What You Have To Do To Sell Your Products And Services Through A Free Client Newsletter By Dr. Jeffrey Lant If you're like me, you see dozens, even hundreds, of free newsletters. Everybody's got them: nonprofit organizations, independent professionals, businesses of every kind. Billions of dollars are now spent on the production and dissemination of these newsletters, very much contemporary status symbols. But I have a simple question about them: do they work? That is, do they bring in business? Do they help build good relations with existing clients, relations that lead to additional business? Do they convince prospects to buy sooner? Or are they a complete waste of time and money? Sadly, I'm convinced that for most people it's the latter. I'm convinced of this, because the people who produce these newsletters are doing so with some egregious misconceptions about what their newsletter is meant to accomplish. The Purpose Of A Free Client Newsletter Is Not To Disseminate Information... It's To Help Get Business! Without a doubt, the grandest misconception free newsletter publishers have is that they are in the business of disseminating information. Secretly wishing to launch themselves like Horace Greeley on an unsuspecting public, they model their tiny creations on the giant New York Times or related conglomerates. Embronyic thunderers, they enjoy the thought of having their ideas, opinions, and facts about what they're selling strewn across the nation. Desktop publishing has created an explosion of individual ego-mania of unparalleled dimensions and has added an astounding new dimension to the Me Generation's ability to scream, "Hey, look me over" at outrageous decibels. This is, of course, madness. Free client newsletters are not for the purpose of disseminating information. They are for the purpose of inducing existing clients to buy again and getting prospects to buy for the first time... and to buy faster. These newsletters are not information products; they are marketing documents, pure and simple. That is, they exist to get someone you can help and make money from to take immediate action. The creator of the free client newsletter I'm looking at as I write (a copywriter, no less!) has forgotten this. His newsletter reads like a mini-establishment rag. Each issue he takes a pertinent subject of real interest to his readers and presents them with very valuable information. Having given them this information, he signs off. And that is that. There is no attempt to tell his readers (his prospects, after all) that: . he can solve the problem he has discussed; . by his helping them solve this problem, he can help his prospects get something they want; . they can easily contact him, so he can begin to solve problems and deliver enticing results for each reader/prospect individually; . there are many other benefits he can deliver... if only they pick up the phone and contact him right away. In short, this short-sighted person (alas! the very model of the contemporary free client newsletter publisher) simply uses his time and other resources to dispense useful information, instead of using this information (and the very newsletter itself) as a mean of getting his prospects to call him and tell him they have this problem and would like him to solve it. Idiocy! Let me say again: the objective of the free client newsletter is never merely to dispense information. It is always to snag a prospect's interest, convince him that the problem he has can be solved, that you are the person who can solve it, and to induce him to take immediate action so you can begin to solve it for him individually. In other words, the purpose of the free client newsletter is to get business. I think part of the reason for this almost global mistake among free client newsletter publishers is that they don't see how generically different they are from mainline media producers and paid subscription newsletters. In these situations, the reader pays money upfront for information (subscription fee) or for the privilege of being able to reach the other readers of the publication to tell them about what he's selling (advertising). In these situations, it is understandable that information is treated as a salable commodity and not an inducement for immediate prospect response. It is quite otherwise with free client newsletters, where the only way the publisher makes money is to induce his readers to take action and buy what he's selling. Because these people have different reasons for being in publishing, they must create vastly different products... and must regard information in an entirely different way. What You Should Put In Your Free Client Newsletter Articles work in the free client newsletter if they: . get the reader (prospect) to stop in his tracks and actually read the material; . speak directly to the reader/prospect about a problem or aspiration he has; . let the prospect know you can solve this problem for him or help him realize his aspiration, and . motivate him to contact you immediately so you can get started to help him get what he wants (and hence earn some money). Each article in every issue of every newsletter must perform this function; not just some articles, and certainly not just the newsletter as a whole. Consider the right way of doing this with all the various departments in your newsletter. Say you have a feature focusing on staff. That's a good inhouse morale booster; personnel like being in the news. But don't just focus the article on the staffer. Direct it to your prospect. Thus, a brief piece about your company speech therapist should conclude by asking anyone who has the particular problem this professional specializes in to call for an appointment. Such an article looks towards the business it can motivate. Making Sure Your Free Client Newsletter Speaks To -- And Motivates -- Many Different Kinds of Prospects To Take Immediate Action Too many free client newsletter publishers make the mistake of writing all their articles for just one kind of prospect. Now, that makes sense if you only have one kind of prospect and have only one product or service. If you're selling just one widget to comptrollers of visiting nursing agencies, why, then, everything in your newsletter has got to be about this widget and so designed that it makes the reading comptroller want to take action to get it. But what if you're selling lots of different products and services... what if you have lots of different markets? What then? It's obvious: you've got to have articles relating to each of these products and services... directed at each of your particular markets. In other words, you must have different sections of your newsletter speak to different people and get these people to pay attention by letting them know which of their problems you can solve... and which of their aspirations you assist in realizing. If only they have the good sense to act NOW! And if you have so many different products and services you can't use them all in a single newsletter? Just feature them in rotation order... always, however, giving extra prominence to the things you're selling that appeal to the greatest number of your readers/prospects. The Features That Turn Your Free Client Newsletter Into A Superb Client-Centered Marketing Communication You now know what you've got to do: turn your free client newsletter into a hook that captures your prospect's attention and gets him to take immediate action to acquire your problem-solving product or service. Here's how you achieve this objective: . Talk directly to your reader/prospect. All newsletters... but especially free client newsletters... must be written in the second person. That is, they must be in what the philosopher Martin Buber (in an entirely different context) called "I-Thou" dialogue; an extended conversation between a concerned and knowledgeable problem solver (with product or service) and a person with a problem... or aspiration, your prospect. Because this is a conversation between caring person and cared about person, you must feel free to use every kind of reach-out-and-touch-me tactic: be direct, forceful, honest, candid, compelling, urging, hectoring. You decide. The objective, however, is to come across as a knowledgeable problem solver who knows what the prospect wants and will do everything to get that prospect to take action to connect with you to get it. . Use headlines to grab the prospect's attention by focusing on his problem or your solution. There are lots of different kinds of headlines you can use in your newsletter: how-to, reason why, command, or news, to name just a few. The important thing is that they do not focus on the information... but on the prospect. What do I mean? Here's a free client newsletter headline: "Important Research Results On The Impact Of Advertising!" I don't like it, because it focuses on the information... not on the prospect. When the prospect reads this, he rightly says, "So what? What has this got to do with me?" And when he says this, you've lost him. All headlines in free client newsletters must focus on the prospect, must grab his attention and must tell him you've got something for him. Subtlety is out of place in these newsletters. You've got to get to the point fast and hit it hard. . Make sure you end every article with information on the benefit the prospect can achieve working with you. Let's say you're a financial planner writing an article about how to make a consistent 12% from bonds when most investments are paying under 10% annually. Don't just tell your reader how to get this return; tell him how to get it... and let him know you can get it for him. If only he contacts you NOW. In other words, don't just provide useful information... solve the prospect's problem. Sure he wants to know how to get this investment return... but when you've convinced him he can get it, then you've got to let him know you can provide it. Providing one part without the other is a serious mistake you cannot afford to make. . Make every article interactive. Once you've excited your reader/prospect with what you can do for him... and let him know you can provide what he wants (be it a solution to his problem or a way to reach his aspiration), you've got to provide the direct means he needs to connect with you... NOW! This is precisely what mainline media don't do. In this morning's BOSTON GLOBE there's a great article on Dr. Ken Hakuta. He's known as Dr. Fad because of his success launching new mass-market products. The article says he has an "800" number you can call, but, in typical mainline media fashion, they don't give it to you. This is stupendously stupid. And is something you cannot afford to do. Once you've got your reader excited. Once you've convinced him you know how to solve his problem... or help him realize his aspiration... why, then, you've got to go the next step and tell him who to call, when to call, how to call, and provide all the other details he needs to make an immediate connection. If you don't provide this crucial connecting information, you've drastically limited the utility of your free client newsletter. Other Key Points About Free Client Newsletters When you're producing your newsletter it's easy to forget your objective. In the middle of gathering information, writing and producing, the goal may seem to be producing a newsletter. This is, however, quite, quite mistaken. The objective is always to get business. This means more time should be spent on ensuring that each article has a marketing slant... that it's directed to the wants and needs of the prospect/reader and will motivate this pivotal person to take immediate action to acquire the benefit under discussion... than on producing the product. To achieve this necessary objective, you should: . produce the shortest free client newsletter possible. When you're starting out, a single two-sided 8 1/2" by 11" sheet is sufficient. Before putting any extra money into this activity, see what this accomplishes. . publish regularly. It's better to publish just three newsletters a year and concentrate on their marketing potential than send out more material that may be less focused. More in marketing is better... but only if more is client-centered and motivating. . assign a price to your newsletter. What do you think your prospects will value more: something that's free to them and free to everyone else? Or something that's free to them... and costs everyone else $3 an issue? It's obvious, isn't it? Make sure your free newsletter has a subscription price and that that price is shown on every issue. Then remind your prospects just how lucky they are to have this terrific benefit... with all the useful information and free to boot. . design a format for your newsletter so you don't have to rethink presentation every issue. Remember, the objective of this activity is not to spend endless time producing a newsletter; it's to produce a newsletter that will stimulate business. That's why your free newsletter should have a look, a logo, a format; in short, design elements. Here's one place where it makes eminent good sense to work with a designer and get something eye-catching. . Finally, ask your readers from time to time if they want to continue receiving your newsletter. Don't keep sending your issues into a black hole. Sure, people are probably receiving them. Maybe they even read and like and profit from them. So what! If those newsletters aren't doing you any good -- if they aren't stimulating business for you -- at some point you've got to stop the flow. I suggest you give your readers/prospect a free year's subscription to start. And two extra issues beyond that. If you haven't received any business by then, why, sell this dormant prospect a paid subscription. And if he doesn't buy, cut him off. You're in the business of selling products and services, not giving away free newsletters with useful information, no matter how much people love both. So long as you remember this and act accordingly, your free client newsletter will prove very, very profitable. Resource Box Two books help you create excellent newsletters. Use Howard Penn Hudson's Publishing Newsletters rightly subtitled "A Complete Guide To Markets, Editorial Content, Design, Printing, Subscriptions And Management." $23.45 postpaid. Dr. Jeffrey Lant's new book Cash Copy: How To Offer Your Products And Services So Your Prospects Buy Them... Now! tells you how to write the client-centered copy you need. $25 postpaid. You can get both from The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., Suite 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or with MC/Visa from (617) 547-6372. Don't forget to ask for your FREE year's subscription to this quarterly business resource guide. ___________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Lant can help you sell more of your products and services for the least possible cost. Follow his guidelines in books like MONEY MAKING MARKETING: FINDING THE PEOPLE WHO NEED WHAT YOU'RE SELLING AND MAKING SURE THEY BUY IT and THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE: WHAT EVERY MAN, WOMAN, CHILD AND ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING AHEAD BY EXPLOITING THE MEDIA. $34 each postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, address above. Ask how Jeffrey can improve the drawing power of every one of your flyers, brochures, cover letters, ads, etc.  do. In this morning's BOSTON GLOBE there's a great article on Dr. Ken Hakuta. He's known as Dr.