We started writing our own newsletters about eight years ago. For our first edition, I put on a tie and asked one of our daughters take a picture of me on our front porch. After reviewing our first mailing, a respected mentor asked me if I had a dog.
“Yes,” I responded, “why?”
He said, “I told a client to have himself photographed with his family dog for his website home page and the number of hits nearly doubled.” He continued. “Do you have a cat?”
“No,” I said, “but I could rent one.” I was very eager at that point.
“No, you have to be honest. Try the dog and get rid of the tie too.” I had seen a newsletter by a large competitor and he was wearing a tie, so I thought I should do the same.
I put on a flannel shirt, took the dog off its leash and asked my daughter to take another photo of us in our front yard for our next newsletter. The dog was so happy to be off her leash that it took nearly ten pictures to get the one I finally ended up with because she kept licking my face and arms and jumping on me. The out-takes were embarrassing.
I was surprised at the response from our customers to that simple change. People love to see pets! Removing the tie was pivotal too. I thought that I had to look and act “corporate” in order to appeal to customers. After all, our competition was doing it. Not so. The more honest I was about who I was, the better the feedback.
Over the years I have used real stories about mistakes I have made (of which there are many) and I relate it to a useful service that we offer our customers in a non threatening way. Because 80% of the decision makers in our market are women, I write with them in mind. (I always run these stories by my wife for her approval before we print the final copy… I’m smarter than I look.)
If you would like to take a look at some of our newsletters, please use this link: http://www.reliablepropane.com/ and then click on "Newsletters." Feel free to use any of this material for yourself.
