Newsletters Made For You- Exceptional Living

While reading the Sunday paper, I came across an article about a family-owned business started in 1942.

It’s a fitness equipment company.

And like most fitness supply stores, they also had a shoe department.

This is where it gets interesting: They recently spun off the shoe department and made it a separate enterprise.

That isn’t the interesting part.

Then they created a new market for custom fit shoes. They call their new enterprise Ultimate Fit.

Their specialty is fitting shoes based on the customer’s feet, gait and body mechanics.

Can’t say for sure what that means…

But I can tell you this: They have a hit.

We drove by the place and it was hopping. There were at least a dozen people (mostly kids with parents) in the store.

Then… they branched out to setting up spaces in the fitness clubs and doctor’s offices. They promote their biz through organized races and walks in the community. They hold clinics to educate consumers on the importance of properly fit shoes.

Do you get it?

They reinvented themselves. They became About Something Significant. Dan Kennedy talked about this in his January newsletter

Granted, at the end of the day, they just sell shoes.

But to their clients, their community, their industry… they are much more significant than the sum total of what they sell.

Why can’t you do the same thing? And please don’t say your biz is too ordinary to be About Something Significant.

With this in mind, how many of your competitors send a monthly client newsletter? I don’t know you personally (yet), but I do know the answer:

Zip, zilch, nada, zero.

Stand out, be significant, reinvent yourself. Begin the process in a very tangible and real way. Send your customers killer newsletters each month. Our customer newsletter templates online are free to use. Exceptional Living is… well, exceptional.

They’ll remember you as being About Something Significant.

Activate your free account if you haven’t done so yet.

Taking action just feels right.

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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http:/www.NewslettersMadeForYou.com

http://www.NewslettersMadeForYou.com/blog

About David Gruttadaurio

David Gruttadaurio is widely recognized as the expert in print newsletter marketing and relationship-based marketing.

David now has clients from around the world who are successfully using his products.

He is the editor of Exceptional living newsletter and a published author in print and online magazines and blogs.

David and his family live in the small town of Princeton, Indiana.

Copyright 2010

This email 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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Really… are you sure?

Because the last time I checked, ALL businesses:

1. Have competitors.
2. Must advertise or somehow get people to know about them.
3. Must convince people to buy.
4. Must hang on to their customers.
5. Must attempt to avoid failure while on the path to profitability, wealth and success.

Consumers are just like me and you. They have the same emotions and tendencies as everyone else on the planet.

So how the heck is YOUR business different?

Thinking this way creates a massive roadblock to making any real progress.

Take client newsletters.

You want (need, actually) to keep your clients from wandering off. Plus, you want your customers to buy more – and to buy often.

A company newsletters will accomplish all of that. It’s the highest form of relationship marketing.

And it doesn’t matter what business you are in.

I don’t care if you have a restaurant, sell insurance, pump gas or dig ditches. It doesn’t matter if you live in a big city or a small town.

All businesses either make stuff or they do some stuff. We keep score by how much stuff we sell at the end of the day.

So don’t rip yourself off by allowing this excuse to let you off the hook from actually trying a customer newsletter.

Remember, you are selling to humans, not Vulcans – humans have emotions, and use them to make decisions, no matter what they are buying.  So yes, Exceptional Living Newsletter WILL work in your business.

If you haven’t taken me up on my offer, click here to have me send you three cross-industry samples for free.

We have newsletter ideas that work.

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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Ever say, “I’m just looking” after being stalked by a salesperson?

Probably. It just rolls off your tongue. Your customers say it all of the time.

More often than not, it REALLY means: “I’m not ready to buy yet. But I will be later.”

So, when they are ready to buy… will YOU be the one they call?

Maybe…

You see, there’s this thing called ‘top of consciousness.’

Think of it as a mental sweet spot. It’s when you’re already in your customer’s mind when they decide to buy what you sell.

If you aren’t at top of consciousness, then you go back to square one. You must battle your competition all over again for your client’s attention.

If your client has to go to the Yellow Pages; look on the Internet; or ask someone for a reference, the company with the deepest pockets – the most advertising dollars – usually wins.

That’s why you need to contact your clients often and regularly.

Did you know…

95% of businesses spend nearly all of their time and money on chasing NEW clients.

But it’s 8 times easier to sell to an active customer.

But here’s the tricky part: Doing it (maintaining client contact) in a way that doesn’t come across like a blatant sales pitch.

Here is a real-world example: I just sold $273 of services to customer. I hadn’t heard from her in FOUR YEARS. During that time, it cost me $96.00 to send her a monthly client newsletter.

When the time was right… when she wasn’t ‘just looking’ anymore… I was the one she called after FOUR years.

I was in that sweet mental sweet spot.

This was the BEST part: She also referred me to two new clients and they each gave me 6 referrals.

Do you see how this works? Relentless client contact is crazy profitable!

Exceptional Living Newsletter makes constant client contact fast, easy, painless, and profitable. Our newsletter template is online and 97% Done For You.

Click here to tell me where to send your 3 sample issues of Exceptional Living, if you haven’t requested them yet.

Let’s get to work,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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I found a plastic bag at the end of our driveway on Monday. It was the annual delivery of the Yellow Page books.

Things have changed since the famous, “Let Your Fingers Do The Walking” ad from the 1960’s. I thought about their significance in today’s marketing world. I also thought how I haven’t opened one in years.

As I walked into my garage, I dropped the bag of books into the trash can.

As fate would have it, I got a call later that day from the Yellow Pages people.  There was real desperation in her voice as she tried to convince me to use their product.

The Center for Media Research recently confirmed what my gut has been telling me for the past three years.

It showed 57% use traditional Yellow Page directories while 47% use Internet Yellow Pages. The real difference is they claim a whopping 82% use search engines to locate products and services.

Here’s why the yellow pages are an endangered marketing species:

Have you ever Googled a product or service and been directed by the search engine to an online Yellow Pages listing for a company?

Me either.

Search engines reward positioning by which links are clicked most often.  So if people were using the digital Yellow Pages, those online Yellow Page ads would rank really high on Google and the other search engines.

But the ads don’t rank high on Google because most people never use them.

What do YOU think about Yellow Pages – any variety (there must be a dozen) – and their associated websites? Do you think money spent there is well spent or wasted?

My opinion: Money spent in the Yellow Pages (and their website versions) is basically wasted.

I’m fairly certain my position will generate a firestorm of emails from people who feel passionately that I’m wrong. But there are others who will know I’m right.

Tell me what you think – leave a comment.

Let’s get to work,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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One of my businesses is a service company.

I got a call last Friday from one of my clients. Her name is Betty.

She called to answer the trivia question in the December newsletter.

Customers will usually leave their answers in voicemail or email to me. I recognized her name on Caller ID, so I picked up.

After Betty gave me the correct answer, we talked for a few minutes. It was nice chatting with her… I enjoy my customers a lot.

Then she literally shocked me speechless.

Betty was telling me how much she loved reading Exceptional Living (that wasn’t the shock).

Then…

She referred to a little story I told in the monthly “My Corner’ column. It was about texting and how a clerk was texting the entire time we were checking out at the register.

Anyway, while we talked, Betty related this story back to me like she had just read it…

… but I wrote it FOUR MONTHS ago. It was in the August newsletter.

Either she still remembered the story or she had saved the newsletter and read it again recently.

I think it was the former. Betty simply remembered my story from way back in August.

BIG marketing lesson:  Include stories in your marketing ’cause stories get remembered and make you memorable.

Why is that? Psychologists tell us stories form the basis of how we think, organize, and remember information.

Telling a compelling story is an art. But don’t worry about being an expert. I’m not. I discovered telling ANY story is better than no story at all.

Give it try in your marketing – be a story teller – become memorable.

BTW: I almost forgot. Betty got her December Exceptional Living 2 ½ weeks ago… and saved it. Kinda interesting, huh? Do your customers save YOUR stuff?

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Click here to tell me where to send your 3 sample issues of Exceptional Living… if you’re one of the few that haven’t requested them.

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Can one word REALLY transform your business forever? It did for Legos.

Their product was great. But the marketing message was off… by one word.

Here’s the story:

Legos is a Danish company that’s been around forever. But it didn’t get into what we know it for until the late 1940’s.

Europe was a small market in those days. Legos needed to expand into the U.S. market.

So, in the early 1950’s, the company used their same marketing message for the U.S. launch.

It failed miserably.

It tried two more runs at the American market. They ended the same way

Legos finally hired an outside marketing consultant.

He brought Danish children into the company; then he watched as they were given a box of Legos. Here’s what they would do:

They carefully unpacked the box…they confirmed all parts shown in the booklet were there…then they built the few samples in the manual exactly as shown.

Then some American kids were brought in.  Guess what they did?

They ripped open the box…tossed the instruction booklet aside…dumped everything in a pile and started experimenting.

So the problem wasn’t the product.  The product was great. All they had to do was change just one word in the marketing message.

Here’s why…

In Denmark, the Legos’ marketing message was: This toy will encourage your child’s inclination for engineering – something they excel at as a nation.

But in the United States, parents were told something different. This toy would encourage their child’s creativity.

Creativity vs. Engineering. The two words are similar… but different enough to stall a national marketing campaign.

As you know, Legos went on to become wildly successful in the U.S.

The BIG marketing lesson:

Sometimes you gotta change your message. Sometimes it might be just one word.

Awhile back I wrote, “How One Simple Phrase Can Kick Your Competitor’s Butt” (click here to read).

THAT’S what I’m talking about. Get a killer USP.

It can rock your business.

So can my killer newsletter.  Let me send you 3 FREE samples. Just tell me where to send them. (Tell David)

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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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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He was young, both stupid AND smart, and played a killer piano.

Jerry Lee Lewis was called the killer since he was baby in Louisiana. But he lived up to that name with his music. He was rock & roll’s first great wild man.

He knew the value of branding. So, he often mentioned himself in his songs – something no one had thought about doing.

He was a marketing genius.

Here’s an example. Check out how his song “Lewis Boogie” begins (featured in the film, Walk the Line):

My name is Jerry Lee Lewis,
come from Louisiana
I’m gonna do you a little boogie
on this here piano
Doing mighty fine, I’m gonna make you shake it
I’ll make you do it,
and make you do it, until you break it
It’s called the Lewis boogie, in the Lewis way
Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day

How’s that for self-promotion and branding? He did this throughout his career.

BIG marketing lesson from the killer:

It’s OK to talk about YOU.

Don’t do it your marketing ads… because all people really care about is ‘ME’.

But you CAN mention yourself so people can identify with you. They get to know you. And they begin to like you.

This is what newsletter marketing is all about. You start a relationship with a customer to create clients for life.

BTW: I have a killer newsletter called Exceptional Living.

I want to prove it to you. I want to send you… not one… not two… but THREE real issues of Exceptional Living newsletter.

FREE… as in no strings attached. Absolutely zero obligation. I’ll never mail you anything again unless you OK it first.

Here’s what you need to do to get three hard copy issues of the best customer newsletter on the planet:

Just click here.  Then, let me know where to send your free three issues.

That’s it. Simple and easy. I’ll send it to you at my cost.

Just click here. Aren’t you just a ‘teensy bit’ curious what Exceptional Living newsletter REALLY looks like?

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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Do you have any missing customers that need to hear that?

Probably.

95% of businesses today have missing clients.  These are people who bought our stuff once… but have never been heard from again.

According to the Harvard Business Review, 91% of small businesses do absolutely nothing to retain their existing clients.

As a result, the average business loses 50% of its customer base every 5 years.

It’s pretty darn simple: Ignore your customers and they go away… as in gone forever.

Sometimes the pace is a slow trickle. Sometimes it’s a thundering tsunami. The bottom line is they found another offer and took it.

Really… if they haven’t been given a good reason to stay… why wouldn’t they leave?

But here’s the REAL question: What do you do when you realize a customer is ‘lost’?

#1  Let them know that YOU know they’ve gone missing.

#2  Put them in a missing client rescue campaign.

#3  Use sequential mailings – a series of three or more marketing pieces over a 30 day period.

IMPORTANT:

There is no such thing as a one hit wonder in marketing.

So don’t give up on them if they fail to respond the first time you try to rescue them. You’ll want to run these at least twice a year.

CONSTANT CONTACT

Why not just avoid the entire problem?  All you need to do is have constant contact with your customer. Let them know you appreciate their business.

It cements the relationship. It creates customer loyalty. Most importantly, it separates you from the other 95% of businesses that do nothing to stay in contact with customers.

Guess what? A client newsletter accomplishes all of the above… and a heck of a lot more.

A customer newsletter will generate more referrals and sell more of your products and services to your existing customers. It’s the highest form of relationship marketing.

Plus, you avoid that pesky problem of the milk carton thing…

Taking action just feels right.

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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Do you remember this:  June 27, 1995. Actor Hugh Grant is arrested for getting caught with a hooker.

Didn’t think so.

His mug shot spoke volumes; but just one word could sum it up: humiliation.

This is what Grant DIDN’T do:

1. Pretend it didn’t happen
2. Duck and cover – go into hiding
3. Lie

Most people try to weasel out of their mistakes. They have an entire dictionary of ‘weasel-words’ to minimize their ‘transgression’ (isn’t that a great word?). And if all else fails: Deny, deny, deny.

It’s real tempting to go that route … it seems like the easiest path to take.

It’s not.  THIS is the road to redemption…

Repeat these words:  “OK, I screwed up. Something’s gone horribly wrong, and it’s all my fault.

It’s works nearly every time.

In Grant’s case, he went on the talk show circuit. He told Jay Leno, “I did a bad thing.”

None of that, “I was just giving her a ride home” cover story.

Here’s the marketing lesson:

People want to do business with people they like and trust. Real people. Just like themselves. People that sometimes screw up. Yep… it really is all about relationships.

So, don’t be afraid to admit when you mess up. Don’t hesitate to show some of your weaknesses. It’s actually very disarming. It also tends to shorten peoples memories.

It worked for Hugh Grant. A month later his career was on track and on fire again. And he’s never looked back.

Do you want ’screw up’ insurance? A client newsletter will create the relationship needed to weather any storm YOU create in your business.

How you ask?

Use your customer newsletter to let your customer s ‘in’. Talk about what’s happening in your life. Over time, they WILL feel like they know you.

And when (not if) you screw up, they will be much more inclined to forgive and forget.

So throw out your weasel word dictionary. Just ‘fess up when you need to.

Ya listening, Mr. Woods?

Let’s get to work,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Let me send you three samples of Exceptional Living print newsletter – totally free-ola!  Click here and tell me where to send them.

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