National Clothesline

It’s time to shout your praises from the rooftops and to stop running a “secret service.”

Have you ever sent out a newsletter? It’s a great idea for many reasons.

It’s personal, so when it’s received, it won’t be treated as junk mail and discarded. Because of its personal nature, it will be read by the individual to see how it affects their routine activity.

Here are a few items that can be contained in your newsworthy letter.

A picture of the counter person or employee of the month receiving a bonus check plus a free dinner at the most popular restaurant in town. Chances are, the restaurant will offer the dinner for two at no charge if the restaurant is in the picture and shows the winners toasting the camera with the owner or head chef smiling.

Along that line, you can feature a wedding gown picture, particularly if it’s mother’s or grandma’s restored gown that you just cleaned.

The newsletter is a great opportunity to announce the latest special, such as no-charge box storage. (No home has enough closet space!).

Be sure to mention your seasonal promotions, such as water repellency or mothproofing, even drapery cleaning, including removal and rehanging. The possibilities are endless.

You could also feature a volume discount, a special, route pick-up, carpet cleaning or announce your new leather cleaning service.

Don‘t forget to mention an anniversary sale, or your new “Sunday 10 to 1” hours. Sunday hours can relieve the Saturday rush, plus, 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.

You could use your newsletter to announce 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!

The newsletter should also contain some local news, mentions of well-known personalities and always with a picture or two.

Comments on high school achievements or scholarship awards, and the students, who are your future customers are always well received. The students love to be seen in their prom gowns.

Remember, you’re in the service business and the newsletter lets you put that into practice! It’s direct, personal and the least expensive of all advertising.

Here’s the easy part. Print it on any standard 8 1⁄2 x 11" blank letter page of good quality paper and fold it in half. This makes a nice, four-sided quick-reading newsletter.

All this can start as a low-budget, four times a year production.

Then, as the compliments toll in, you expand and capitalize on forthcoming holiday events such as Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, anniversaries and any big event that your city or town could be celebrating.

Once you start receiving flattering comments, you can increase the frequency and continue with special events, sales, and introducing new services.

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.