Mikey P
Administrator
must have if you read this sickening thread.
Reminds me of a Wall Street trading floor.
where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related?
Posted By brian mckay on 2/11/2009 at 8:39 AM
I want a professioanl looking newsletter with topics realted to cleaning and care, not recipes, etc. I also would like it on a glossy stock not cheap colored paper with black ink, where can i find this type of format/
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Scottie on 2/11/2009 at 8:58 AM
Big Bang.
Mine are full color on gloss. You make the decissions on the paper and color. As far as recipes, you need more than just cleaning related stuff or it will end up in file 13, unread.
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Scott Warrington on 2/11/2009 at 12:18 PM
Bridgepoint can sell you the newsletter on a disk. You can modify the files as you see fit.
You print them on whatever kind of paper you want to, as many copies as you want to.
Issues either every two months or every three months.
Scott Warrington
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Bill Yeadon on 2/11/2009 at 1:09 PM
Brian,
Why do you think women want to read about cleaning every month. We are the only people who want to read about cleaning.
Trust me, Brian ...
Posted By Steve Toburen on 2/11/2009 at 1:34 PM
Big Billy is a student of all things women and knows them better than they know themselves when it comes to their buying (and newsletter) decisions.
Steve Toburen
Director of Training
Jon-Don's Strategies for Success
www.StrategiesForSuccess.com
PS Far be it from me to ever openly shill but only since Scotty opened the subject up, Brian, Jon-Don has a great and very cost effective newsletter program that can be customized almost any way you want. (We do frown on including porn, however.)
And hey, Scott, you are missed on a personal basis on some of the other industry discussion forums. You personally have built great respect in this business.
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Billy Hicks on 2/11/2009 at 2:05 PM
Our newsletter rarely has anything about cleaning but clients will ask where it is if we don't get it out.
Our newsletter is monthly & always full of general everyday topics including recipes.
Ps JonDons newsletter was very good years ago when we tried it & if we didn't have what we have I would look at it again.
Modified By Billy Hicks on 2/11/2009 at 2:14 PM
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Dave Rampage on 2/11/2009 at 2:08 PM
I have to disagree with Bill on this one. I write my own newsletters and all they talk about is things that separate me from my competition. I get comments from my women customers all the time.
The newsletters are personal so they feel they know me well. It only takes about 5 minutes to write one and it goes a long way.
Brian, Write up a quick newsletter on how you are updating your rug plant and see how much work that gets you.
Dave
Dave
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By John Braun on 2/11/2009 at 2:23 PM
I think there should be a happy medium of cleaning related versus leisure reading material.
The one thing it MUST do is get and keep the reader's attention.
My newsletter uses mostly cleaning related stories, but also includes comments on local and national news. As well, I often have it themed around the time of year/holidays.
John Braun
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Doyle Bloss on 2/11/2009 at 3:52 PM
There are a lot of high quality newsletters out there that you can customize, including the ones discussed here.
The debate on cleaning related content versus "things women are interested in" is a good one. I have had many a long discussion with Howard Partridge on it (don't worry Bill, I take your side).
There are lots of opinions about design and content style. Just don't let analysis paralysis keep you from getting started. Newsletters are incredibly effective.
One thing I often remind our customers is that if times are a little slow, and the dollar signs to print and mail the newsletter out are keeping someone from implementing, there is an alternative. Hopefully, you have been gathering customer and potential customer emails for an extended period. You can always start with an electronic version of your newsletter and just email it. That's why we have kept ours easy to customize in a word format and then you can send it as a word file or PDF file. But you can do that with others, too. I would still consider working toward a mailed version for many customers, but if electronic is the way to get started, then that is better than doing nothing. Good luck.
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Billy Hicks on 2/11/2009 at 4:33 PM
Doyle we have been printing our Bear Tracks News for years but about a year ago we decided to go all digital for delivery & response has been better than we thought it would have been. This concept also was easy for us since we have been doing more & more personally & in business to be friendlier to the environment & most of our clients appreciate it.
We have had no resistance to digital at all & the newsletter is actually getting better response for some reason.
Modified By Billy Hicks on 2/11/2009 at 4:34 PM
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Howard Partridge on 2/11/2009 at 5:53 PM
I have to disagree with most of what is written here. Sorry!!! The short of it is this:
If you want to position yourself as the cleaning "consultant" so that you command higher prices, my recommendation is to talk about cleaning. BUT... you talk about it in such a way as it helps THEM.
Example: Filtration Soiling. Headline: "What are those UGLY black lines around my baseboards...?"
I have been doing a newsletter since 1996 and my repeat business is around 70%. Half of our referrals come from repeat clients.
After all, why try to compete with Bottom Line Personal? You want them thinking about CLEANING and YOU!
Don't worry that they don't read it all. If they glance the headlines and think about you, they will be reminded they need cleaning.
With ALL due respect to all who have posted here (I really mean that), it is sometimes hard to find the company name on some of these newsletters.
Also, the BIGGEST mistake, other than doing nothing is to go all digital. Plus UP your mailers with e-mail.
Finally, regardless of what you send, you are usually better off than doing nothing.
We have also had great results with Send Out Cards. We just sent a Valentine's Post Card this week. It was very cool.
Thanks!
Phenomenal Partridge
President
PHENOMENAL Products, Inc.
www.HowardPartridge.com
Re: OK just send something
Posted By Bill Yeadon on 2/11/2009 at 6:47 PM
Well as Dave Mason, formerly of Traffic, sang We Just Agree to Disagree.
The one thing that we all agree on is that you need to send a newsletter or postcards or something to your customers EVERY month. It is the biggest mistake in our industry.
Thanks to Doyle and Steve for taking my side. Us old guys stick together, well except for Howard but he knows coffee.
The Valentine's Card...
Posted By Howard Partridge on 2/11/2009 at 6:54 PM
The Valentine's Card we found on Send Out Cards had a couple on a sofa that was on a wood floor. It simply had the word LOVE on it.
The photo of the couple is a great "lifestyle" shot and I think this is one thing that Bill and Doyle are getting at. In other words it did not have a picture of a guy cleaning carpet (which by the way, I am not against because it can work as long as it is the right picture)
The headline I used on the back was "A Sweetheart of a Deal from Clean As A Whistle". This is going only to repeat clients.
It went on to share a special offer, the services we provide, our phone number and website.
Send Out Cards has a new Card Editor where you can use a number of different fonts and colors. If you are in Send Out Cards I will copy it into your account.
Finally, I have been invited to participate on Send Out Cards highest level group "The Eagle's Nest" and I am going to suggest that they carry stock carpet cleaning cards so that we don't have to pay Picture Plus on each one of them. I am not sure if they will do it or not, but we will give it a shot.
Finally, if anyone wants my free report on Newsletter Marketing, pop me an e-mail. I have also written a couple of articles for ICS.
Click "ICS Home Page" at the top right of this page, then search "Howard Partridge"
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Howard Partridge on 2/11/2009 at 7:20 PM
Bill,
I still LOVE you man! And I will still share my stash with you. (:
P.S.
Thanks for not grouping me with the old guys.
Re: now now Howard
Posted By Bill Yeadon on 2/11/2009 at 7:41 PM
Howard you aren't that far off from the ancient group. It is just that your tan hides it so nicely.
Mr. sumatra
Re: where do I find a good newsletter about cleaning related
Posted By Billy Hicks on 2/11/2009 at 8:46 PM
With all due respect I disagree with your opinion also Howard. I don't do anything without thinking about it. As for commanding a higher price, I am quite satisfied with my pricing at this time. Our Newsletter was & always has been mainly to keep our company in front of our clients eyes without seeming to pushy. If I have done my job correctly they will be well informed without me needing to constantly bore them with a newsletter about cleaning. I'm also more impressed when a client calls or emails us just to tell us how much they appreciate our newsletter.
Just one of the many client comments we get:
Client takes the time to call us to let us know an article Audra wrote in a past Bear Tracks News had saved her thousands of dollars on vet bills.
The above client not only received our newsletter, but she actually read past the headlines & it helped her, so I am fairly certain she will remember us & be looking forward to her monthly Bear Tracks News.
One more thing, even though Jon Don's was the best out of the newsletters we tried our clients like the personal touch Bear Tracks News presents to them. We did also try a cleaning based newsletter, but it was a failure & we even discontinued the newsletter for a while because of it. Clients comments were they had no interest in reading about cleaning all the time.
As for going Digital being the biggest mistake, we still have the equipment to print if we want to & for a while we gave all clients the choice for delivery method. In the end the overwhelming majority of our clients past & present requested "digital", some saying if they want to they can print it also. Times are changing, we are even requesting for most of our own subscriptions we get to be digital now for archival purposes. Others must agree also since the USPS is looking at cutting a delivery day due to less mail overall.
I agree Send Out Cards can be a good way to stay in touch, but if you sign up find someone that you trust & want to work with to be under since this is a multilevel marketing business.
Now one more thing I don't sell anything so my opinion is just that, an opinion based on my experiences as an active carpet care business.
Modified By Billy Hicks on 2/11/2009 at 8:57 PM
Reminds me of a Wall Street trading floor.
