It doesn't have to be About You


Let’s face it: some businesses are in a better position to provide valuable information through newsletters (blogs, social media) than others.

Take our own newsletter as an example. We could easily publish a newsletter about publishing newsletters. (Stay with me here.) It would have lots of tips and suggestions and advice. We could really show off our expertise and share our opinions. Now, who would that appeal to? People who are publishing their own newsletters. Perhaps even people who are publishing newsletters for others. These people aren’t our target market - not even close.

Our newsletter has nothing to do with our area of specialty. But of course we have to have one. What’s an 'enewsletter boutique' without its own newsletter?

So we found something else of use to our target market:  ideas and tips for small business owners shared by other small business owners. And (big bonus here) members of our target market are the authors of our newsletter!

Giving value doesn’t have to be about what you can do for your target market. It just needs to be, well, valuable to them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prioritizing Made Easier

Image
Every small business owner knows what it feels like to have a "million" things to do and nowhere near enough time. We are constantly prioritizing, sometimes deliberately and sometimes less consciously. During the past month, I've done a heck of a lot of prioritizing. Some of you may remember the old screensavers where raindrops would run down your screen. That feels like my calendar lately, all the tasks slipping later in the day. Last week I needed to start some strategic planning and knew I needed to get focused fast. On-the-fly prioritizing wouldn't cut it. My marketing hero, Bernadette Jiwa read my mind and came to the rescue. I encourage you to read her article Always, Sometimes, Never for a simple approach to business planning. I hope it helps you as much as it's helped me at a time when a quick way to get focused was critical to making progress. Click to Tweet this Article originally published in the Work Better, Not Harder newsletter May 30, 201...
Keep reading »

You Manage What You Measure

Image
One of my favourite bosses worked by the motto “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth measuring”. When I whined that something just couldn’t be measured, he would say, “There’s always something to measure.” And he was always right. It’s an important concept for small business owners. Having a set of metrics that you watch and that you feel are the key drivers of your success, helps you keep clarity. If you don’t have goals stated for your company, and if you don’t regularly measure how you’re doing against those goals, you won’t have your resources focused on the right priorities . The more public you can make your goals the better. Transparency of goals drives performance because it creates both a commitment and a sense of urgency. Commitment and urgency are key drivers of success. People often measure the wrong stuff, or measure with the wrong precision (either too high-level or too detailed). There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach but there are two pretty universal measures...
Keep reading »

If Efficiency is Your Goal, You'll Want These Tools

Image
“You’re assuming efficiency is my goal,” my good friend replied one day when I suggested a better way (to me) of doing something. Oddly, I might be inclined to say that about some parts of my own work (just not whatever it was we were discussing at the time). This is not a story about the dangers of assuming (although that could be another article). This time I want to dish out some advice about how to be more efficient (since Danielle doesn’t want to hear it). I’ve written before about my essential small business tools ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) but these ones below are especially important to my productivity . FreshBooks (aff) Immediately upon implementing FreshBooks, I saw an improvement in outstanding accounts receivable. Reminders are automated and I rarely have to follow up with anyone myself. No more wondering, "Did I already remind that client?" Canva I've been using graphics applications for over 20 years - for fun and work. Nothing beats Canva's ...
Keep reading »

How To Give and Get Great Referrals

Image
Originally published in  Work Better, Not Harder newsletter March 27, 2018 How about that feeling when a colleague sends you a new referral? Great, eh? Referrals are so much more than new business; they're also a sign of trust . That's why we need to treat our referrals with such care. But what happens when you discover a referral isn't so good... or is downright wrong for you? During the past few months, I've been on both ends of this interaction. It can be awkward for all three parties. It comes down to expectations . The referrer sets certain expectations when they make the referral - and they can be about any number of things, including prices and turnaround time. Unfortunately, the referrer may not know the business they are referring has changed their offering - so it no longer meets those expectations. Disappointment abounds. How to receive good referrals: A good friend once told me how important it is to keep my potential referrers informed abo...
Keep reading »

5 New Strategies to Supercharge your eMail Marketing

Image
If you've been publishing a regular monthly newsletter, you already know the benefits of reaching out to your contacts. You've invested time and money to build your readership and your reputation. You've provided value consistently and people have come to look forward to your newsletters. It’s time to crank it up a notch and send more emails. You've earned it. The 5 strategies listed below weren't invented by me but some of them may be new to you. Or perhaps you've rejected them in the past and it’s time to think again.  The goal of implementing these ideas is to ‘touch’ your contacts more frequently than you are now. There are other advantages built into each one as well. 1. Create and promote a new free resource. Make it amazing. Make it better than any other resource you've ever created. Make it something people would pay for. Give it away with no strings attached. Am I suggesting you give it away without getting an email address in return? Y...
Keep reading »

How to Make Smart Marketing Decisions

Image
Small business owners can spend a lot of time and money on marketing initiatives. Sometimes we're successful and sometimes not so much. I think of marketing as an experiment because - really - there are no magic bullets. There are best practices, there is good and bad advice, there are lots of experts and gurus. But we, the business owners, have to make the final decisions and... live with the results. Marketing isn't cheap (even if it's our own time) and poor decision-making can hurt more than our wallets - our reputation may also be at risk. So, how do we make decisions about things we have little experience with? How can we possibly know what all of our options might be when it comes to getting a new website? Or knowing which social media platforms will work best? Or building a content strategy? We can't... unless we put some extra effort into it. Step #1: Clearly identify the decision that needs to be made. Sometimes it'll be staring you in the face ...
Keep reading »

The Best Reading of 2013

Image
The best reading from our newsletter contributors during 2013... Does your writing pass the $1-a-word Test? by Neil Everton, Podium Media & Communications Coaching If you are looking for a quick and certain way of giving your words more impact, look no further than your purse or wallet. Take a look at the last thing you wrote. It doesn't matter if it's a letter, email, report, newsletter, web content or promo script... read more Marketing to Your Tribe by Stephanie Holmes-Winton, The Money Finder This just in: some people don’t like what I have to say. They might unsubscribe from my newsletter, or they might make a snide comment on social media... read more Anyone Can Find Business on Twitter by Anita Hovey, Twirp Communications That’s right... ANYONE. The next time someone says “Twitter is just a bunch of nonsense” I want you to share a link to this post... read more 6 Ways to Become Part of Your Customer's Story by Bernadette Jiwa, The Story of Tell...
Keep reading »

A Planner for Marketing your Events

Image
The devil is in the details when it comes to planning an event. There's so much that can go wrong just in the marketing of it. For instance, there's nothing like a wrong date for generating a flurry of emails. Wednesday, April 19th... oops, April 19th is a Tuesday! It helps to have a planner so I made one - download fillable PDF here . It really has 2 purposes: To ensure all the details are captured in one place and can be easily referenced. To communicate the details to others who will help market the event. Tips: Once you identify your marketing platforms, you can create a more detailed campaign plan which includes messaging and frequency. Don't forget the visual! It's so important to have an image that connects with your ideal customer. The platforms you identify will also determine your image requirements (different sizes). Double-check the details and proof all the text, especially if you'll be sharing your planner with others. The informati...
Keep reading »

What I Learned from Susan Sweeney

Image
I was surprised and delighted to hear that my website had been used recently as an example in a webinar that Susan Sweeney facilitated for the Centre for Women in Business. You see, without knowing it, Susan has had a huge impact on my website. The first workshop I attended of Susan's was in Regina in 2002. It was long before I actually had a website. Among the many takeaways that day, one has always stuck with me: the importance of fresh content and quality control for your website. When I started my business, I knew the only way I was going to have fresh content was if I took control and managed my own website. By constantly working on it, I’m inspired about what changes to make. Keeping content fresh creates another challenge – it means a lot of changes. And a lot of changes mean opportunity for mistakes. I’m a stickler for details and I know how I react when I click on a link and it doesn’t work. When I asked Danielle to be our official Daley Progress website au...
Keep reading »

Adding Audio to your Content - Part 1

Image
Natasha in her studio (guest post by Natasha Marchewka) ***  Click to listen in rather than read Have you considered adding audio to your blog or eNewsletter? As a voice actor, someone who uses and sells their voice for a living, showcasing my voice and having an archive of recorded blogs is an obvious choice for me. Adding audio to marketing adds to the multimedia dimension, offering readers more engagement. Lucky for me, Linda Daley of Daley Progress has embraced my audio blogs as she is able to listen to it weekly while completing other tasks! But adding the element of an audio file isn't limited to voice actors. Including a voice in your content, be it a blog, newsletter, website, or social media is just smart.  When you want your client or customer to have the perception of a personal connection with you, offering more of yourself, like a photo, audio greeting, or even video is another step closer to making your way into their hearts and minds. Who might...
Keep reading »