Newsletters made easy.

I know of many companies who have had the best intentions to start distributing a newsletter but failed after the first one simply because they take so much time to assemble content. This doesn't have to be the case anymore.

My newsletter "Useful Information" just celebrated it's 40th issue this month. I send it out monthly - free to it's subscribers. I'm on a MAc, so I develop it in Quark Xpress and export it as an PDF file with live links. Each month I only spend about 3 to 4 hours assembling it. I get articles from "ezinearticles.com." It's a great article service as you just pick topics of interest to you and they email you articles based on that query.

I usually write one or two articles myself, based on subscriber's requests or a topic I want to cover that month. From here I have a couple of regular features I include. One is a quiz whereby I show just the icon or symbol from a company and ask the reader to identify it. The answer is always on page two. To help relieve the workday stresses, I include a weblink to a novel or interesting website as a distraction.

Promotional content I typically include is some samples of some recent projects I've just completed, a plug for my favorite networking group in Detroit, and an ad for my current DIY product called, DIY Brand Builder.

Other than that, if a client or friend is promoting a charity event, I also include a plug for that as well.

After 40 issues, I find it a great tool for building my personal and corporate brand and I get a few new subscribers every week. It is called "Useful Information" simply because my goal is to provide information that readers can actually use to better their businesses. The articles I choose to use,
I find useful myself, ( which is part of my criteria ) . You too can build a monthly newsletter with great content with just a little effort. With the web you can develop a newsletter which is nothing more than relevant links to a niche topic. For the newsletters that I subscribe to, it is mostly important that it not be a blatant advertising piece. I deliver it in an email with a bulk mailer program.

I think you will feel you it is the perfect tool, when you get your first compliment on a job well done.

Good Will Invoice (Smart Idea!)

This is just a great and simple one that I picked up from a client yesterday during a branding session I was facilitating with them.

Essentially it boils down to keeping track of all those little favors you do for customers through out the year but can't really bill for them. How can you benefit from from your largess? Well here's a fantastic way to go about about it and something your customer won't mind getting.

It's called a "Good Will Invoice".

All you have to do is put a value to all those little things you do for free and once a year send out the "Good Will Invoice". It is not an invoice to pay, it is simply to show how 'much value' added there is to working with you. I believe this to be a great public relations move and one to kick up your brand in your customer's mind.

Have a good day.