Many small business owners are discovering the marketing and customer communication value of creating and sending newsletters. They are a wonderful tool that is effective yet affordable when it comes to promoting the success of your small business. Figuring out how to write a profitable newsletter is an important step, and one that is easier to accomplish than you might think.

The business advantages of using a newsletter:

Using a newsletter as a marketing and communication tool has many excellent advantages, including:

• Direct communication with customers and potential customers
• Opportunities to share information your customers will find of value
• Positioning of your business as the “go to” resource for your type of products and/or services

These are just a few examples; chances are you could think of a few more that are specific to your business with just a little bit of thought. But just deciding to create a newsletter is not enough; you need to put some planning and thought into making that newsletter as effective and profitable as possible.

How to make your newsletter more profitable:

One of the most common mistakes small business owners make when first creating a newsletter for their business is thinking it needs to be all about selling, selling, and more selling. While one of the goals is certainly to increase sales for your business, the best way to go about accomplishing that goal is to make the newsletter less about sales and more about creating value for your customers and potential customers.

Here are a few guidelines for how to make your newsletter more profitable:

Make it worthwhile – The content of your newsletter should be interesting enough and valuable enough to the recipients to be worth their time and attention. In each issue, then, you should include articles, information, suggestions, and tips that are focused on helping the recipients solve common problems, learn something new, and generally gain something worthwhile from taking the time to read it.

Frequency – There’s nothing that will turn off recipients faster than sending them a newsletter too frequently so plan your newsletter schedule accordingly. Whether that’s once a week, once a month or something entirely different will depend on many factors, including your readers and the aim of your newsletter.

Foster a friendly and helpful tone – Throughout your newsletter the tone should always be friendly and helpful. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes; the last thing they want to find in their email inbox is a newsletter that’s pushy in terms of sales. The goal should be for each recipient to take away something helpful or otherwise of value from each issue.

A word about database management:

A big part of sending a profitable and effective newsletter is proper database management. This means you actively manage your mailing list of recipients, giving each person an easy method of opting out of your mailings if they so choose. Keep track also of the response rates you get from the newsletter, especially from specific categories or types of customers. This will help you better manage things such as the content of your newsletter.

How To Write Newsletters For Your Business is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Yesterday I was looking through the stats and comments from the webinars I ran earlier this year as part of the Business Breakthrough Magic series.

I have to admit, I loved running these webinars and all of the guest speakers were absolutely delightful to work with. However there were three that really stood out, receiving an overwhelming amount of ‘thank yous’ and positive feedback.

One of those was the one we did on Terrific Testimonials – How To Get Amazing Testimonials Without Losing Your Soul with Australian Copywriter, Ingrid Cliff.

Here’s a short snippet on part of that webinar:

This webinar covered all aspects of gathering testimonials, from how to ask for them, how to use them, what legal pitfalls you need to be careful of and what to do if you can’t get testimonials. If you’re a business owner, this is worth watching.

If you’d like to see the entire webinar recording, I’m making this available again for a short time. Please grab yourself a drink, get comfortable, click the link below to go to the recording … and enjoy!

Terrific Testimonials

Rules For Terrific Testimonials is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

In order to make more money, don’t focus on the money.

Sometimes in business everything seems to be about the money. How much you’re making compared with how much you’re spending. To some extent, that’s fair enough. After all, you need to be making a profit otherwise there’s no point being in business.

But here’s a suggestion…

Try setting aside time for planning financially, to work out your budget and set your prices and so on. Then set aside regular times to review these things and make adjustments as necessary.

Then, outside of those times, forget about the money and focus on helping your customers and clients. Focus on really getting to know them and what they need, and on helping others and solving your customers’ problems.

Believe it or not, you’ll usually find that your customer relations will improve and profits will increase. All because you spent more time focusing on your customers and on truly provide products and/or services that helped them, instead of focusing on how much money you were making (or not making!)

In Order To Make More Money … Don’t Focus On The Money is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Those who know me would probably know that I don’t like having my photo taken. However recently I spent an afternoon at a local park with Katie Bennett from Embellysh Photography in Brisbane, Australia, who took some updated shots for me.

I’ve added just a couple of the photos here.

I have to say, Katie is an absolute delight to work with. She really knows how to get people (in this case, me!) to relax and be themselves in front of the camera.

So this post is partly to show off Katie’s work and acknowledge her excellent skills, but I also wanted to highlight the extra care that she gives when providing her services.

I often speak about the importance of giving a little bit more … always doing a bit more than is expected of you or giving more. This can be one thing that really distinguishes you from your competitors.

Katie does just that … gives that little bit more. She not only makes it easy to work with her before, during and after the photo session, but it’s the finishing touches she adds that make the experience all the more special.

This is something you should also consider in your business – what ‘finishing touches’ can you add to your product or service that will make you stand out from your competitors?

Perhaps you could package your product in a way that makes it seem more special? Or could you follow-up with your client a week after providing the services to make sure they’re happy with the results? Maybe you could add a little gift to your customer’s order?

I remember when I bought a car through a car broker a few years ago. Not only had the broker helped me to find the sort of car I was looking for and negotiate a great deal for me, but when I signed the paperwork and took delivery of my new car I was also given a bottle of wine, a bunch of flowers and box of chocolates, all beautifully wrapped, from the broker and the car dealer.

(NB: I’ve bought 5 cars in my lifetime, and this was the only time I’d been given ‘a little bit more’ with my car.)

The gifts wouldn’t have cost much, but made sure I remembered that experience above each of the others.

Then, 12 months later, the car dealer sent my car (yes, my car) a ‘Happy 1st Birthday’ card. This wasn’t for a new car, by the way. This was a second-hand car. But next time I wanted to buy a car, who do you think I contacted first?

So if you’re not already giving that little bit extra with the products or services you provide, please take a few minutes right now to list some things that you can implement in your business to ensure your customers truly enjoy their experience of dealing with you.

Better still, if you don’t mind sharing these ideas, please post them in a comment below. I’d love to hear what you do to

Embellysh Photography – Giving That Little Bit Extra is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

As a small business owner you most likely spend a fair amount of time focused on effectively marketing your products. From price lists to promotions to marketing materials and more, much of your small business management activities are centered on describing your products and encouraging customers to buy them.

But if all you do is market your products you are missing out on a huge opportunity to make your business more successful. If you want to maximize the potential of your small business then you need to learn how to market your service as well as your products.

Your products and the competition

It doesn’t matter what kind of products you sell in your small business; from auto parts to furniture to books to candles, your products are probably not entirely unique. There are competitors out there selling the exact same (or nearly the same) products as well, and their number one goal is to convince customers to buy from them rather than from you.

And when the products are virtually the same, the next area where you of course attempt to compete is on price. The problem then becomes what happens if your competitor offers the same or similar products at lower prices? Maybe they cut a better deal with their suppliers, or perhaps they have lower overhead and administrative costs; regardless of the reason, if they sell the same thing at a lower price it’s going to cut into your business and reduce the amount of money you make.

So what are you supposed to do?

Using service to differentiate your business from the rest

The answer lies in successfully marketing your service as well as your products. The term “your service” refers to everything you do surrounding the product itself and related to how you interact with your customers. Examples of service might include:

• Free or discounted delivery
• Expert advice and consultation
• Expanded access to customer service specialists
• Personalized order taking and attention

So as you’re looking for ways to differentiate your business from the competition and create effective online marketing strategies, paying attention to service can be a huge winner in terms of creating greater small business success.

A really good example of this comes from the world of retail, where giant retailers have gone in to communities and many smaller businesses in those communities have gone out of business due to the substantially lower prices the larger companies charge for the same or similar items. Small business simply can’t compete directly on price in these situations.

But some small businesses have managed to succeed and even thrive in areas where larger companies are in place because they have smartly found ways to market their service as something of value beyond the value of the products themselves. Perhaps it’s a small grocer who takes phone orders, makes home deliveries, or insists that a courtesy clerk helps each customer carry their groceries out to their car. Whatever it is that sets them apart from their much larger competitors and is viewed as having value by their customers is a terrific tool for marketing their business in terms of service as well as in terms of products.

You can put this concept to work for your small business as well. Think about the service you provide and how it contributes to the value your business offers to customers. Once you have identified these things you can incorporate them into your marketing efforts and chances are you’re going to see positive results.

Market Your Service As Well As Your Products is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

I’ve been spending a bit of time today reading some of the useful information shared by telesales trainer extraordinaire, Jenny Cartwright, author of Don’t Get Hung Up!

For anyone who would like to learn more about how to best utilise your telephone in business I highly recommend Jenny’s web site and blog.

Here’s a few quick tips from Jenny on how to make sure you’re articulating your real value to your customers:

“Questions to check on your personal value to the customer.

What message are you sending your customers about you? (Do you really look after them and sound as if you care?) Be compassionate enough to give clients more of YOU.

What problems do you solve for the customer?

What image do people get of you when you answer the phone?

People do business with those they like and trust.  Business is personal, that is why companies like Dell, Commonwealth Bank and Modern Roofing are bringing their telemarketing back from India, it just did not work over there.
The Value of your Product – What are you really selling?

711 stores sell convenience,  Federal Express sells speed,  Air Road sells guaranteed delivery

It is your job to tell the customers the value you offer, not the thing that you do.  They don’t discover it for themselves. For example I offer inspiration, motivation, confidence and skills (at least that is the feedback I get!)

What do you offer?

We have to know our points of difference to our competitors. For example, I am a trainer who has actually made 100  calls a day for many years so I do have the practical experience as well as the theory. I use a telesales trainer to record people’s voices on training seminars, I offer ongoing free telesales tips after the training on an ongoing basis. I know enough on the topic I have written a book!

So what are your points of difference?

The best way to make a good impression on someone is to let them give you a best impression of them.  How do you do that? You practice great questioning techniques so you can listen more.  Remember the best salespeople are good listeners, we have 2 ears and one mouth and we need to use them in that proportion. While the customer is talking and you are listening, the customer is talking themselves into what they want if you have asked the right questions.

If you have a topic on sales or telesales with which you struggle, simply send an email to me at jenny@telesalestraining.com.au”

You can find out more about Jenny Cartwright’s training and download her free guide – How To Train A Telemarketer – at Sales And Telesales Solutions.

Tips To Make Sure You Are Articulating Your Real Value is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

No matter how long you’ve been in business you’ve no doubt heard sayings such as, “The customer is always right.” And perhaps you have bent over backwards to keep some customers happy, no matter what.

But can you go too far? Absolutely!

Providing excellent customer service is extremely important for a successful business, there’s no doubt about that, and it can often be something that sets you apart from your competitors. But at some point you’ve probably had a particular customer or client whom you wish would shop elsewhere. You know the ones … no matter what you do they will find something to complain about. Or they love your work (or product or service) and praise you openly, but then pressure you to give them extra or to do the work faster to meet their urgent deadline and may become quite unreasonable when you explain why you can’t accommodate their requests.

So many small business owners are keen to keep all customers and prospective customers happy that they sometimes forget to set their own boundaries and policies. While keeping your customers happy, it should not be to the detriment of other customers or yourself, your family or staff members.

I recall a few years ago when myself and a colleague made a similar request to a third party. We both had our requests denied on what seemed to be reasonable grounds. However my colleague jumped up and down and would abuse them and call them all sorts of names on the phone until eventually the third party gave in and gave them what they asked for. When I explained my disappointment and asked why they gave in to my colleague but denied me the same request the reply I received was, “I’m very sorry. I don’t think it’s fair at all but sadly, sometimes you have to give the best oil to the squeakiest wheel to keep them quiet.”

Needless to say I was very upset by this situation and although it was 16 years ago, it’s stayed with me all these years. But I use it now as a reminder that I don’t want to be like that company. I don’t agree that those who cause the most trouble should be rewarded with services, products or prices that your best customers can’t have. Doesn’t it make more sense to reward the good customers rather than those who cause trouble?

Of course, if the complaints are justified then that’s different. If you’ve made a mistake or provided an unsatisfactory product or service then you should make amends and go above and beyond to apologise for the mistake.

It’s also quite reasonable for you to go above and beyond for customers, over-delivering and doing or giving ‘a little bit more’.

But in the general sense, it’s important to have clear boundaries and policies around how you work, what you provide and how much you charge and stick to them. If someone is making unreasonable demands upon you, don’t give in and provide something that you wouldn’t offer to every other customer. Perhaps they are not actually the right customer for you … perhaps there are other businesses that can provide what they’re looking for as a standard service, in which case it’s better for them to go to that store or service provider.

Next time a customer is placing unreasonable demands upon you, before giving in stop and ask yourself if you’re rewarding their bad behaviour.

How Far Do You Go To Keep Your Customers Happy? is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins