Tweet

The Worlds Smallest Newsletter

Written by: David Frey

Article Overview: Newsletters are one of the most powerful marketing tools that businesses have at their disposal. In this article I'll introduce you to the World's Smallest Newsletter that gets big time results.

The Worlds Smallest Newsletter

Newsletter marketing is one of the best ways to keep in touch with your current customers.

Every smart marketer will testify to that.

Newsletters can build lasting relationships by providing helpful information and also provide a vehicle for announcing new products and services resulting in additional sales.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that out of all the marketing tactics and techniques that I personally use, the humble newsletter is my number one marketing tool.

This one tool brings me hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue each year.

But There Are Problems with Generating Newsletters...

If you've ever published an offline newsletter you'll discover three things really fast...

1. Writing the content for a 4 - 6 page newsletter can

be a pain in the wazoo.

2. Creating the layout of the newsletter with all your

content, advertisements, and graphics can be a nightmare.

3. Printing, stuffing and mailing the newsletter can be

a monumental task.

and...

4. Paying someone to do the three items above can be

very expensive.

Now, I can hear you saying that these problems all go away when you generate an online newsletter.

Perhaps....but there are some drawbacks to sending online newsletters.

Online versus Offline Newsletters

Online newsletters are awesome marketing vehicles, BUT there are several drawbacks to an online newsletter.

- Drawback # 1

Getting your online newsletter delivered is getting a lot harder to do. In fact, I would say that up to 50% of my newsletters are NOT delivered. (Yikes!)

- Drawback # 2

There are so many other online newsletters being sent out that it's getting more and more difficult to stand out from the crowd. (Your inbox is only so big.)

- Drawback # 3

Many people simply don't like to read things online. Most people would prefer to have something to touch, handle and feel.

The simple fact is that OFFLINE newsletters....

1. get delivered.

2. get read.

3. get action.

So even though they are harder and more expensive to put out, an offline newsletter is usually much more effective.

Introducing the World's Smallest Offline Newsletter

I receive a newsletter every month from a good friend of mine, Kevin Donlin of http://www.Gresumes.com.

Kevin is in the business of helping people develop compelling resumes that get higher paying jobs much faster than normal.

Each month Kevin sends out the "World's Smallest Newsletter."

He calls his newsletter, the "Employment Dispatch."

It contains interesting information such as...

1. Case studies

2. Great quotes

3. Helpful tips

and...

4. Excellent resources

The cool thing about Kevin's newsletter is that he puts it on a small, 4 x 6 postcard that you can read in under two minutes.

I read every single newsletter that I get from Kevin.

The postcard comes on bright colored 100lb. stock paper and it costs him less than $.03 to create and $.23 to send.

It's not super high-quality, but the information is great and newsletter gets read.

The most important thing is that I'm reminded of Kevin and his services every single month.

Would You Like to See the World's Smallest Offline Newsletter?

Here are two installments of Kevin's newsletter.

http://url123.com/5humx

You'll notice how Kevin uses every inch of these postcards, both front and back.

The only graphic he uses is a head shot photo of himself, which brings a human element into his message.

You'll also notice that he keeps the bottom inch of the postcard clear of any important information because that's where the post office likes to put its processing code.

Conclusion

If you aren't using a newsletter to keep in touch with your prospects and customers then you are certainly missing out on a lot of new business.

For a newsletter to get read it needs to be interesting, informative and helpful.

Offline newsletters are far more effective than online newsletters and if you have a high ticket item or your business is highly dependent on referrals, then you should consider using an offline newsletter.

Your newsletter doesn't have to be expensive to produce. Kevin Donlin of http://www.Gresumes.com uses a simply 4 x 6 postcard for his newsletter and brings him outstanding results.

Related Articles
  The Entrepreneur As Systems Thinker: Getting Down to Basics
  “The Top Ten Benefits Of An E-Newsletter, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Where to Focus Your Newsletter
  How to create and send out an email newsletter
  Tips On How To Create An Email Newsletter

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: Would you like an EvanCarmichael.com Forum e-newsletter? - Hi Everyone, Thanks for the quick and enthusiastic feedback thus far! Perhaps the EvanCarmichael.com Forum e-Newsletter can be a "tweaked" version of the existing weekly email that's sent to moderators? What do you guys think? Maybe the e-newsletter should be customizable like an RSS feed?
Re: Is Twitter really worth $1 Billion? - Hi, I read a great article (either in fast company or Inc) that goes along with GT's thinking. Twitter.com value is as good as the perceived value of those companies that would want to own it; or have a piece of it. The article explained that if it implemented a business model that monetized the site (or was an attempt to monetize the site) and failed the value would decrease tremendously. Because now, they would not be valued as "what if" they woudl be valued at the net income they earned or did not earn. Anyway, I was never a Twitter.com promoter. But to me it is becoming like a Newsletter 2.0. No one looks at their emails anymore when companies send out newsletters; but they may look at their Twitter.com account. Plus, Twitter.com is only good for marketers when you influence others to post something about your company. If you get Evan to say something about your company then your money in the bank. Jeff
Business Card = Money $Machine$! - Chris, I'm not sure the line of business you are in but something to consider. I got this idea from Dan Kennedy's Gold Inner Circle Newsletter. He stated in addition to just stating what you have to offer you also need to position your business cards to get people to actually contact your place of business so that you can capture their details and keep in contact with them. By keeping in contact you build trust and credibility and usually after 7-8 contacts they can potentially become a paying customer. How do you do that? Dan suggests offering intriguing, valuable information that helps a customer save money, relief from a particular stress or fear etc. but it has to be free so that they are encouraged to make contact with you. This works for B2B and B2C. B2B have been providing numerous whitepapers for a while now addressing different ways they have helped other companies with similar problems and end with how their product/service helped remedy the situation. Has anyone toyed with including "An Irresistible Offer" on their Business Cards? e.g. Free one hour consultation on your website to identify ways to increase your Lead generation by 40%"
Re: Forums Blog? - [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]Interesting idea Don. In my weekly newsletter I show the most recent forum posts and on the side of every page on the website (not the forums) I also show the most recent entries.[/quote:1yww01zw] The Newsletter update is great for people _already_ signed up to the forums. The Blog would be a teaser for those who are unaware of it entirely. [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]How often would you see the blog being updated?[/quote:1yww01zw] I would say no more frequently than once a week. It would be more an an ad than an interactive forum. Although, that can change. [quote="Evan":1yww01zw]Any other ideas out there on a blog or ways to show the most popular topics?[/quote:1yww01zw] If you really want a big Internet Presence, this is what I have learned works very well: 1/ Website 2/ Blog 3/ MySpace 4/ Press Release 5/ Ads posted on free & paid classified websites 6/ Networking 7/ website submission to search engines You will notice that only 1 out of the 7 requires human contact. The other 6 will begin to create a presence and if the right keywords are used, then people doing searches for those keywords will find many references to this site. Networking helps build your 'real world presence'. I haven't done any aggressive marketing of my site yet the hits just keep on increasing on a monthly basis. I'm on track to be making 20,000 hits (probably more) this year. Not bad for not spending a dime on advertising and being fairly casual about what I do with the site. That's what I have learned thus far online. The more I learn, the more hits grow.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Is the iPad useful? One CEO tells all ....

Local Marketing: 3 Simple Low-Cost Strategies

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.