I was at a lunch meeting today and when asked what I do, instead of saying that I run a company that produces newsletters, I said, “I help companies increase their profits by boosting their repeat and referral business.” The natural follow-up question was, “How do you do that?”

I then explained that my company, No Hassle Newsletters, makes it possible for companies large and small to customize and mail a monthly print newsletter for less than $1 each. As a USP goes, I thought I was doing a pretty fair job!

My lunch neighbor then asked for my opinion on how much of a company’s marketing budget should be spent on something like a newsletter. It’s not often I get thrown such a perfect pitch – ready to be knocked out of the park! I smiled and said, “All of it!” I was kidding to be sure, but not by much.

In my opinion, most businesses spend far too much money chasing after new customers and too little trying to get more business from the customers who have already said, “I trust you and find value in what you sell.” Of course, most customers don’t actually say this, but they did in essence when they made their first purchase from you.

This makes my point: a satisfied customer is predisposed to purchase from you again. In fact, satisfied customers will likely purchase more of what they bought as well as something different. The second, also important, point is this: It costs less to motivate a current customer to purchase again than to motivate a new one to purchase for the first time – a lot less.

Tied it up with a bow! Now that I’ve said my piece about marketing to existing customers, I will draw the obvious conclusion and tell you (actually tell you again) that nothing, and I repeat nothing, will generate more repeat and referral business than a monthly customer newsletter.

In addition to the two to three books I read every week, one of my weekly “must-reads” is a column in my local Sunday newspaper called Entrepreneurship 101. Written weekly by Kathleen Begley, owner of a communications consulting and training company, www.writecompanyplus.com, the column covers a wide variety of topics that will affect, or have affected, most entrepreneurs. 

I usually read Kathleen’s column over breakfast before heading off to church. Yesterday’s column was titled “In Business, Maintain an Emotional Balance.” The gist of the article was that business owners can easily be swayed by either criticism or praise. Unfortunately for many, most feedback seems to be criticism – not because criticism is deserved, but because many happy customers are just that, happy, and don’t feel compelled to write! 

Kathleen rightly points out that it is important to keep all criticism in perspective and weigh the negativity against all the good that you also do. In my businesses, Dynamic Communication and No Hassle Newsletters, I can tell you that few things are as stressful as reviewing and signing off on the final proof of a client’s newsletter, knowing that any mistake past this point sits squarely on my shoulders!  

The truth is that as hard as I try to make sure every newsletter is error free, unfortunately I don’t always succeed. I learned many years ago how important it is to keep any mistakes (and the criticism that often follows) in proper perspective.  

One of the business gurus whom I admire and follow is marketing guru Dan Kennedy. Dan often writes in his No B.S. series of books about the importance of “a thick skin.” Many studies have shown that successful, top-performing people share a common trait: a strong immunity to criticism. To truly succeed and get many things done, you must set aside your “book of excuses” and your need for 100 percent approval and acceptance from everyone. Not only is such a need not healthy, it will impede your growth. 

The fact of the matter is, the more things you accomplish and get done (known as “taking massive action”), the greater the chances are that a mistake will be made somewhere. After all, if you don’t get anything done, there is little chance that you will make a mistake! 

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you should just crank out the work and errors be damned! What I am saying is that you should conduct yourself with integrity and give your clients (and yourself) your best efforts at all times, then keep forging ahead.  

Every once in a while, a mistake will happen – I guarantee it! Apologize for it, try to learn from it, correct it if possible, and then move on. Having spent almost 30 years in and around business, I can also tell you that the majority of feedback you receive is likely to be negative.  

Most people who are happy with your service will keep doing business with you and, hopefully, tell others. Those not happy will either stop using your service without letting you knowing or will vent. As an owner, use the opportunity of the “venting” to try and salvage the situation and the relationship. If that doesn’t work, at least you tried. That should give you the peace of mind that you are a professional and – no matter what the outcome – that you should keep moving you and your business forward.

If you’d like to learn more about Kathleen, you can visit her blog at http://writecompanyplus.typepad.com. If you’d like to get a copy of my five-part FREE special report “The Awesome Power of Newsletter Marketing” delivered daily to your in-box, simply go to www.nohasslenewsletters.com.

Aside from the overall appearance (emphasizing the importance of a first impression), nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly written headline. The vast majority of your newsletter’s readers will scan the newsletter and read the headlines first. I can’t overstate the importance of writing good headlines.  

A well-written headline will tell the reader what the point of the article is. Your headlines need to contain positive, strong action words – the shorter and simpler, the better. 

Unfortunately, I see too many writers try to be cute or clever when writing headlines. Many of our major metropolitan newspapers do so every day – perhaps giving the impression that this is acceptable! Let me remind you that you have but a few seconds to grab the attention of your readers and make them want to read your newsletter. I strongly believe that 99 percent of the time, “cute” will not close the sale. 

Here are three things that a headline should do:

Grab Attention – Simply put, the headline must stop the readers in their tracks and cause them to read further.Tell the Story – A well-written headline tells readers right away what a story is about.  

Enhance the Page – The headlines on a page should all work together to help you close the sale. In this case, the “sale” is merely getting your readers to agree that giving up five or ten minutes of their time to read your newsletter is a worthwhile decision. 
 

Here are five tips to help you write great headlines:

1. Use active voice.
2. Use present tense.
3. Use short, descriptive words.
4. Make positive statements.
5. Avoid abbreviations and jargon. 

Finally, you may want to avoid using consistent headlines for recurring articles, instead varying the headlines according to the theme. For example, if you must have a “President’s Column” or something equivalent, change the headline with each issue to reflect the important message of the individual article.