Newsletters
Long established as a great way to tie a business’s client/customer base to it, the customer newsletter has, like everything else, gone online. Whether sent by snail-mail or by e-mail attachment, though, the overriding principle is the same: give valuable information, not advertising hype. Well-written newsletters gave added value long before the “value add” buzz surfaced.
I began my serious freelance writing career with the newsletter as its backbone. Dentists, chiropractors, optometrists — professionals who wanted and expected to see the same people repeatedly, at regular intervals — were my best clients.
Once HMOs began telling patients who they could — and could not — see, patient newsletters became less useful as healthcare practice-builders. They’re still valuable, though, for other businesses and organizations which count on repeat business and know it takes far more money to snag a new customer off the street than it takes to sell to an existing customer (the one who gets to choose where he spends his money).
Sample Newsletters
1st Quarter, 2002 CAD Software Retailer/Instructor Newsletter
Head: SAVE: frustration, dollars, and your precious time.
Subhead: Frustrated with your design software?
Opening Copy: Pretty sure there must be an easier way to complete a project in one of your software applications, but not sure how? Considered additional training and then nixed it? Figured the classes would take too much of your time (and money) and probably wouldn’t allow you to concentrate on what you need to know for your business?
Well troops, you can throw those concerns out with that old manual drafting board and that pile of floppy discs. Our instructors, John and Warren, have come right out of industry. They’ve used your applications in real life, and they’re certain they can help you learn to use a larger percentage of your favorite application.
By the way, what percentage of your software features do you think you use? Fifty percent? Eighty? If you’re an “average” user, you use about twenty percent of most of your software features. Yep, twenty. That could account for that nagging question, “There’s an easier way to do this, but what is it?” John and Warren can show you not only how to use more than that “average” twenty percent of your program, but also how to use it more effectively. They know what you need to know and can help you learn it efficiently — without all the desk pounding and manual slamming of the oft-tried and much-dreaded “Teach-Yourself Methodology.”
While you’re probably never going to know everything about your industry’s software, you can know more and be more productive. Our training class customers say. . . .
3rd Quarter 2000 Tech School Newsletter
Head: What’s new at PPI?
Subhead: Plenty — and it’s all good news for you! “...7 of the 10 fastest growing occupations by 2005 will be health related....”
Opening Copy: This statement, from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Standard Statistics (1990) reinforces our belief that the healthcare industry has seldom seemed a more likely arena for stable, rewarding careers.
Boomers are getting older and needing more healthcare services. Their parents are living longer and needing even more healthcare services. In our tight labor market, employers are offering more perks than ever – including health insurance — to attract workers. A higher number of insured workers equals heavier demands on the industry. At the dawn of the 21st century, it appears healthcare is a booming industry — and will become even more so.
For these reasons, PPI has stepped up its efforts on all fronts, wanting to be ready to help its students for what’s sure to be a tidal wave in healthcare activity. . . .
Fall/Winter 1999 Veterinarian Practice Newsletter
Head: Is ol’ Samantha approaching MIDDLE AGE?
Opening Copy: Is your female dog five years or older? If she’s also never had puppies but has had one or more false pregnancies, then remember this word — pyometra. Not your normal everyday, lunch-conversation word, pyometra is a life-threatening disease that develops very slowly, often taking many months before dog owners realize something is very, very wrong.
Usually caused by an overproduction of progesterone, pyometra is a uterine infection resulting in an accumulation of pus in the uterus. It frequently develops a few weeks after a female dog has been in heat.
You’ll notice “Samantha” won’t be too interested in eating, but will be very interested in drinking. She may also experience some vomiting. Since these symptoms are indicative of many other maladies, you may want to check for vaginal discharge and a swelling of the vulva. These are the tell-tale signs that pyometra is probably the culprit. . . .
Spring/Summer 1998 Veterinarian Practice Newsletter
Head: Make sure they all come home again.
Subhead: You’ve told the kids how to find their way home, given them ID bracelets, and told them who to call if they think they’re lost. But what have you done to ensure Ginger and Blackie get home if they become lost?
Opening Copy: It’s grim, but it’s a fact of life that many “family members” — pets that everyone in the family loves dearly — escape, wander off, become lost, or are stolen, and never return home. When they can’t be identified, you know what happens when they’re picked up and taken to a humane shelter. At our own Boulder County Humane Society, only 18 percent of stray cats are returned to their owners.
Now you can do something simple, yet high-tech, to ensure your pets come home. It’s the HomeAgain™ Microchip Identification System, consisting of an easily injected microchip that identifies your pets for life and an American Kennel Club (AKC) nationwide recovery program that speeds your pet’s return.
Each microchip has a unique identification code that can be read with a hand-held scanner. . . .
Spring 1997 Dental Practice Newsletter
Head: Could it be more than “coffee breath”?
Subhead: By mid-morning you notice co-workers back up a couple of feet after talking to your for a minute. “Hmm. Probably just my coffee breath,” you think to yourself. Maybe. Maybe not.
Opening Copy: Depends on whether this scenario happens at other times of the day, when you haven’t been drinking coffee. If your mate often complains about your breath and if your kids say, “Mom! Do something about your breath!” on a regular basis, then you know the answer. And it isn’t “coffee breath.”
Perhaps you saw the segment of 20/20 in which the presenters talked about new research which identifies bacteria on the back of the tongue as the cause of bad breath for many of us. “So what’s new,” you ask? You’ve read articles by dental experts in health magazines about the helpfulness of brushing your tongue when you brush your teeth.
It seems they were headed in the right direction, but they just didn’t take it far enough. . . .
Fall/Winter 1997 Auto Mechanic Shop Newsletter
Head: Over the river and through the wood. . .
Subhead: The gifts are packed, the luggage secured, the kids buckled in. Favorite mug of Hazelnut coffee in hand, “to Grandfather’s house we go.” You’re ready. Or are you?
Opening Copy: What have you done to get the family car ready for the trip to Grandpa’s? Nothing or next to nothing? Then you and your family could be in for a less-than-pleasant holiday road trip.
In our business, we know we’ll be unusually busy during the colder months of the year. Cold weather just brings out the worst in cars, especially cars that haven’t been properly maintained. And with all the talk of El Niño’s coming fury, this winter may be harder on our cars than recent mild winters.
While we gustily sing the part of the song that goes, “Oh how the wind doth blow; it stings the toes and bites the nose as over the ground we go,” we don’t plan on participating in such old-fashioned “fun.” When our noses and toes are cold from being stranded on the highway in cold weather, most of us aren’t happy campers singing about the trip to Grandma’s house. In fact, we’re just downright crabby. . . .
Fall 1995 Dental Practice Newsletter
Head: Just exactly what happens if you don’t use a tartar-control toothpaste?
Subhead: And what if you shun the stain-fighting, plaque cleaning, cavity protection, and micro cleansing pastes too? Is gum disease just around the corner?
Opening Copy: Will your teeth rot and fall out if you pass up the low abrasion, baking soda-with-peroxide, or whitening-with-fluoride pastes? Will they turn yellow if you keep using your old paste instead of the new gels?
What about flavor? Will the kids brush longer with icy mint, cool mint, bubble-mint, smooth mint, bubble gum, or fresh mint? Will they brush better if they like the color? Which color? Red-white-green stripe, white, red, blue, green, turquoise, or “sparkle”?
Should you buy your toothpaste in the old reliable tube, or is a pump better? What about a stand-up tube or an upright dispenser?
The truth is, none of this matters. Toothpaste manufacturers make some pretty inflated claims, as do toothbrush manufacturers. But the fact is, nothing in toothpaste can actually remove tartar; that's a tough enough job for your hygienist, even with her special instruments and expertise.
What does matter? The actual brushing action is what protects teeth, and brushing long enough — three to five minutes — is critical. Most of us don't, though. Time yourself tonight. If you're average, you'll spend about a minute brushing, and that isn't enough. . . .