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Will You Add? - How To Create Your Very Own Client Newsletter
Profit from Your Event - Define Your Payment Rules
Frank Richards is a Business Management Consultant who specializes in Service Level Agreements. Last month he ran four seminars in major Australian cities but he's finding that the ticket money does not cover his costs.In these days of instant payment you would believe that the problem of unpaid registration fees is a negligible issue. Unfortunately the days of instant payment do not coincide with the days of red-tape-free purchase ledger accounting. Companies have their own internal rules about raising requisitions for payment and some may take in excess of 90 days to clear all of the hurdles. Although this is probably one of the best reasons for delivering invitations to corporate delegates more than three months prior to the event, it still leaves you with the conundrum of what to do about non-paying delegates.The answer, as with all financial issues, is to have a clear set of contracted rules that are sent out with the invoice paperwork, the confirmation of registration, th
sue to announce what you're doing, why you're doing it and what to expect (i.e., no sales pitches!). Include phrases such as "let me know what you think of it," and a note to let your clients know they can be taken off the mailing list if they don't wish to receive future issues.
Frank Richards is a Business Management Consultant who specializes in Service Level Agreements. Last month he ran four seminars in major Australian cities but he's finding that the ticket money does not cover his costs.In these days of instant payment you would believe that the problem of unpaid registration fees is a negligible issue. Unfortunately the days of instant payment do not coincide with the days of red-tape-free purchase ledger accounting. Companies have their own internal rules about raising requisitions for payment and some may take in excess of 90 days to clear all of the hurdles. Although this is probably one of the best reasons for delivering invitations to corporate delegates more than three months prior to the event, it still leaves you with the conundrum of what to do about non-paying delegates.The answer, as with all financial issues, is to have a clear set of contracted rules that are sent out with the invoice paperwork, the confirmation of registration, th
Once your clients begin to receive it regularly (and you get up to speed on producing it), ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from receiving your newsletter. The aim is to develop a relationship so recipients feel they know you as an expert in your field before you actually meet them. One important point to remember is to create a newsletter you can easily adapt to an electronic version. Then ask your paper-based subscribers if they'd prefer to have it e-mailed. Some may want both versions, which is great. They may want the paper version to take home, to file for future reference or even pass on to someo
How CEO's Can Use Axiology To Improve The Bottom Line (Part 2)
In the first article (first in a three part series) we explained the little known science of Axiology, the Value Profile and how it is helping CEO's obtain the greatest leverage from employee's strengths. We described how a CEO (we called him Richard) can accurately measure and compare candidates for a specific position or work on a specific project. In this article we continue on to discover additional and deeper critical distinctions the Value Profile provides Richard to aid him in his decision to select the best candidate. The insights revealed in the fourth section of the report provide Richard with an in depth understanding of a candidate's abilities for planning and organizing. People can keep working on a project until they get it right, or they can plan and get organized before they start. Not everyone has the ability to determine what is required to accomplish a project and have it completed on time. Some people have difficulty with directions they ha
Using newsletters for business development improves your sales and marketing efficiency because they:
In the first article (first in a three part series) we explained the little known science of Axiology, the Value Profile and how it is helping CEO's obtain the greatest leverage from employee's strengths. We described how a CEO (we called him Richard) can accurately measure and compare candidates for a specific position or work on a specific project. In this article we continue on to discover additional and deeper critical distinctions the Value Profile provides Richard to aid him in his decision to select the best candidate. The insights revealed in the fourth section of the report provide Richard with an in depth understanding of a candidate's abilities for planning and organizing. People can keep working on a project until they get it right, or they can plan and get organized before they start. Not everyone has the ability to determine what is required to accomplish a project and have it completed on time. Some people have difficulty with directions they ha
- Improve your prospecting by being more focused and personal than a newspaper ad;
- Generate referrals Ask your clients if there's anyone they can suggest who would appreciate receiving your newsletter, as it's much easier for someone to suggest an addition to your newsletter mailing list than to flat out give you a name to call;
- Build walls around present clients A newsletter keeps competitors away by repeatedly reminding your clients of your continued interest in them;
- Recover lost clients Many lost clients would like to revive their relationship with you, but don't know how, so add a personal note to a newsletter, and mail it to them;
- Enhance other practice-building techniques For example, when contacting a client you might mention something from a past issue that's applicable to his situation, and in seminars, speeches and client meetings, use appropriate issues of your newsletter as handouts or to explain certain points.
A little help from your friends
When deciding on the type of content you are going to use in your newsletter, keep in mind that you don't even have to write it yourself. The internet is a vast source of all kinds of free content (e.g. EzineArticles.com) that you can cut and paste into your newsletter.
Which format?
Convinced of the power of this tool yet? Good. The next question is which type to use: a paper version to be mailed out to your clients by regular post or an electronic version to be e-mailed. If you decide on a paper-based newsletter, you may wish to also consider an e-mail version. Why? For starters, it's cheaper.
Paper will cost you at least a dollar for each copy you have printed, folded, stuffed, stamped and mailed. But faxing or e-mailing as many as a thousand copies will cost you practically zilch (word of warning: I would suggest foregoing faxing altogether, as many people on the receiving end resent having their own paper wasted or their phone line tied up). An e-mail version is immediate and "in your face", whereas "snail mail" can take longer to cross the city than the ocean.
As most of the benefits of a paper newsletter apply to an electronic one, why bother with a paper version at all? More people have postal addresses than e-mail addresses. A lot of your prospects and clients may not have fax or e-mail access or might just prefer a paper version.
So go for both, but ease into your electronic version. Take a few months to get your routine established for consistent quality and delivery of your paper version before worrying about creating your electronic version.
Bringing it to life
When starting with your paper-based newsletter, keep it simple. When sending a monthly newsletter, I have always found one page to be enough — anything longer could end up in a pending file to be read later, maybe. Some advisors I know who send out a quarterly newsletter might put three or four pages together.
Whatever your choice of length and number of issues per year is, start by sending your newsletter to your existing client list only. Include a cover letter with your first issue to announce what you're doing, why you're doing it and what to expect (i.e., no sales pitches!). Include phrases such as "let me know what you think of it," and a note to let your clients know they can be taken off the mailing list if they don't wish to receive future issues.
Once your clients begin to receive it regularly (and you get up to speed on producing it), ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from receiving your newsletter. The aim is to develop a relationship so recipients feel they know you as an expert in your field before you actually meet them. One important point to remember is to create a newsletter you can easily adapt to an electronic version. Then ask your paper-based subscribers if they'd prefer to have it e-mailed. Some may want both versions, which is great. They may want the paper version to take home, to file for future reference or even pass on to someo
Appealing To The Morons-How To Set Up Your Site So That Even A Chimpanzee Can Navigate It
I had an epiphany the other day. It appears that 80% of the world pretends to be a total idiot so that they don’t have to do any work. If they pretend to be dumb enough then other people will be forced to hold their hand or do the actual chore for them. See it is much easier for the smart person to just do it rather than sit and explain it.This is the reason why 5% of the world controls the majority of the money. There is no point getting frustrated buy it so you might as well embrace it. Treat everyone as if they don’t know whether or not to left click or right click the mouse I am not kidding. My friend’s mother has had a computer for 5 years and still asks the click question every time they navigate the computer.Here are some simple ways to make your website appeal to the masses.Lots of video. People learn things in different ways. If you are advertising to North America then you already know that it is a TV society. Most people don’t even read a full book after colle
g a client you might mention something from a past issue that's applicable to his situation, and in seminars, speeches and client meetings, use appropriate issues of your newsletter as handouts or to explain certain points.
Think of your client newsletter as an education tool, as well. It's a place to explain to your clients what they should know about your area of expertise, and how it relates to their situation. Look around at what other advisors are doing, and see what you think will work best for you and your clients.
I had an epiphany the other day. It appears that 80% of the world pretends to be a total idiot so that they don’t have to do any work. If they pretend to be dumb enough then other people will be forced to hold their hand or do the actual chore for them. See it is much easier for the smart person to just do it rather than sit and explain it.This is the reason why 5% of the world controls the majority of the money. There is no point getting frustrated buy it so you might as well embrace it. Treat everyone as if they don’t know whether or not to left click or right click the mouse I am not kidding. My friend’s mother has had a computer for 5 years and still asks the click question every time they navigate the computer.Here are some simple ways to make your website appeal to the masses.Lots of video. People learn things in different ways. If you are advertising to North America then you already know that it is a TV society. Most people don’t even read a full book after colle
A little help from your friends
When deciding on the type of content you are going to use in your newsletter, keep in mind that you don't even have to write it yourself. The internet is a vast source of all kinds of free content (e.g. EzineArticles.com) that you can cut and paste into your newsletter.
Which format?
Convinced of the power of this tool yet? Good. The next question is which type to use: a paper version to be mailed out to your clients by regular post or an electronic version to be e-mailed. If you decide on a paper-based newsletter, you may wish to also consider an e-mail version. Why? For starters, it's cheaper.
Paper will cost you at least a dollar for each copy you have printed, folded, stuffed, stamped and mailed. But faxing or e-mailing as many as a thousand copies will cost you practically zilch (word of warning: I would suggest foregoing faxing altogether, as many people on the receiving end resent having their own paper wasted or their phone line tied up). An e-mail version is immediate and "in your face", whereas "snail mail" can take longer to cross the city than the ocean.
As most of the benefits of a paper newsletter apply to an electronic one, why bother with a paper version at all? More people have postal addresses than e-mail addresses. A lot of your prospects and clients may not have fax or e-mail access or might just prefer a paper version.
So go for both, but ease into your electronic version. Take a few months to get your routine established for consistent quality and delivery of your paper version before worrying about creating your electronic version.
Bringing it to life
When starting with your paper-based newsletter, keep it simple. When sending a monthly newsletter, I have always found one page to be enough — anything longer could end up in a pending file to be read later, maybe. Some advisors I know who send out a quarterly newsletter might put three or four pages together.
Whatever your choice of length and number of issues per year is, start by sending your newsletter to your existing client list only. Include a cover letter with your first issue to announce what you're doing, why you're doing it and what to expect (i.e., no sales pitches!). Include phrases such as "let me know what you think of it," and a note to let your clients know they can be taken off the mailing list if they don't wish to receive future issues.
Once your clients begin to receive it regularly (and you get up to speed on producing it), ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from receiving your newsletter. The aim is to develop a relationship so recipients feel they know you as an expert in your field before you actually meet them. One important point to remember is to create a newsletter you can easily adapt to an electronic version. Then ask your paper-based subscribers if they'd prefer to have it e-mailed. Some may want both versions, which is great. They may want the paper version to take home, to file for future reference or even pass on to someo
Proven Secrets to Keeping Your People and Increasing Your Profits
Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days?Here are a few reasons why:They have a boring job therefore they feel they are not achieving anything.They have no leader to follow.They feel unappreciated.They work long hours and want a life.They are not paid what they are worth.The above reasons are not taken from any figures or facts stated in publications and general media. This is what the people themselves tell me. They are the words from the coal face, real people…managers, personal assistants, administrative staff, sales people; regular run-of-the mill people.It doesn't take much to retain valuable people and one of the easiest ways is to offer flexibility.Where is the Family Friendly Workplace?One of my clients - John - who is a manager in a large organisation - was telling me that his wife Mary, an accountant recently changed jobs, from working part-time in a suburb
power of this tool yet? Good. The next question is which type to use: a paper version to be mailed out to your clients by regular post or an electronic version to be e-mailed. If you decide on a paper-based newsletter, you may wish to also consider an e-mail version. Why? For starters, it's cheaper.
Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days?Here are a few reasons why:They have a boring job therefore they feel they are not achieving anything.They have no leader to follow.They feel unappreciated.They work long hours and want a life.They are not paid what they are worth.The above reasons are not taken from any figures or facts stated in publications and general media. This is what the people themselves tell me. They are the words from the coal face, real people…managers, personal assistants, administrative staff, sales people; regular run-of-the mill people.It doesn't take much to retain valuable people and one of the easiest ways is to offer flexibility.Where is the Family Friendly Workplace?One of my clients - John - who is a manager in a large organisation - was telling me that his wife Mary, an accountant recently changed jobs, from working part-time in a suburb
Paper will cost you at least a dollar for each copy you have printed, folded, stuffed, stamped and mailed. But faxing or e-mailing as many as a thousand copies will cost you practically zilch (word of warning: I would suggest foregoing faxing altogether, as many people on the receiving end resent having their own paper wasted or their phone line tied up). An e-mail version is immediate and "in your face", whereas "snail mail" can take longer to cross the city than the ocean.
As most of the benefits of a paper newsletter apply to an electronic one, why bother with a paper version at all? More people have postal addresses than e-mail addresses. A lot of your prospects and clients may not have fax or e-mail access or might just prefer a paper version.
So go for both, but ease into your electronic version. Take a few months to get your routine established for consistent quality and delivery of your paper version before worrying about creating your electronic version.
Bringing it to life
When starting with your paper-based newsletter, keep it simple. When sending a monthly newsletter, I have always found one page to be enough — anything longer could end up in a pending file to be read later, maybe. Some advisors I know who send out a quarterly newsletter might put three or four pages together.
Whatever your choice of length and number of issues per year is, start by sending your newsletter to your existing client list only. Include a cover letter with your first issue to announce what you're doing, why you're doing it and what to expect (i.e., no sales pitches!). Include phrases such as "let me know what you think of it," and a note to let your clients know they can be taken off the mailing list if they don't wish to receive future issues.
Once your clients begin to receive it regularly (and you get up to speed on producing it), ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from receiving your newsletter. The aim is to develop a relationship so recipients feel they know you as an expert in your field before you actually meet them. One important point to remember is to create a newsletter you can easily adapt to an electronic version. Then ask your paper-based subscribers if they'd prefer to have it e-mailed. Some may want both versions, which is great. They may want the paper version to take home, to file for future reference or even pass on to someo
Which Way Is Up?
Many moons ago I joined a program called Link Partners. I confess it was back at a time when I really did not have a clue about reciprocal linking, the best methods, the right way to go about it.Today while scanning through my incoming mail I made note of several opportunities or offers to swap links that I received through this program.The problem?Not a single one was appropriate - not for me and my website nor them.So why did they ask? Because it was easy, too easy, to ask.Reciprocal linking, link swapping, can truly help your ratings in the search engines if they conform to a few simple guidelines. These guidelines include:1. A common interestWhile swapping links with a competitor is probably not the brightest idea, there are shades of competition.What you'd want to look for are websites that do have a common thread to what you are promoting. The reason for this is simple. When someone finds their website they are proba
ave postal addresses than e-mail addresses. A lot of your prospects and clients may not have fax or e-mail access or might just prefer a paper version.
Many moons ago I joined a program called Link Partners. I confess it was back at a time when I really did not have a clue about reciprocal linking, the best methods, the right way to go about it.Today while scanning through my incoming mail I made note of several opportunities or offers to swap links that I received through this program.The problem?Not a single one was appropriate - not for me and my website nor them.So why did they ask? Because it was easy, too easy, to ask.Reciprocal linking, link swapping, can truly help your ratings in the search engines if they conform to a few simple guidelines. These guidelines include:1. A common interestWhile swapping links with a competitor is probably not the brightest idea, there are shades of competition.What you'd want to look for are websites that do have a common thread to what you are promoting. The reason for this is simple. When someone finds their website they are proba
So go for both, but ease into your electronic version. Take a few months to get your routine established for consistent quality and delivery of your paper version before worrying about creating your electronic version.
Bringing it to life
When starting with your paper-based newsletter, keep it simple. When sending a monthly newsletter, I have always found one page to be enough — anything longer could end up in a pending file to be read later, maybe. Some advisors I know who send out a quarterly newsletter might put three or four pages together.
Whatever your choice of length and number of issues per year is, start by sending your newsletter to your existing client list only. Include a cover letter with your first issue to announce what you're doing, why you're doing it and what to expect (i.e., no sales pitches!). Include phrases such as "let me know what you think of it," and a note to let your clients know they can be taken off the mailing list if they don't wish to receive future issues.
Once your clients begin to receive it regularly (and you get up to speed on producing it), ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from receiving your newsletter. The aim is to develop a relationship so recipients feel they know you as an expert in your field before you actually meet them. One important point to remember is to create a newsletter you can easily adapt to an electronic version. Then ask your paper-based subscribers if they'd prefer to have it e-mailed. Some may want both versions, which is great. They may want the paper version to take home, to file for future reference or even pass on to someo
New Standards In Benchmarking: People Are Opening Up
Ready to Share the Information: New standards in benchmarking have completely changed the scenarios over the past ten years. In the beginning, companies were very strict about information sharing. However, now the approaches of big business organizations have changed and they have accepted the sharing of information as business improving strategy. This openness has brought radical changes in the field of business management.The benchmarking used to be considered a process of measuring the performance that leads to implementation of the best possible results. However, the new standards in benchmarking have gone beyond this. The more mature benchmarking, the more focused on knowledge management.Companies are coming up with new ways of applying benchmarks. They are applying it not only for continuous processes but also for the matters like employee compensation, which is a non-transaction field. With big companies adapting the openness and finding no issue with sharing the inform
sue to announce what you're doing, why you're doing it and what to expect (i.e., no sales pitches!). Include phrases such as "let me know what you think of it," and a note to let your clients know they can be taken off the mailing list if they don't wish to receive future issues.
Ready to Share the Information: New standards in benchmarking have completely changed the scenarios over the past ten years. In the beginning, companies were very strict about information sharing. However, now the approaches of big business organizations have changed and they have accepted the sharing of information as business improving strategy. This openness has brought radical changes in the field of business management.The benchmarking used to be considered a process of measuring the performance that leads to implementation of the best possible results. However, the new standards in benchmarking have gone beyond this. The more mature benchmarking, the more focused on knowledge management.Companies are coming up with new ways of applying benchmarks. They are applying it not only for continuous processes but also for the matters like employee compensation, which is a non-transaction field. With big companies adapting the openness and finding no issue with sharing the inform
Once your clients begin to receive it regularly (and you get up to speed on producing it), ask them if there is anyone else they know who would benefit from receiving your newsletter. The aim is to develop a relationship so recipients feel they know you as an expert in your field before you actually meet them. One important point to remember is to create a newsletter you can easily adapt to an electronic version. Then ask your paper-based subscribers if they'd prefer to have it e-mailed. Some may want both versions, which is great. They may want the paper version to take home, to file for future reference or even pass on to someone else.
Always be consistent
It's important that you establish a regular routine. Your delivery and quality of content can't be hit-and-miss, skipping some months because you were too busy or forgot about it. Your newsletter is a projection of you, so commit to getting it out on the same day every month (or three months, or whatever your timeframe may be), no matter what. If you don't do that, you'll just alienate your clients with your unreliable efforts.
So get your preparation and distribution systems for your paper newsletter well established and working smoothly and consistently before you even think about transferring it to e-mail. E-mail requires the same regularity, but a totally different system.
Make text look its best
Here's another decision you'll have to make concerning your electronic version: Will your e-newsletter be plain text or HTML? HTML is what's used on the Internet and can be more graphically sophisticated that plain text. Some pros and cons of using HTML are:
- Pro: It looks better.
- Con: Some people are not equipped to receive their e-mail in this format.
- Pro: More options and versatility with colour, font selection.
- Con: It takes many more kilobytes than plain text, hence possibly longer to load.
- Pro: You can "bury" long and ugly links in a simple piece of text such as "please click here."
- Con: It detracts from your message.
Essential elements
Once you've finished with the body of your newsletter, there are two more essential elements that apply to both your paper-based and electronic version — you need a header and a closer.
The header is like a newspaper masthead. It gives the name of the journal, who's publishing it, where to find them, the issue number and issue date. The closer can give a bit more information about you, how to subscribe or unsubscribe, copyright notice, etc. Look at what other newsletters use in their closers to get a better idea.
Extra e-mail element
An attention-getting subject line is the most important part of your email newsletter. It's the first thing the recipient sees to tell them if the message is worth reading. If you don't grab them with your subject line, they may not bother opening your e-mail newsletter and your message will be wasted.
The subject line of my marketing newsletter (TIP) tells them that's what it is, and it points to the title of the lead article (for example, "Your New TIP Asks How Do High Earners Prospect?") so they know it's from a familiar source (and not Spam) and appears to have some useful information inside.
Hopefully, this article will help you get started on assembling and producing your client newsletter, in both a paper-based and e-mail format.
You may be saying to yourself that newsletters you've seen look a lot easier than all of this. A lot of them are — the ones you either delete or toss into your recycling bin.
But you don't want that kind, do you?
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