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Evaluate It
How will you know if anybody reads your newsletter? You could skip an issue and see if anyone notices. But it makes more sense to offer an incentive and a way for readers to respond.
Best Regards owner Alan Aegerter measures effectiveness in referrals. In a recent issue he offered readers a discount on wines if they provided the names of three potential customers. He reaped 300 leads. "If I picked a quality mailing list, I'd spend $2,000 to get that kind of response," he says. "Instead I spent a third of that." Aegerter follows up with phone calls. The sales staff make at least 10 calls a week to see if customers read the newsletter. He estimates at least half do read it. Access president Yag gleans feedback from sales calls. "When our salespeople call on accounts, at least 20% mention the newsletter." The response from customer-query cards included in the newsletter reaches a healthy 8%. Yag, who publishes his newsletter four times a year, says, "Every time, it pays for itself with a new client. After the last issue, we got two."
Kusmerz evaluates his newsletter in the return on coupons printed in each issue. The month he promoted tree wraps, he sold a year's worth in 30 days.
Garage owner Zendeh attributes his 1991 banner year in the middle of a recession to his newsletter. Each issue included a coupon offering a substantial discount. "Each time a person showed up with it, I'd track it." He recorded the amount the customer spent, then updated his database weekly. "I'd break even on new customers alone." They covered the $5,000 cost of mailing to 17,000 people. "The repeat customers would bring us way over. It paid for itself every time with new business."
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Look for the Extra Benefits
The benefits of a well-executed newsletter should be apparent and quantifiable: Does it bring in new business, boost sales, position the company correctly, improve conversion rates, yield better results than ads do? The answer should be yes on at least one count. Ed Laflamme attributes one contract worth $100,000 to his newsletter. He's won several more new customers as well -- including one who couldn't justify paying somebody else when Laflamme gave him so much advice for free.
But there are other fruits. Better focus, for one. Companies with successful newsletters attest that the process of producing the newsletter forces them to define their marketing goals and crystallize their message to customers. It also keeps them better informed about their own businesses. "Producing the newsletter keeps me more abreast of my field," says Mitchell. "When I read, I read to write. I really absorb and comprehend a lot more information."
At Best Regards, publishing the newsletter has brought a new discipline to the entire organization, Alan Aegerter reports. "Producing the newsletter forced us to develop new products in a more timely way, so that we'd have some news to report. Product development now has a schedule."
Finally, in some cases, newsletters give CEOs an opportunity to share or renew the passions that got them into business in the first place. For Howell, it was the quest for the ultimate cup of coffee. For Zendeh, the deeply held conviction that people can master mechanical problems. For Kusmerz, the hope that buried in everyone is the seed of a gardener. And that his newsletter will make it grow.
CHEAP STARTS
Launching a newsletter needn't bust your marketing budget. If you leave the high gloss and precious designs to the spendthrifts, you can produce a simple epistle for as little as $300 a year.
Keep it to one page. Less space to fill. Less postage to pay. More likely to be read. By limiting it to a single page (you can print on both sides) or two (at the most), you're reducing the amount of research and writing time -- 5 to 10 hours an issue should do it.
Use your everyday stationery. If it bears your logo, that's all you need to start. You can always upgrade to newsletter stock later. When you do, preprinting several thousand uncoated sheets with a nameplate should bring two-color printing and paper costs below 10¢ a page.
Just type it. You don't need new software. You may not even need a computer. Access to a typewriter or a word processor is the only requirement. And you can rent time on a computer at a local printer if you don't own one. Many word-processing programs permit column layouts. Three or four sections, each a paragraph long, with plenty of white space in between, should fill a page.
Photocopy it. Don't typeset or incur the expense of printing. One laser-quality master copy can be reproduced not only clearly but cheaply at a quick-print shop. It'll save the wear and tear on your own copier. And 200 copies should run less than $10.
Use your own mailing list. Make sure the addresses are current and the names correct. Include a request for an address correction on each piece. Rely on your own database of customers, prospects, and leads. Buy directories or borrow them from your local library. Don't shell out big bucks renting lists.
Send it at a bulk rate. With a minimum of 200 pieces, you can buy a bulk permit ($150 the first year, $75 thereafter) to print an indicia directly on each newsletter. You can also use your postal meter or purchase stamps to get a reduced rate of 16.5¢ to 19.8¢ per piece. Mailing locally and presorting by zip code will get you the 16.5¢ rate. Two hundred newsletters would cost $40 at the most to mail.
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RESOURCES
Books
Marketing with Newsletters, by Elaine Floyd, published by EF Communications, available through BookMasters, in Mansfield, Ohio (800-247-6553); $24.95 plus $3 shipping.
Newsletters from the Desktop, by Roger Parker, published by Ventana Press, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (919-942-0220); $23.95.
Editing Your Newsletter, by Mark Beach, published by Coast to Coast Books, in Portland, Oreg. (503-282-5891); $18.50.
Ninety Ways to Save Money on Newsletters, by Polly Pattison, Pattison Workshops, in Westminster, Calif. (714-894-8143); $6.
Subscriptions
Communication Briefings (P.O. Box 587, Glassboro, NJ 08028, 800-888-2084) produces a subscription newsletter about communication and newsletter techniques.
Publish (P.O. Box 55400, Boulder, CO 80322, 800-274-5116) is a magazine about desktop publishing, with frequent articles about newsletters.
Seminars
Padgett Thompson (P.O. Box 8297, Overland Park, KS 66208, 800-255-4141), a division of the American Management Association, offers newsletter seminars.
Newsletter Clearinghouse (P.O. Box 311, Rhinebeck, NY 12572, 914-876-2081) offers seminars and publications about newsletters.
