Ezine Success Stories: Newsletters still get results for business

Blogs haven't replaced ezines. Even though you may be tempted to put all your time and energy into maintaining your business blog, you would be wrong to ignore your newsletter.

Don't take my word for it. Ask other professionals if they're getting results from sending out an emailed newsletter, and then judge for yourself if it's worth the time and effort (and money).

LIsten to these success stories, and you'll find out why ezines are not dead...

Patsi,

Just this morning I had another woman say to me, "It's great to hear from you each week through your ezine. It helps me stay connected to you, your work and it (the ezine) provides me with thought provoking ideas, and useful tools to be successful in my life."

For me the newsletter is an intimate way to stay in contact with clients and a non threatening resource for potential clients to learn more about me and how my coaching can help meet their needs.

I offer many different types of seminars and workshop in addition to coaching and so it is a quick way to keep people up to date on the different types of services I offer to help meet their goals.

The name of the ezine is Living with a Heart Fully Alive .

Laura Longville
www.inatm.com
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Patsi,

While I have not updated my newsletter list currently, I have had great success, both using them as a tool for recruiting people who "need" more information, but also as a credibility tool. Many of which resulted from our collaboration for a year and I keep them at:

www.b-coach.com/news

Because the nature of these--as evergreen with a hook--I can continue to pull individual newsletters from this list when people request specific information and provide general information by sending them to the site.

I will this year, turn most of these into white papers for sale (I sell 6 of them now) and continue to enjoy continual sales over the past 8 years of those I invested in writing.

I think the approach I took is till valid; I started out to write not about news, but about topics my clients told me they wanted information about...and it still works.

Mike Jay
www.b-coach.com/ "coach training for everyone"

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Patsi, my newsletter prompted an inactive account to become active. A publishing company bought my sales training, trained their sales people and were satisfied with the results. My attempts to win more business from them were not successful though my client remained on my mailing list.

Two years later an issue of my newsletter received a "reply" email from my client, asking me to call him. An article in the newsletter made him realize that his new sales strategy would require his reorganized sales organization to recommit itself to a consultative style of selling. I proposed an implementation plan, we came to an agreement and soon after I was back in the account.

Had he not read my newsletter I doubt that he would have thought of the value of sales training and probably would not have contacted me.

Dr. John N. Brennan
Interpersonal Development, LLC

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Patsi,

The newsletter is a very important part of my business, but I am not sure I have a particular event where I can demonstrate that point.  I greatly appreciate your help and the quality product you produce. 

Thanks and good luck on the book chapter.

Gerry Hoeffner

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Good afternoon Patsi,

Most definitely I have had great success with my newsletter!

Since starting my newsletter 2 years ago I have signed up 40,000 subscribers all interested in knowing more about our golf in Thailand services. I religiously send out newsletters every 3 months and with each issue get around $10,000 US dollars in new orders.

In addition, I send my newsletters to my suppliers and partners and they have in turn expressed interest to contribute to my newsletter in the form of infomercials about their products. This had developed into a successful advertising revenue stream for Golfasian to the tune another $1000.00 per issue. The later represents pure profit for us.

Finally I post my old newsletters on my web site in both html and pdf formats. The former is seen as new content by all the spiders, thus helping our organic search rankings!

My newsletter and subscription list is so successful that I am now moving to a bi-monthly format and even thinking of renting my mailing list to other golf related companies. I will keep you posted as to how things turn out.

Please feel free to publish or use this as you best see fit. In fact most of what I learned about newsletters and mailing lists was from your initial conversations with experts series, which has pretty much everything needed to grow a successful online and offline business!

Best Regards,

Mark Siegel
Managing Director
Golfasian Co. Ltd.
The golf experts in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia!

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Patsi:

I have been reading and studying and learning about newsletter, article, press release and ezine writing from the Blog Squad as well as a few others.

Since we are a small company working on a very limited budget and I have built everything from scratch (including our web site), I have greatly appreciated all the teleseminars and information you have provided. 

I have slowly built my newsletter "following" from two friends (for several weeks) to 500 since October 2007.  My newsletter tries to provide personal safety information for awareness in our homes, at work and in transitional areas. 

Although I've had people slowly sign up and "trickle in", it's hard to know what the feedback is or if anyone actually reads what I write. The greatest compliment I could have received was from a woman who worked for U.S. Bank.

She wrote me one evening and said that her email had been down and she had missed a few of my Newsletters that hadn't opened and she wanted me to "resend" them to her - she knew she had missed some wonderful and worthwhile information. Wow - for me, just knowing I was able to "give a little bit"
and hopefully make a difference in the safety choices in someone's life...that is what it's all about! Helping ...

Thank you for Educating - you have made a difference! Greatly appreciated....
Kimberly Elliott, MBA, PhD, www.execdeftech.com

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Patsi,

I'm pleased with what my newsletter is doing for me although it hasn't resulted in any "money in the bank" yet. It has however heightened awareness, helped build our brand and brought in inquiries, referrals and requests for information. Considering the small number I send out (about 150 per issue), I am very pleased after just two issues with you. I'll be happy to expand on this should you be interested but maybe you'll hear from people who have actually gained new clients. I'm not quite there but I feel it will happen.

Let me know is you would like more details.

Best regards,
Judith A Delapa

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Patsi,

The success I have had because of "our" newsletter has been terrific. I have great results gaining new business today because people have been reading as far back as three years ago when they first starting receiving my newsletter. A longtime reader just referred me to Airbus North America after reading my February issue. Yes, I will be working with Airbus North America because of the indirect response to the newsletter.

I love hearing from people who say, "I know you, I love your newsletter. My boss or someone passed it on to me." Being known throughout Palm Beach and Broward County due to the newsletter is the best marketing and branding I can do.

I have been asked to be a keynote speaker with many organizations such as BAIFA, BOMA and Executive Forums because people read a particular article and asked me to speak on that subject. Of course, I close business every time.

Thanks for lending credibility to Proffitt Management Solutions. You are a tremendous asset to me and my business.

Nancy Proffitt, MBA
Turning Potential into Performance

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Patsi,

I can't say that I've received new clients because of my newsletter. What I can tell you is that when it goes out, I always receive emails from people I don't usually hear from, telling me how much they enjoyed reading it, found my information timely and applicable, and in general, thanking me because they look forward to receiving it.

As well, when at business functions...I will often have someone say to me "I know who you are, I get your newsletter."  I believe it keeps my name and what I do "out there." I see my newsletter as contributing to my success. It makes a statement that speaks to my brand.

I just met with the COO at a company where I've been coaching.  He told me that that the employees (the ones I've coached) forward him my newsletter.

He said, "They want me to read it because they feel the content is often pertinent to what's going on at the company." There are over 100 employees at this company and I'll soon be asking if I can send everyone my newsletter.

Patsi, hopefully this is helpful.  Feel free to use these comments and to make edits where necessary.

Best,
Linda Yaffe www.workingmatters.com
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Hi Patsi,

I've had some wonderful success with my newsletter! I'm a life coach and psychotherapist, and the newsletter (Pleasure and Soul) has hugely boosted my business. Writing the newsletter has helped me become clearer about my niche (deeply frazzled women aged 45-60 who want more deep pleasure in their lives), and the issues my target market faces.

The newsletter has created community with the now 700+ women readers, and has spawned a blog that I'm just launching. I'm delighted how the newsletter and blog seem to complement each other.
Plus I've had a hoot doing it!

Writing the articles has enriched my personal life as well in many ways.

Feel free to check out my newsletter back issues at www.MelissaGayleWest.com, and the new blog at www.FeralNun.com. Best wishes for your article! I love your work!

With deep gratitude for what you offer,
Melissa

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Melissa Gayle West, M.S.
Licensed life coach and psychotherapist