How Copywriters Can Cultivate Quality Clients By Creating Powerful Newsletters
Keywords: copywriting, freelance, marketing, e-zine, internet marketing
I want to share with you the solution to a marketing problem recently expressed by three of my coaching students…and that is how to create a powerful online newsletter (ezine) for cultivating quality clients.
I realize this is not the only source of information you can find on how to write an effective ezine, but it follows my own successful formula, and it addresses mistakes I’m seeing repeatedly among my coaching students, whether new to the business or not.
For most of my students, a physical direct mail campaign is part of the “marketing mix” for gaining high quality clients in the fastest way possible.
But physical mailings are time-consuming and expensive, so I also encourage them to create a free ezine for their target market. Once their ezine readership is high enough, they can replace expensive physical mailings with easy, fast, and inexpensive “newsletter blasts.”
Rather than tell you what mistakes were being made, I’ll present their solutions below, which gives me more space for illustrating the 4 points I want to make.
Follow these suggestions and I guarantee an ezine that Will enhance your reputation, help you develop a loyal and eager readership, keep your unsubscribes low and help you build a list large enough to produce paying clients.
Point #1:
Determine specifically what you’ll be sharing with your audience and make it apparent in your newsletter title.
The regular content should revolve around your Unique Selling Proposition, a niche market, or some particular talent you possess.
For instance, if you are very good at creating offers,
you will get more interest with an ezine that focuses
just on offers than you will with something more
general or “catch all.” Notice the difference between
these two potential ezine titles and taglines:
“The Copywriting Tip Sheet” and “Tons of Tips for Writing Better Copy” versus “Offers Monthly for Marketers” and “Mastering the Offer as an ROI Generator.”
As a title, “The Copywriting Tip Sheet” is weak because:
A. It’s too general (remember, “specifics” sell,
generalities do not), and…
B. The tagline, “Tons of Tips for Writing Better Copy” reveals the writer’s desire to PROVE his or her ability, rather than offering something the reader can use
How is the second title better…in fact, far superior and destined to be more successful at signing up subscribers? It is better in these crucial ways:
A. “Offers Monthly for Marketers” lets the reader know that this ezine focuses on something specific (offers)…
B. It lets the subscriber know that this is an ezine for them (marketers)…
C. And the tagline lets them know that the content is
not an overt “sell job” focusing on what the copywriter knows, but hard-hitting content about offers that the subscriber can actually use, therefore providing an incentive for the potential client (marketer) to sign up and actually read the newsletter every time a new issue is published.
When can you ignore Point #1? When you’ve reached the status of copywriting gurus like Bob Bly.
Bob is so well known and highly regarded in the direct response and copywriting marketplaces that his name alone (e.g., Bob Bly’s Direct Response Letter), can attract readership.
So to wrap up this rather lengthy point, suffice it to say that specifics sell and generalities don’t…and that the ezine with a specific focus will gain and retain more subscribers.
Point #2:
In each issue, stick to one subject and cover it to a
depth that you can honestly say you’ve produced valuable content.
If you have enough experience with your subject matter, you can “pull content from your head” and create a worthy newsletter in about two or three hours.
If not, be willing to do a little research to offer your reader something of true value. (This shouldn’t be a burden since in this business, you must always keep increasing your knowledge). Once written and published, you’ll be surprised at the many other ways your efforts will pay off.
Point #3:
Create a very strong title.
Point #1 discussed the mistake of creating a general
rather than specific ezine title.
Assuming you’ve decided on your newsletter’s area of
expertise, it’s now time to build a title with strong
elements…elements that will select your audience,
reveal your positioning, and offer a benefit.
Although my own newsletter title targets freelancers
rather than marketing directors, its structure allows me to use it as an example.
Here’s how I arrived at the title, “Freelancer’s
Business Bulletin”…
First, I wanted to select my “niche audience,” which is accomplished with the word “Freelancer’s”; second, I want them to know that this is about business-building, so I included the word “Business” to differentiate my ezine from the many that address the craft of copy-writing; and third, I wanted to impart a sense of urgent timeliness, thus the use of “Bulletin” over other possibilities such as “ezine,” “digest,” “tips,” or “news” (which shouldn’t be used unless you really are presenting news).
Thus the “Freelancer’s Business Bulletin,” by its title alone, attracts freelancers (my niche/target market) who are interested in building their business (my Unique Selling Proposition) who want relevant business-building information they can use right now (benefit to them).
Use this simple formula as a starting place, or an
“ending place” for creating a powerful newsletter title.
Point #4:
Cut the fat.
One of the big giveaways of the novice writer is “loose” copy. Over the years it gets easier and easier to write succinct, to-the-point copy that conveys strong ideas in the least amount of words.
But no matter how long you’ve been writing, there’s always call for some editing. Copy that’s tightly written, to the extent that sentences and paragraphs are rewritten if need be, respects the reader’s time and is a pleasure to read.
If your readers look forward to receiving your news-
letters, they’ll open and read them. Anything else, of
course, is pointless.
Award-winning copywriter Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for freelancers who want to build a successful business. Visit:
www.FreelancersBusinessBulletin.com Chris Marlow, all rights reserved
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Google Came From Thin Air? The History Of Google (1)
They called it Backrub in the beginning due to the fact that the system used back links to estimate a websites importance. In 2000, Google launched its advertising creation, AdWords.
6 Postcard Marketing Tips That Can Improve Your Mortgage Business (2)
Measure the response you receive and compare the two mailings. Keep track of your results and use those results in subsequent campaigns. Your mailings will continue to improve and so will your mortgage business.
Make Extra Money Selling Ebooks Online (3)
Some of them are nothing more than ads and sales pitches for the writers products. These ads will turn off customers and decrease repeat business. Do your research to determine what types of information people are seeking.
Affordable Solutions For Internet Marketing (4)
If you do not know how to optimize your web site, you should search for an optimization professional on Google. Steer clear of SEO experts who want to charge $1,000 per month or more.
3 Simple Steps To Starting An Affiliate Program (5)
The first decision that you will have to make is whether you are going to compensate your affiliates on a pay per click or pay per sale basis. Then you will also have to make a decision on how much commission you are going to pay.
How To Price A Job Correctly Even When You're Totally Stumped (6)
Do you offer creative direction? Project management? Are you expected to attend on-site meetings? When you price, price for everything you bring to the table... not just the copy.
Should You Be Selling A Product Or A Service? (7)
Unique services such as Online driving schools have been prospering. Some states in the US have set up online payment sites for Government services. Residents of a state can log on to a common site to pay all bills and other expenses, such as parking tickets to the local/County courts.
When To Go With A Work At Home Business Opportunity (8)
This is going to mean that you want to wait until your family is at place where they have some savings, and where you can afford to take a little bit of time and live on your savings while your business takes off and starts making you money.
Article Writing Success Builds Site Popularity Today! (9)
I have found that 90% of the "battle" is just selecting an article topic. Obviously, you already know at least something about the topic you selected or you would not have written it down in the first place.
Blogging Platform Tips For Maximizing Your Site Visiblility (10)
The blogging movement is very much about individuality, so it makes plenty of sense that there would be many different platforms available that are designed to meet the needs of different kinds of individuals undertaking different kinds of projects to express their unique voice.
Why Some People Prefer Canadian Web Hosting Over American (11)
There are many different web hosts that you can look into. These hosts are available to those who live on the continent of North America, or anyone else who lives close.
EBay Basics: Four Focal Points For Beginners (12)
Say - it might be a good idea to do those cute Disney figures too! And why not have a look at those Royal Worcester vases while you're at it?
3 Ways To Make Sure You Crank Out As Much Content As Physically Possible (13)
The Final key to produce the most content possible has already been mentioned in this article and that is to schedule time for the creation of your content. A slot of time every working day on my business plan is used to write articles and create products.
How Any Copywriter - Even A Beginner - Can Assemble And Present A Winning Portfolio (14)
Select a potential client you would love to work for and approach them with the proposal that you'll write a package for free, and if the client likes it well enough to mail it, then you'll get paid.
Cultivating Quality Clients With A Powerful Ezine (15)
Rather than tell you what mistakes were being made, I will present their solutions below, which gives me more space for illustrating the 4 points I want to make. Follow these suggestions and I guarantee an ezine that will: Enhance your reputation Help you develop a loyal and eager readership Keep your unsubscribes low Help you build a list large enough to produce paying clients.
Website Traffic Using Free Methods (16)
Write good content for your site as this will lead to more website traffic. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases your site uses and how they are used.
What Kind Of Affiliate Marketing Program Should You Promote? Don't Leave Money On The Table! (17)
Try to ask your affiliate program choices these questions. Visit my website for more affiliate marketing tips. Dassana Jayalath is the editor of InternetBizIQ newsletter. Visit www.internetbiziq.com for more valuable information on how to increase your affiliate marketing commissions.
5 Reasons Why Blogging Is The New Internet Marketing Tool (18)
Consumers find credibility and convenience in clicking one link to several real bloggers about a single subject. Clearly, more bloggers are better than one. -By using RSS. RSS is the fastest growing technology on the Internet today.
Make Money Selling On EBay (19)
Size up the Competition Before listing your items for auction, check out eBay's Completed Items listings. Here, you'll see what products are up for sale, their prices and how they are presented.
How Start-up Carpet Cleaning Companies Can Quickly Be A HUGE Success (20)
You have to be different. Your city doesn't need another carpet cleaner. They need a cleaner with a special niche, a special offer, or a unique selling proposition.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Is The Use Of Pop Windows In Internet Marketing Effective Or Irritating? (1)
You should also consider using incentives and lastly do not ask the customer to read a long and drawn out advertisement. Keep the message simple yet powerful and your pop-ads will be sure to generate profits for your site.
Increasing Sales Through Strategic Internet Marketing (2)
Placing ads on some sites cost some money. However, there are also sites that can place a link to your site, product or service in exchange of having their link being displayed on your site.
Learn The Secret Keyword Research Tips That Will Increase Your Traffic (3)
A keyword is a word that is going to be placed in your article several times. When a spider sees that you have a word placed several times in an article, it will determine that your page may be useful to users that search for such a keyword.
Why Your Marketing Plan Should Include A Blog (4)
Businesses have learned that this new way to communicate is a good marketing tool for their products and services. Every company should consider have a regular blog for their businesses.
Tips And Strategies For Promoting Your Home Business (5)
You pay them a commission or set fee based on the amount of traffic sent to your web site. Pay arrangements vary and can be based on the number of people who visit your site or the number of customers who purchase your product.
Traffic And Search Engine Optimization Explained (6)
It basically involves fine tuning the content of your site along with the HTML, Meta tags, images and on the page internal linking structure, plus carefully targeted off the page link building process.
Spanish Voices In A Worldly Marketplace (7)
Spanish voice talents should be native, and translators too. Always." Today, ninety percent of her clientele is located in Canada and the United States, a hefty percentage to say the least.
How To Optimize Your RSS Feeds For The Search Engines (8)
Search engines tend to make even the most successful marketers feel powerless. Avoid the wrath of the search engines by following these basic tips for optimizing your RSS Feed.
General Information On Web Site Promotion (9)
An additional way to promoting your business is to have your link placed on another web site where visitors can view your link should they feel so inclined to do so.
Being A Whopping Online Success (10)
If you want that success story to be yours, you have to do your homework. For instance, even if you were to create toothpaste of very superior quality at a low price, you still have to get people to buy it.
The Best Internet Advertising Is No-cost Internet Marketing (11)
Free internet advertising target clients inclined to buying a particular kind of product or service in mind. And the best reason to advertise in free internet advertising is because it is absolutely free.
Increase Your Rankings By Optimizing For Search Engines (12)
Article writing is a very good method of building your sites rankings and getting links, so is press releases, this helps in the same way, but for many businesses this is not an easy task.
High Income Business Opportunities With The Lowest Risk (13)
You can earn a high income by providing online tuitions. But for this you should have a thorough knowledge about the subject you wish to handle. You can teach English to students in other countries.
How To Transition Into Copywriting By Moonlighting - Even If You Already Have A Full-Time Job (14)
A hastily conceived site will look it, and will damage your "portfolio"... because it's a reflection of the kind of work you'll do for the client. Best to do it right the first time.
Marketing On Internet Forums (15)
Internet marketers can profit from participating on any online forum and are not limited to promotions on internet marketing forums. In other words, niche marketers can benefit from participation on a forum in the same niche.
8 Opt-in Email List Marketing Tips To Build A Massive List In No Time (16)
If you sell physical goods, you can include a note that tells them to visit your site with something that will add value and offer them to subscribe to your list once they get there.
Finding The Perfect Network Marketing Tools (17)
Training will be the most valuable tool that you will purchase, however, there are some free training programs for network marketing available on the internet. Take advantage of them and make your marketing business a complete and utter success.
How To Advertise Your Online Business (18)
could save you a lot of time and money. Traffic exchanges such as Traffic Swarm, Instant Buzz and TS25 are free methods (although you can upgrade to a pro membership and gain more benefits) and are quite effective considering that they are free.
Two Powerful Tools Copywriters Can Use To Increase Their Productivity - And Profits! (19)
If you're like most freelancers, you love the "time freedom" of your lifestyle. No more punching a time clock or being chained to a desk. No more "hanging up quickly" when the boss walks by.
Get Your Carpet Cleaning Company To The Top Of Search Engines FAST (20)
Carpet cleaning companies around the world are seeing more activity on their site every year. Consumers want to be connected to you through the internet. Get involved with marketing your site online NOW.
Permalink to How Copywriters Can Cultivate Quality Clients By Creating Powerful Newsletters