4 Steps to a Successful Newsletter

In a previous post I outlined a 4 step process on how to use the company newsletter to increase lead volume. Last month I applied those 4 steps in an article for the newsletter. The result was an increase in lead volume by 249% from the previous week. This month’s newsletter went out last week and I just got the results.

Following the same steps, we generated over $9,800 worth of leads for my department – in one day! Lead volume and revenue more than doubled compared to the previous week!

Since the 4 steps obviously work, I’ll repost them here again:

1. Use a catchy subject line
2. Give your readers valued information
3. Use soft-sell techniques
4. Add a testimonial
   

In this month’s newsletter I focused more on the testimonials. I used two this month. I wanted the testimonials to tell the story, not me. It obviously worked!

Learn the 4 step process and then implement it!

A Powerful Press Can Bless!

The Grand Rapids Press wrote a very flattering article about my department. You can read it here. It just so happens that our real estate team needed more agents in the Grand Rapids area. The day after the publication of the article, our real estate team leader received six applications from agents in Grand Rapids. That’s six in one day! And that’s just applications. Don’t even get me started on the inquiring calls and emails.

The power of the press has blessed us!

Lead Generation: Update 1

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I (along with a talented web programmer) created a quiz for my company that generates leads for my department. Well, I have some good news. Within a week’s time the quiz has generated $1,290 worth of leads for the company! And that’s with virtually no promotion! That may not sound like a lot but multiply that total by the 52 weeks in a year minus very little development time. Now those are pretty cool numbers!

The quiz will be shown in the company’s newsletter next week and we are going to produce a radio spot that mentions it as well. Hopefully that will increase leads and revenue for the quiz! Stay tuned for more on this.

A CEO’s Morning Routine

Jim Citrin, the leadership by example author for Yahoo!, wrote an extremely informative article about a typical CEO’s morning routine. The article, titled Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine, is a must read for all us future leaders. I posted a brief excerpt below but you can read the full article by clicking here.

If you want to maximize your success while achieving the best possible balance in your life, you may want to take a fresh look at what time you wake up and what you do with your time before getting to the office.

1. Start early
This is the part of your morning routine over which you have the greatest control. To fit it all in, it’s a must to start early. The latest any of the surveyed executives wake up is 6 a.m., and almost 80 percent wake up at 5:30 or earlier.

2. Get a jump on email
Ursula Burns, the No. 2 executive at technology giant Xerox, says, “I do email from the minute I get up [5:15 a.m.] and all day long, finishing around midnight.” Haim Saban, chairman and CEO of investment firm Saban Capital Group, starts email right after his first cup of coffee “at 6:02 a.m.” and works on it for about an hour before his 75-minute morning exercise regimen.

3. Exercise every morning
More than 70 percent of the business leaders in my survey perform their exercise in the morning, while 15 percent find a way to do it during the day (one does it late at night before turning in). Only two of the executives admit to not exercising on a regular basis, although one said, “I know I should.”

Rushing to Defend the Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

Spike, a contributing writer that I admire very much for Brains on Fire, wrote this post about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force marketing campaign. He writes,

“The rest of us [marketers] that are out there in the trenches trying to educate and win business have to put up with this crap [referring to ATHF the marketing campaign]. Hours before this story broke we were sitting in the offices of a potential client talking about a WOM movement. Then we get back home and wonder if a stupid stunt like this will spook them from dipping their toe in the water.

This was the very definition of interruptive marketing. It wasn’t a conversation. It wasn’t listening. It was yelling. Old school “look over here” yelling. And we will all feel the repercussions for some time.

The only good that can come of this is an opportunity to have a conversation about these kind of tactics and help educate clients and marketers about this little thing called ethics and responsibility.

In the meantime, thanks, Interference. For nothing.”

I left a response to his post in the comments section on the BoF blog. I said,

“I’m going to strongly disagree with you. The fact is that the marketers were doing exactly what they were supposed to do, targeting their core audience. I know this because I am a marketer and a casual fan of the show. Their tactic, which was not meant as a bomb hoax, appeals to the viewers of the show.

I am willing to bet that if this irrational bomb scare hadn’t taken place, then marketers would be talking about how original the campaign was. They would be talking about how they put a new twist on guerrilla marketing.

And, Interference is not in the business of making other marketers look good. It’s in the business of generating publicity for its clients.

I love this country. It’s the greatest in the world. But America, or at least Boston’s government, has grown into a nation of frightened children. To me, it’s as simple as that.

That’s my two cents.”

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Genius Marketing or Marketing Mistake?

The marketing team for the hit Cartoon Network show Aqua Teen Hunger Force has either hit marketing gold or marketing mud. I’ll let you decide that for yourself. Here’s the skinny…

In an effort to some new wave guerilla marketing for the show, the marketers commissioned artist Peter Berdovsky to create flyer-sized, LED-lit promotional props. The props, which display characters known as Mooninites extending their middle finger, were placed in the cities of Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and other major cities. The props were put in high traffic areas such as bridges and bus stops. The props have been on display for the past two to three weeks. Nevertheless, the city of Boston panicked. Why? Because someone mistook the props for terrorist bombs when they saw the wires connecting the battery to the LED lights.

Boston detonated one of the “bombs” and the others removed. The city also arrested the artist, Peter Berdovsky.

Regardless of what you make of the situation, one thing is certain. This whole ordeal is great publicity for the show. It’s getting network news coverage and hundreds of blog posts. Marketing-wise, this is a good thing.

With that said, what’s this country coming to? I invite you to leave your opinions!