Savvy Company Newsletters
Why You Need One and How to Get One
By Lara Evans Bracciante
Originally published in Skin Deep, February/March 2005.
Copyright 2005. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.
You may be the most talented and knowledgeable skin care professional in the state, but unless you're able to reach your target audience, it doesn't mean a thing. Marketing your services is crucial to the success of your practice, and one simple, effective way to do that is with a newsletter. Daryl Kulak, president of the Simplicity Institute, an Ohio-based business school for the holistic health community, says, "Newsletters are an excellent way to keep in touch with your clients, to show them you care about them even between appointments. Think of a newsletter as a way to say, 'Hey, remember me!' You have reminded them about the positive experience they've had with you and that they might like to come back sometime soon."
The Power of Education
A newsletter helps establish you as the expert and objectively document the potential issues clients may face and how you can help them. You can impartially outline the effects of environmental conditions, aging, drug-store products, or specific skin conditions and how certain treatments and products can help address those. This way, you are providing consumers with a reason to book an appointment with you. Furthermore, by explaining that it's wisest to prevent complexion issues rather than work to diminish them after they're apparent gives clients reasons and motivation to contact you.
"The focus of your newsletter should be news," Kulak says. "Did you read an article about how frowning causes wrinkles? Does a pharmaceutical drug have an unwanted side effect of causing skin pigmentation? These are great articles for your newsletter."
Top of Mind Awareness
It may be the case that certain clients are simply not going to contact you for a treatment until something specifically gives them cause -- an acne outbreak, a bout of rosacea, or a recent outcropping of fine lines around the eyes. When they're ready to call an esthetician, you want them to think of you first.
"A few months ago," Kulak says, "I sent out my newsletter as usual and received a message back from the director of a large massage school that I've done work for in the past. She said, 'Your newsletter reminded me that we could really use some of your flyers to put in the gift bags of our graduates this month.' Without my newsletter, she would not have remembered to call me about that important opportunity."
When you are continually putting your name in front of past and future clients, you better ensure they'll call you when they're looking for help.
Circulating Coupons and Marketing Services
And then there are the clients who have been thinking about booking a facial, but just haven't taken the initiative to pick up the phone and make the appointment. When they come across a copy of your newsletter at the chiropractor's office or a local coffee house, the coupon for 20 percent off facials during February may be just the motivation they need.
"The newsletter is also the place to announce that you've opened a new location, added a new product line, or hired a new staffer," Kulak says. "But these should be secondary, after the informative tidbits. The reason for this is simple. By passing on news items that don't benefit you directly, you are building trust with your clients and potential clients. It expands the relationship."
How to Begin
Creating your newsletter may seem like an intimidating task. However, there are many programs and templates available to help you get started. One such tool is ABMP's Client Newsletter Generator. A free member benefit, this program allows you to create a customized, four-page, color newsletter complete with photographs. You are able to name the newsletter, give it a publication date, include your business name and contact information, select from a list of articles, and include your own personal message, article, or coupon.
To access the newsletter, simply login to the ABMP Members section on www.abmp.com and click the "Create Your Own Newsletter" option. The program will walk you through the creation process, step-by-step. Within a few minutes, you'll have a professional client communication tool to help market your business. You can print it at home and make copies, have it professionally printed, or post it to your website and e-mail a link to it. (You can also e-mail it as an attachment, but it will be a very large file, and in the age of computer viruses, many people are rightfully suspicious of attachments.)
"Regularly producing a newsletter will increase your repeat business dramatically," Kulak says. And, if you have a way to distribute the newsletter to potential clients who haven't yet used your services, Kulak adds, the newsletter will help build their trust and encourage new clients to call for appointments.
Lara Evans Bracciante is editor of Skin Deep.
Copyright 2005. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.
You may be the most talented and knowledgeable skin care professional in the state, but unless you're able to reach your target audience, it doesn't mean a thing. Marketing your services is crucial to the success of your practice, and one simple, effective way to do that is with a newsletter. Daryl Kulak, president of the Simplicity Institute, an Ohio-based business school for the holistic health community, says, "Newsletters are an excellent way to keep in touch with your clients, to show them you care about them even between appointments. Think of a newsletter as a way to say, 'Hey, remember me!' You have reminded them about the positive experience they've had with you and that they might like to come back sometime soon."
The Power of Education
A newsletter helps establish you as the expert and objectively document the potential issues clients may face and how you can help them. You can impartially outline the effects of environmental conditions, aging, drug-store products, or specific skin conditions and how certain treatments and products can help address those. This way, you are providing consumers with a reason to book an appointment with you. Furthermore, by explaining that it's wisest to prevent complexion issues rather than work to diminish them after they're apparent gives clients reasons and motivation to contact you.
"The focus of your newsletter should be news," Kulak says. "Did you read an article about how frowning causes wrinkles? Does a pharmaceutical drug have an unwanted side effect of causing skin pigmentation? These are great articles for your newsletter."
Top of Mind Awareness
It may be the case that certain clients are simply not going to contact you for a treatment until something specifically gives them cause -- an acne outbreak, a bout of rosacea, or a recent outcropping of fine lines around the eyes. When they're ready to call an esthetician, you want them to think of you first.
"A few months ago," Kulak says, "I sent out my newsletter as usual and received a message back from the director of a large massage school that I've done work for in the past. She said, 'Your newsletter reminded me that we could really use some of your flyers to put in the gift bags of our graduates this month.' Without my newsletter, she would not have remembered to call me about that important opportunity."
When you are continually putting your name in front of past and future clients, you better ensure they'll call you when they're looking for help.
Circulating Coupons and Marketing Services
And then there are the clients who have been thinking about booking a facial, but just haven't taken the initiative to pick up the phone and make the appointment. When they come across a copy of your newsletter at the chiropractor's office or a local coffee house, the coupon for 20 percent off facials during February may be just the motivation they need.
"The newsletter is also the place to announce that you've opened a new location, added a new product line, or hired a new staffer," Kulak says. "But these should be secondary, after the informative tidbits. The reason for this is simple. By passing on news items that don't benefit you directly, you are building trust with your clients and potential clients. It expands the relationship."
How to Begin
Creating your newsletter may seem like an intimidating task. However, there are many programs and templates available to help you get started. One such tool is ABMP's Client Newsletter Generator. A free member benefit, this program allows you to create a customized, four-page, color newsletter complete with photographs. You are able to name the newsletter, give it a publication date, include your business name and contact information, select from a list of articles, and include your own personal message, article, or coupon.
To access the newsletter, simply login to the ABMP Members section on www.abmp.com and click the "Create Your Own Newsletter" option. The program will walk you through the creation process, step-by-step. Within a few minutes, you'll have a professional client communication tool to help market your business. You can print it at home and make copies, have it professionally printed, or post it to your website and e-mail a link to it. (You can also e-mail it as an attachment, but it will be a very large file, and in the age of computer viruses, many people are rightfully suspicious of attachments.)
"Regularly producing a newsletter will increase your repeat business dramatically," Kulak says. And, if you have a way to distribute the newsletter to potential clients who haven't yet used your services, Kulak adds, the newsletter will help build their trust and encourage new clients to call for appointments.
Lara Evans Bracciante is editor of Skin Deep.
