack-jawed.

Doesn’t having clients for life sound really good to you?  That’s what relationship marketing is all about.

Our custom newsletter template is 97% done for you – actually, it’s brain-dead simple to use.

We even print it for you!

So there are no excuses… and no procrastinating.  Just do it – NOW.

Exceptional Living works.

Ask Aaron of Miller Brothers Auto Repair. Exceptional Living made his business $22K in one month from his newsletter mailing.

Taking action just feels right,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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1.   It’s NOT all about you. Never think for a minute what we do is fascinating to our clients. This is difficult for most business owners to wrap their minds around.  Accepting this fact is the first step toward sending our customers something they actually want to read.

2.   It should be a ‘must read’ for your clients. They should look forward to it every month. If the articles are mind-numbingly boring – people will stop reading. By including involvement features such as puzzles, trivia, contests, etc., you assure it gets read and (most importantly) is acted upon.

3.   Make it look professional. You pride yourself on providing professional service. Your newsletter must match your reputation. Watch out for typos. Write engaging articles. Have an attractive layout design. Print your newsletter on high-quality paper. The last thing you want is your newsletter to look like it was published by your 6th grader.

4.  Get Personal. Continue the initial connection you made with your client.  A personal touch will get your newsletter remembered. Share a bit of yourself with your clients – perhaps tidbits about your family vacation, your hobbies or your pet’s latest antics.

5.  Include offers and a call to action. Give people a reason to act NOW. If they wait, they’ll probably do nothing. So make a special offer available only for your clients. And place a deadline on it, for example, for one month only.

6.   Be consistent. Don’t get cheap by sending your newsletters quarterly.  If that’s you, don’t bother sending anything – you’ll be wasting your money.  Also: If you tell your customers to expect a newsletter from you every month, you better do it. If you fail to follow though as promised – your reputation will take a hit.

7.   Print it. Yeah, yeah, yeah… printed newsletters are more expensive. But think about this: How many companies are willing to do this? Your clients aren’t stupid. They understand the time and money you spend to send them a great newsletter every month – and they appreciate it and will reward you with their business and referrals.

If your client newsletter contains each of these key components – you’ll have to beat your customers off with a stick.

This is take-it-to-the-bank stuff. And yes, it really does work!

Let’s make it happen,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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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 often means “I’m not ready to buy yet… but I will be later.”

Knowing that fact is critical to your entrepreneurial success.

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

So 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. Why wouldn’t they? You’ve given them no reason to remember you.

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

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

Here’s a real-world example:  I recently sold $253 of services to customer I had not heard from in four years. Although it cost me about $96.00 to send her a monthly client newsletter for FOUR YEARS, I was the one she called when the time was right again.

Plus, she referred me to two other new clients during the past four years. Each of those people gave us 6 referrals.

What do you think? Was it worth persistently staying in contact with this customer?

Start regular communication with your customer or patient with a newsletter… and get that second sale. It will not only be easier than the first, it will also be more profitable because you have the beginnings of a relationship.

My Exceptional Living Newsletter makes sending a monthly client newsletter quick, easy, painless, and profitable. Our newsletter template is online and 95% Done For You.

We do all of the heavy lifting for you.

Let’s make it happen.
David Gruttadaurio

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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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