{"id":53720,"date":"2018-01-06t17:31:42","date_gmt":"2018-01-06t22:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=53720"},"modified":"2018-01-28t17:36:54","modified_gmt":"2018-01-28t22:36:54","slug":"make-newsletters-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2018\/01\/06\/make-newsletters-work\/","title":{"rendered":"step-by-step: how to make newsletters work for you"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>checklists: 7 benefits and 4 ways to create content.<\/strong><\/p>\n by sandi leyva<\/i> one of the most overlooked marketing channels for accountants is a newsletter. the newsletter first started in print at regional firms.<\/p>\n more small firm growth strategies:<\/b> technical aspects of video and youtube<\/a> | why cpas need video<\/a> | make google adwords work for you<\/a> | make the most of trade shows<\/a> | track your online reputation<\/a> | partnering: referrals on steroids<\/a> | measure client retention \u2026 against yourself <\/a>| take your client\u2019s pulse<\/a> | how to determine your ideal client<\/a> | clients need advisory services more than they know<\/a> | 10 tips for more energy this tax season<\/a> | marketing vs. sales and how to plunge in<\/a> some cpa firms have not changed much and still cling to their printed newsletter. we suggest you send an email newsletter and optionally send a printed newsletter once or twice a year if your clients are used to it. a newsletter\u00a0is one of the few channels that serves multiple purposes and can generate multiple revenue streams:<\/p>\n three other benefits not as directly tied to revenue:<\/p>\n you don\u2019t have to have a website to have an effective newsletter, but you will have to have another way to generate a list of people who will get your newsletter, such as networking meetings where you collect business cards. a newsletter is actually cheaper than a website, and although it\u2019s not often done first in a new startup, it could be done that way.<\/p>\n this is a low- to medium-cost marketing option depending on how you generate the content\u00a0for your newsletter. a newsletter requires only two components:<\/p>\n one asset that will never be recorded on a balance sheet is your list \u2013 the people who subscribe to your writings and your work. for some internet marketing businesses, it\u2019s the most valuable asset they have. if you get good at this like i have and thousands of others, your list will generate revenue almost every time you send an email out.<\/p>\n tip:<\/strong> even if you don\u2019t plan to send a newsletter, put an opt-in on your website\u00a0to capture leads and to start building your list. i cannot think of one business owner who hasn\u2019t wished they started their list-building earlier. you cannot go wrong, and you cannot get started building your list too early.<\/p>\n for accountants, the software that makes the most sense is constant contact. it allows you to do the two things you need to do:<\/p>\n please do not try to do this in outlook. outlook only allows you to send your newsletter\u00a0to 50 clients at a time. you must include your address and a way for subscribers to opt out per the can-spam laws. plus, it makes your business look cheap and that you are cutting corners, which is a message you do not want to send to clients and prospects about how you do business. constant contact\u00a0does this all for you.<\/p>\n constant contact\u00a0offers a free 60-day trial and often runs specials for new clients. constant contact is only $15 per month or $153 per year up to 500 subscribers.<\/p>\n i happen to be a gold partner, which means i do receive an affiliate\u00a0commission of about $9 per new account (i\u2019m honestly not sure how much it is; it\u2019s not very much) if you go through this link: http:\/\/www.constantcontact.com\/index.jsp?pn=accountantsaccelerator<\/p>\n last, more disclosure. in-house, i use constant contact\u00a0for service emails to clients (these are your weekly reminders). i use 1shoppingcart.com for marketing and our shopping cart solution. if you plan to grow your list past about two to three thousand subscribers, i recommend you use one of the heavier-duty list management software packages such as 1shoppingcart, aweber or infusionsoft (use the latter only if you are doing more than $1 million in revenue online). i do not care for mailchimp or icontact.<\/p>\n 1shoppingcart and infusionsoft are bundled online marketing\u00a0solutions that include integrated email, affiliate and online shopping cart modules with a merchant account and paypal connection. infusionsoft is far more expensive and is called confusionsoft in the industry. if you plan to get into more internet marketing features in the future, you may want to consider these options.<\/p>\n the purpose of your content\u00a0should be to add value for your reader.<\/p>\n accounting or general business topics<\/strong><\/p>\n the big challenge for accountants using this marketing approach is to keep prospects interested and on their list. although we as accountants love what we do, the people who hire us likely hate it: that\u2019s why they hire us! so we have to constantly think of ways to write interesting articles that help our clients save time and money, rather than list the new tax changes or an accounting rule or even a quickbooks tip.<\/p>\n we have to remember the wiifm\u00a0\u2013 \u201cwhat\u2019s in it for me\u201d that our readers will be asking. also, we need to be clear on who our reader is. some of you have bookkeepers on your list, but what you should really have is the small business owners. you want to write for them. they are the ones making the final decision on hiring you and they sign your check.<\/p>\n i suggest thinking broader than accounting and tax topics. include money, time management, process improvements, workflow, technology and even marketing advice. the top issues of small business owners include things like finding enough time, getting enough clients and motivating employees. if they\u2019ve hired you, they likely don\u2019t care anymore about tax deadlines because that\u2019s what you are supposed to do.<\/p>\n open rate<\/strong><\/p>\n the \u201copen rate\u201d of a newsletter\u00a0is a common metric you will see in email marketing. the software is able to determine which readers actually \u201copen\u201d their emails. the open rate is the number of people who open their emails divided by the total number of people you send it to. the open rate is not the same as the read rate. software cannot measure that. it could be the email was opened, they read the subject line and immediately deleted it.<\/p>\n the average open rate for newsletters across all industries is 20 percent. in accounting, it\u2019s 15 percent. that\u2019s another reason to provide broader content\u00a0than accounting, tax and auditing news.<\/p>\n i recommend you send a newsletter\u00a0at least once a month. every two weeks or twice a month is ideal, and weekly is a good frequency if you also do a lot of promotional emails like i do.<\/p>\n the best time of the day to send your newsletter\u00a0is first thing in the morning. the worst time of day to send one is after lunch because you will get far more unsubscribes. i see so many of you finish your newsletter on friday afternoon and send it out. that\u2019s the worst time to send it. it\u2019s much better to wait until the following week.<\/p>\n the best day of the week to send one out is wednesday or thursday. you can also experiment with sending newsletters on saturday morning. you will get more unsubscribes but you may also get more engagement.<\/p>\n your constant contact\u00a0software (or whatever you choose to use) has a scheduling feature. i highly recommend you write, post and schedule several issues at once to save time. i do it quarterly, at least for bizboost news\u00a0clients.<\/p>\n there\u2019s no reason that a newsletter\u00a0should be long these days. attention spans are getting shorter every year. remember the newsletters that were multiple pages and multiple articles? if they are too long to read, they will likely get filed into a to-be-read folder instead of read right away. after a few weeks, the subscriber will not have time to go through those emails, so it will be deleted without being read.<\/p>\n avoid all that by doing a couple of things to get your reader to read it right away:<\/p>\n i know copywriters who spend as much time on their subject lines as they do writing the entire article. that\u2019s how important they are.<\/p>\n i recommend and use a three-part newsletter:<\/p>\n
\nthe complete guide to marketing for tax & accounting firms<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\nexclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nemail newsletters have more benefits than most other marketing channels. the only reason they are not ranked higher is they lack the face-to-face component. but that doesn\u2019t mean there should be a delay in your implementation. just look at all of these benefits.<\/p>\nbenefits<\/h3>\n
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costs<\/h3>\n
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your list management system<\/h3>\n
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content for your newsletter<\/h3>\n
frequency<\/h3>\n
format<\/h3>\n
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