Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:45 pm Post subject: Newsletter Idea, What Do You Think?
I have for many years used a newsletter to help promote my business and for as many years I have thought it could be better. A simple two-sided piece, with information on vehicles, nice but nothing really special. My thought is, a large number of newsletters likely hit the trash, never being read. A very nice, multi-page, full color brochure would be great. Likely the readership would be much higher, but the cost may be greater than the benefit.
It occurred to me I could combine with other professionals, in my area. Each could contribute articles in their specialty and the cost could be split. For instance a veterinarian, real estate agent, insurance agency and my shop might all go in together. Each professional could contribute and the cost could be divided.
The diversity of articles could add a good deal of interest. Each sponsor could also reach the clients of all the others. I welcome any ideas, concerns, criticisms or thoughts on the topic.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:42 pm Post subject:
Hi Bud,
Bud wrote:
How about trying a PDSA experiment?
I think that would be a perfect way to test the idea. If a fellow had a good back ground in marketing and was a fair copy writer, seems like there could be an opportunity in bringing people together in this manner?
This post gives me an idea for another point I would like to make. I'll try to post something on it a bit later. Thanks Bud, I appreciate your reply.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 146 Location: Garden City, KS
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:39 pm Post subject:
I think you'd suprise yourself on just how professional of a Newsletter you could create using Microsoft Office Publisher. We've used it here a couple of times for a quarterly newsletter and I've been very impressed with the results. Customers that have read them have asked who we had make them. I like your idea, however. The hardest thing for me is coming up with 3-4 articles to write about to fill the newsletter. With your idea, you could come of up with one and have the other businesses come up with one each. It's very intriguing...you'll have to let us know how it turns out! I really do like the idea, Louis. Later, Matt.
Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Coldwater, Ohio
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:43 am Post subject:
Flame suit on...I think it S*cks. Newsletter is still nothing more than a vehicle to get your name embedded in peoples minds...your newsletter, your name. Me you and Matt's newsletter, maybe they get so hung up on Matt's article they don't even see yours. I KNOW they'll like mine;-) !!! If you advertise on the radio or newspaper, how many people don't see or hear your ad. I think a newsletter (as well as EVERYTHING we do) needs to project the image we wish to convey...if you come off like Laurel & Hardy, they treat you like Laurel & Hardy. Most of us are too subjective, and don't have the ability to create our own newsletter and do it well, you may be the exception. I still believe firmly, it should be YOURS, not theirs.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:36 am Post subject:
Hi Matt,
MattFMN wrote:
I think you'd suprise yourself on just how professional of a Newsletter you could create using Microsoft Office Publisher. We've used it here a couple of times for a quarterly newsletter and I've been very impressed with the results. Customers that have read them have asked who we had make them. I like your idea, however. The hardest thing for me is coming up with 3-4 articles to write about to fill the newsletter. With your idea, you could come of up with one and have the other businesses come up with one each. It's very intriguing...you'll have to let us know how it turns out! I really do like the idea, Louis. Later, Matt.
I bet it could be done with Publisher, especially if a person had the time and knowledge.
By having articles on different topics it might be more interesting to more people. For instance a person who really loves pets, may pick it up and then see my article?
I was thinking sort of an upscale magazine type piece. Glossy print, photos, something that might stay around a while. Maybe a crossword puzzle or other games. Thanks Matt, I appreciate your input.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:13 am Post subject:
Hi Bill,
bbraun wrote:
Flame suit on...I think it S*cks. Newsletter is still nothing more than a vehicle to get your name embedded in peoples minds...your newsletter, your name.
I agree, but don't think that purpose needs to be loss. I am not sure if people have to necessarily see it as a single thing. They may see it as a series of articles, sort of like a magazine. If my articles hit a cord with them, I believe my company name will stick with them. The others may add even more interest.
bbraun wrote:
Me you and Matt's newsletter, maybe they get so hung up on Matt's article they don't even see yours. I KNOW they'll like mine;-) !!!
That could happen, but maybe a pet-lover will pick it up, because of the veterinarian's article and then notice mine. Otherwise they may not have even looked. The same with the real estate agent, etc.
bbraun wrote:
If you advertise on the radio or newspaper, how many people don't see or hear your ad. I think a newsletter (as well as EVERYTHING we do) needs to project the image we wish to convey...if you come off like Laurel & Hardy, they treat you like Laurel & Hardy.
This is true, but the more times they are repeated, the more likely someone will see them that need my service. By cooperating, I can reach four times the number of people for the same [or lower] cost.
I can also afford to produce a far more professional piece than I might have been able to justify on my own. For instance, a full-color, magazine type format with color photos. This may stay around a bit longer and has a better chance of being passed around to others?
bbraun wrote:
Most of us are too subjective, and don't have the ability to create our own newsletter and do it well, you may be the exception. I still believe firmly, it should be YOURS, not theirs.
I think it could still be mine and theirs. I would not be competing with them I would be cooperating with them to produce something better than any one of us might have done on our own.
Sort of like a great sport team. Each player can be well known. Each one may be followed more closely by some folks than others. Still each is better by being a part of the team than they may have been trying to go it on their own.
Naturally if a person does not have the ability to write an article that would be interesting, they may not be able to produce a successful newsletter, like this or by another method. The key might be in selecting the contributors. I have a friend that hires University students to write for him. He gives the students the facts and has them put it in an interesting format.
Thanks Bill, I appreciate your opinion and the discussion.
I think that would be a perfect way to test the idea. If a fellow had a good back ground in marketing and was a fair copy writer, seems like there could be an opportunity in bringing people together in this manner?
Thanks for the hint, again, Louis. It would make a great part time business for me right now. Getting enough customers is always the problem. Most small business owners are not good consumers of consulting or advertising advice. They focus on the cost of running their ads, with nothing left in their budget to pay a copywriter that can actually get results.
Our Subaru postcard was a goldmine, so they ran it again.
Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Coldwater, Ohio
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 5:38 am Post subject:
Yeah..that's what I wanted to say but couldn't, thanks Bud.
Knowing you Louis, it will be first class, but I know I have absolutely no talent in that respect, so I need acopywriter to do it for me. Fortunately for me, I work for a couple of guys who run one of the premier print shops in the country...Adobe comes to them for advice on how to get more colors and DPI out of their presses. They've done a wonderful job on a few mailers.
I think we all get good results from our mailers or newsletters, but isn't that because we're sending them to a responsive audience. People who know and trust us.
I don't think the cost of the newsletter is going to be prohibitive, I think postage is what's going to get you. Especially if you're going to a group of non customers. Stuffing them in the local newspaper for delivery hasn't been real effective for us, how do you cost effectively get them out?
One of my customers runs a bakery...costs him a dozen donuts to get a flat tire fixed. 2 flat tires in a box with a bunch of our fliers in the break room of the local weld shop, or HVAC shop or machine shop will definitely get your flier looked at and read. It doesn't raise your customer count rapidly, but it does pay for itself.
I still don't know if I like the idea of splitting a newsletter between 4 different businesses, the logistics of getting all 4 on the same deadline would seem a daunting endeavor. I REALLY like a slick looking piece that would stay around, but I'm interested to see how you deliver it to prospective customers.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:42 am Post subject:
Hi Bill,
bbraun wrote:
I think we all get good results from our mailers or newsletters, but isn't that because we're sending them to a responsive audience. People who know and trust us.
You are precisely correct. I think there is no question, it is much easier to get results from present clients. I takes a much more sophisticated piece to get and hold the attention of a non-client/stranger. Sill, everyone who is presently a client was a non-client at one time.
I think no business would [should] do anything to sacrifice the great clients they presently have. But unless they are at capacity, with a substantial backlog, they may continually wish to recruit new clients as well.
A teacher once told me, repeat clients will keep you in business, new clients will make you rich. No business grows without new clients. Even completely satisfied, current clients must be replaced at times. People die, they move away, they form new alliances all sorts of things happen.
Because a thing is more difficult, does not make it less worthwhile. The point I hope to make is, by combining with other professionals a totally different, hopefully more effective, product might be made cost effective. What I would like to see would be a quarterly magazine type product. Full color with articles from each of the professionals.
bbraun wrote:
I don't think the cost of the newsletter is going to be prohibitive, I think postage is what's going to get you. Especially if you're going to a group of non customers. Stuffing them in the local newspaper for delivery hasn't been real effective for us, how do you cost effectively get them out?
The cost of postage would be little more than currently paid, per professional. Each would pay for and mail to their own client, as they do now. The only difference is that the piece would be much nicer and go to other people’s clients at the same time.
bbraun wrote:
One of my customers runs a bakery...costs him a dozen donuts to get a flat tire fixed. 2 flat tires in a box with a bunch of our fliers in the break room of the local weld shop, or HVAC shop or machine shop will definitely get your flier looked at and read. It doesn't raise your customer count rapidly, but it does pay for itself.
All very good ideas anyone could use. The point is this idea in no way limits a person from doing [continuing to do] those things as well. Perhaps some businesses may not need that much marketing. For them this would not be an idea to consider, at this time. For others, it may be a cost effective way to reach far more people, with an effective message?
bbraun wrote:
I still don't know if I like the idea of splitting a newsletter between 4 different businesses, the logistics of getting all 4 on the same deadline would seem a daunting endeavor. I REALLY like a slick looking piece that would stay around, but I'm interested to see how you deliver it to prospective customers.
An awful lot depends on selecting the proper group. If each person in the group is [has been for some time] producing and mailing a piece every three months, nothing will really change as to deadlines or workload.
I propose this more as food for thought, than something I will implement in the near future. At this time I will have to increase size substantially or add another location to serve any additional clients. I currently deliver my newsletter by email and by having them available on the counter at the shop. Another option would be to offer them to each client who came in for service, and not mail them at all. Still another could be to have them available in all of the offices of the participants. For instance, someone waiting for a dentist [who is a participant] appointment may select the magazine from a rack in the dentist office.
Now if I can just talk Bud into producing the project for me . . .
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Kittery, ME
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:41 am Post subject:
New to this forum after seeing a post on the iATN this morning and having not been on the iATN in a while - more forums to monitor with less time but certainly will be a better shop owner for it.
Excellent job Louis
I think this "partnering" for a newsletter is an excellent idea
I was going to ask what PDSA meant and figured instead of appearing ignorant I could Google the term and for the benefit and help of others here is a definition from curiouscat.com/management:
PDSA, PDCA, Deming Cycle, Shewhart Cycle
PDSA Cycle - cyclical four stage improvement process: Plan - Do - Study - Act. The process is promotes continual improvement. The plan stage includes gathering data on the current situation and past history. The do stage is actually a experiment stage where possible improvements are tested as pilots (on a small scale). In the study stage the results of those experiments are studied. And the act stage is used to adopt improvements if the experiment found successful methods.
All sorts of variations on this improvement process are used. In some models, if more experiments are needed then that is what the act stage does. And then the Plan stage is a study of those results and then planning for new experiments. This process is also called the Deming Cycle and the Shewhart Cycle. Deming brought the process to many and so some used the Deming Cycle name but he learned the process from Shewhart so would refer to it as the Shewhart Cycle or PDSA cycle. The PDCA is the same model just using the terms: Plan - Do - Check - Act.
An important practice (as Deming taught) is to document what improvements are expected in the planning stage. Without doing so it is difficult to learn and often results in the study phase being neglected altogether.
It has also been called CAPDo (which I learned from Joiner Associates - Brian Joiner and Peter Scholtes). This modification was made to match how the cycle was often used in practice: checking current data that is available, acting (experimenting), planing (reviewing the results and planning the next course of action - standardization or more experiments).
The key is to use this as a cyclical process. However, most often it is not. Often the only action is to decide on a modification and to do it (pD). An excellent book for those interested in applying this improvement tool is the Improvement Handbook by Gerald J. Langley, Kevin M. Nolan, Clifford L. Norman, Lloyd P. Provost and Thomas W. Nolan. Related terms:
A3 Report
DMAIC - Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. The variation of the PDSA cycle used in the Six Sigma methodology.
Online Resources (yes 4 are from authors of the Improvement Handbook):
ASQ's Accelerating Change Collaborative Series: A Challenge for Industry by Kevin Nolan
Evolution of the PDSA Cycle by Ron Moen and Cliff Norman
Variation Through the Ages by Lloyd Provost and Clifford Norman
PDSA - proposed operational definition by Ed Tilden (email message on the Deming Electronic Network)
Tom Nolan at the Deming Institute Conference on PDSA and more
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:37 am Post subject:
pirouette wrote:
New to this forum after seeing a post on the iATN this morning and having not been on the iATN in a while - more forums to monitor with less time but certainly will be a better shop owner for it.
Excellent job Louis
I think this "partnering" for a newsletter is an excellent idea
I was going to ask what PDSA meant and figured instead of appearing ignorant I could Google the term and for the benefit and help of others here is a definition from curiouscat.com/management:
Hi Pirouette,
Welcome to the site and thanks for your kind comments. Being a registered member, you can also go to ARTICLES and additional submenus will show. Click on SPC & Simple Tools for a great deal more information on applying PDSA to the auto repair field. These are past post that have been achived.
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I like your idea, however. The hardest thing for me is coming up with 3-4 articles to write about to fill the newsletter. With your idea, you could come of up with one and have the other businesses come up with one each. It's very intriguing...you'll have to let us know how it turns out! 