What’s new in your newsletter?
Have you ever sent out a newsletter?
It’s a great idea for many reasons. Here are just a few
items that can be contained in your newsworthy letter.
1. It’s personal, and for that
reason, when it’s received, it won’t be treated as
junk mail or discarded.
2. Because of its personal nature, it
will be read by the individual through and through to see how
it affects their routine activity.
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4. Comments on high school achievements
or scholarship awards, and the students, who are your future
customers. They love to be seen in their prom gowns.
Along that line, you can feature a
wedding gown picture, particularly when it’s
mother’s or grandma’s restored gown that you just
cleaned as a wedding present (again picture included).
How about a picture of the cheerleading
squad doing a pyramid with your new route truck in the
background?
5. A picture of the counter person or
employee of the month receiving a bonus check plus a with free
dinner at the most popular restaurant in town. Chances are, the
restaurant will offer the dinner for two no charge if the
restaurant and the picture shows the winners toasting the
camera with the owner or head chef smiling.
6. The newsletter is a great opportunity
to announce the latest special, such as no-charge box storage.
(No home has enough closet space!)
7. Seasonal promotions, such as water
repellency special at no charge, or mothproofing, even drapery
cleaning including removal and rehanging. The possibilities are
endless.
8. You can feature a volume discount, a
special, route pick-up, carpet cleaning or announce your new
leather cleaning service.
9. Mention an anniversary sale, or your
new “Sunday 10 to 1” hours. While you’re
there on Sunday, you can get plant cleaning done while the
boiler is down or change the press padding, or catch up on
bookkeeping. Plus, this can relieve the Saturday rush.
10. Start offering your new 10 percent
“pay in advance” discount. You will no longer have
racks filled with unclaimed garments. It’s a fact!
Garments that are paid for are called for!
Here are 10 good ideas you can use as
part of projecting your new image. Remember, you’re in
the service business and the newsletter let’s you put
that into practice! It’s direct, personal and the least
expensive of all advertising.
Here’s the easy part — and
the fun part. Take any standard 8 x 11 blank letter page of a
good quality paper and fold it in half. This makes a nice,
four-sided quick-reading newsletter.
Next, come up with a title. If it’s
clever and recognizable, your readership will be look forward
to receiving it. At the start, you will only be mailing four
times a year. Once you start receiving the flattering comments,
you can continue with special events, sales etc. and
introducing new services.
Now for the title… tie it in with
your name. One cleaner uses “News from Sew Clean,”
with a spool of thread as the free-form writing and the thread
going through the needle as an exclamation point!
Busy Bee cleaners uses “Bee
Clean” as its title. Kwik Clean has the “Kwik
Newsletter.” Jiffy Cleaners uses "Jiffy News.”
Fortunately computers offer clip art for headings and color
changes, plus many local printers can suggest layouts and give
professional advice.
Again, this can start as low budget, only
four times a year, then expand it and capitalize on forthcoming
holiday events such as Christmas, July 4th, Thanksgiving,
anniversaries and any big event that your city or town could be
celebrating.
Just think about the possibilities: Coats
for Kids, bicycles for honor students, sponsor a scholarship,
announce the monthly winner of $100 drycleaning with a picture
of the ticket being drawn by a familiar town personality,
popular teacher, librarian, traffic cop, the mayor, etc. The
top half of old counter receipts could be used as the raffle
ticket stubs, placed in a revolving barrel. Have the drawing on
a busy Saturday.
It’s time to shout your praises,
from the rooftops, and to stop running a “secret
service.”
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