Publishing a newsletter is one of the smartest marketing strategies any company can use to build long-term, profitable customer relationships. But there is a secret to newsletter writing that helps to actually getting your newsletter read.

The fact is, you’re the expert on your business and what you do. Tell your customers about new developments. Introduce them to new products or services. Give tips for using existing products or services. Think of new uses for those products or services. Offer them articles that help them learn.

Short, helpful articles about services you offer are the kind of pieces that generate pass-along referrals. Pass-along value makes your newsletter a great way for your current customers to refer you to their friends and colleagues.

If you run a house cleaning service, you know that your customers do some cleaning when you’re not there. Your newsletter should share cleaning tips your customers can use. That way your value goes beyond the cleaning you actually do. The chiropractor can do a short piece on back pain. The accountant can share Five Things Every Business Plan Should Have.

Readers love leadership-management tips. They love to read articles on saving money; in winter, for example, you might include the tips section Five Things You Can Do to Save Money on Your Heating Bill. Readers find such tips informative, helpful, and enjoyable.

Customers love stories. Don’t just describe what you do. There are certain times when you’re writing articles in your newsletter where you can be selling. After all, newsletters are sales letters in disguise. But there’s a way to do that so that it reads like a success story. Demonstrate your benefits for your customers by telling them a story about someone like them who succeeded because they purchased your product or service.

Here’s what I mean. Instead of describing a product or service, paint a story that illustrates the benefits of the product or service. Instead of using the headline XYZ Insurance Company Announces New Coverage, say New Line of Coverage Saves Small Manufacturer $23,000 in Insurance Premiums. This is a much more effective headline. It grabs the readers’ attention. It allows you to share one of your success stories and gets readers thinking, “I wonder if this coverage would work for me?”

What you’re doing is you’re providing information. It’s all about good information. But you’re doing it in a way that’s going to cause people to think, “Hmm, I could benefit from that.”

This is an extremely effective way to make your newsletter more interesting while still meeting your ultimate goal of generating more profits for your business.

I opened this post by stating that publishing a company newsletter is one of the smartest marketing strategies any company can use. But the secret to writing newsletters that actually get read is writing from your customer’s point of view. Your newsletter must contain what I often refer to fun, entertaining, and informative content. You can learn more about this by visiting www.NoHassleNewsletters.com. 

Writing a newsletter is not as easy as you think, otherwise more companies would be doing it! Learning how to produce a newsletter is a skill that can pay huge dividends. In this posting I’m going to talk about the ‘main article’ of a customer newsletter.

The main story of a newsletter is typically found on the front page. The main article is one of the most important stories in your newsletter. As the lead “work stuff” article, this is usually where you will write about your products and services. Take note that when you write about your products and services, it is important to do so in a way that does not appear to be selling your customers anything. Remember, your customers expect to read information, not sales brochures.

One way to achieve this balancing act is to tell other customers’ success stories. Share how a customer benefited from using one of your products or services and, if possible, include a customer testimonial and evidence of the benefit received.

The main story on the front page is also a good place to tell your customers what else you do. Keep in mind that customers usually begin a relationship with you based on a single transaction. Unless you’re the greatest sales person in the world or have the most unbelievable follow-up program, chances are very good that your customers are unaware of the many other products you sell or services you provide.

I want to give you another big secret on why monthly customer newsletters are so effective. It is because you are marketing and communicating with people who are already buyers.

Put your main article in the same place every time and make it easy for your readers.

Special note: No article, including the main article, should “continue” more than once, or at all, if possible. Don’t make your reader constantly flip through the pages to finish reading an article.

As I mentioned earlier, effective newsletter writing is a skill that can pay huge dividends in terms of more repeat and referral business. However, don’t make the mistake that many companies make by writing your newsletter all about boring ‘company stuff!’ Your newsletter will produce much better results if it has the proper balance.

If you struggle with writing newsletters that your customers, clients, and prospects actually like to read, then check out my wildly popular ‘Done-for-You’ No Hassle Newsletter program called Success Advantage 2.0! Not only do we provide ready to use newsletter templates, I also offer my ‘Concierge’ newsletter printing and mailing service!

Writing a newsletter that generates more revenue takes no more time than writing a newsletter that doesn’t! The big question faced by many entrepreneurs and business owners is what do you write about?

In this article I’ll not only discuss the what, let’s also briefly consider the where. I have a saying, “Successful newsletters are dependable newsletters.” However, dependability is more than just sending out your newsletter at the same time every month. It’s being consistent with the kinds of articles you include and where you place regular articles. Of course, your readers are smart enough to find their favorite article by hunting around, but why make them work for it? Why make extra work for yourself by plotting a whole new layout each month?

One of the most important elements of a great newsletter is what I refer to as “your personal monthly message.” This can be as short as a paragraph, but the main idea is to show some of your personality to your customers—break down the “company” façade. Your personal monthly message is where you can make a personal connection by talking about non-transactional things, such as an interesting vacation. The whole idea is to let your customers see you as a person, and not simply a business. Subscribers to my Success Advantage 2.0 program know as No Hassle Newsletters, know this all to well as I provide a place on the back page specifically for your personally monthly message.

Great (dependable) newsletters use the same basic layout every time. The most important stories in your newsletter should be in the same place in every issue. Follow the lead of the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal has the same basic layout every business day. Readers don’t have to wonder where to find the top story. It’s always in the same spot.

If you go into your grocery store, you always know you can zoom up this aisle and zoom down here to get the bread. You know exactly where the milk is. Now once in a while your grocery store will move things around because they want to have you look at more items. I’ll be honest with you, that ticks me off. So don’t do that in your newsletter. Make sure you’re consistent with the kinds of articles you include and with the format of where you place them.

If you struggle producing a newsletter every month, or if you know that this is something you need to do but just don’t have the time, I encourage you to check out my ‘Done-for-You’ newsletter program at www.NoHassleNewsletters.com.

I often blog about writing newsletters as a great way to generate more repeat and referral business. And to be sure, producing a monthly customer newsletter is still by far the most effective way to do just that! However, there are other things that you can do to effectively market your business and I’d like to share a quick story with you.

Over the weekend I purchased two new suits and the salesman told me that as a customer I was entitled to free alterations for life! As someone whose weight has gone up and down, this is a great benefit! The salesman then asked me if I travel much and if my suits come back wrinkled. Yes and yes!

He told me that as a customer I can also get free steam pressing of my suits, and get this, same day service! If you’re like me you probably have had your suits dry cleaned after a trip just because they’re wrinkled, not dirty!

I was already thrilled with the Labor Day sale price I received but these two added benefits left me feeling very committed to this store. From the store’s prospective, mission accomplished – another ‘more than satisfied’ customer!

As entrepreneurs and business owners one of our greatest challenges is to find ways to encourage customers to buy more often (repeat business) and tell others about our company (referrals). Last night when I was thinking about this men’s store, I thought of how brilliant their strategy is.

Let’s face it, everyone’s weight changes, and when a customer brings in their suit to get it altered, what are the chances they’ll make additional purchases?! Steam pressing is also a no-brainer for the company. The service probably takes less than 10 minutes to perform and you have a customer in you’re your store twice – once dropping off and then again picking up. It’s probably a safe assumption that a business traveler usually owns more than one suit and is more inclined to pick up a new tie, belt, or perhaps a few shirts while there.

Finally, let us not overlook the incredible bonus of satisfied customers, like me, telling a lot of people about my experience – like I’m doing right now. Customer service today is so bad that when a business does anything to standout in a favorable way, people are surprised and are usually happy to share their experience with others. By the way, my new favorite men’s store is Men’s Warehouse!

What can you do in your business to encourage repeat business and also get your customers talking about you? Time to put your thinking cap on!

If you’re still not producing a newsletter for your business, I encourage you to check out my ‘Done-for-You’ No Hassle Newsletter program called Success Advantage 2.0. You can check it out right now by clicking here!