Why Do Direct Sales Reps Need a Newsletter?
by Linda Sikut
September, 2004
The obvious answer is to communicate with your customers or team
members. When working in the direct sales business online, you must
rely on the written word to communicate a lot of your information. A
newsletter can be a permanent record for your customers, team
members and others who might be watching you.
Oops - did I say others who might be watching you? Yes! In the
autonomous world of the Internet you never know who might be
watching and looking at what you're doing. This could translate into
future customers or future team members so it's important to always
present yourself at your best. When writing for your newsletter, be
sure to use good grammar, punctuation and check your spelling. The
use of upper and lower case is important, but many people think that
all upper case or all lower case is fine. It's not. All upper case
is considered SHOUTING online and all lower case is not correct use
of the written word.
A Newsletter for Your Customers
Your current customer base is your "bread and butter". They already
buy from you and like your products and service. Serve them by
communicating to them your specials and letting them know about new
products or services you offer. Usually a monthly newsletter is good
for current customers but sometimes a special email targeting
certain customers will give you an extra edge.
A Newsletter for Your
Team Members
Of course, you need a newsletter for your team members. Even if you
communicate daily with individual people or have a team board, a
newsletter is valuable because you can send everyone information
that they will need.
Since it comes in their email, they don't have to go to anywhere to
read what you need to communicate with them.
It's also a good way to get important information out to everyone at
once or clarify an issue that seems to be a problem for more than
one person.
In your team newsletter be sure you have a section on recognition.
Recognize new team members, those who are moving up the ranks and
anyone who has done an outstanding job. Recognition makes people
feel good and helps to motivate them.
A Newsletter for
Everybody Else
Here's where the people who are watching you fit into the online
picture. If you have a newsletter that is "open to the public", you
can attract people who will be interested in you, your product or
your business opportunity.
To find people you will need a newsletter that targets a specific
market. For example, if your product line is food, a recipe
newsletter works great. If your product line is children's toys, a
newsletter featuring children's games might work better.
One way to attract people to you is to have a monthly drawing or
contest and only announce winners in your newsletter. People will
subscribe to your newsletter to find out if they are the winner.
That gives you the opportunity to market yourself, your product and
your business opportunity to people with whom you might not
otherwise make a connection. If you publish a weekly newsletter you
will have the opportunity to present your self every week to people
who are watching you.
Say it clearly
No matter what the content of your newsletter, be sure you always
make yourself very clear. Don't use a lot of industry "buzzwords"
that people might not know. For example, in the "for everyone"
newsletter, don't refer to your team as downline. People often
misunderstand that term or don't know what it means. If you want to
tell a story about someone on your team, use the phrase team member.
People understand that who are not familiar with the industry.
Develop rapport through your newsletter by telling a bit about you
and what is happening in your life. It helps people relate to you
and see you as a real person.
Add some tidbits to your newsletter such as interesting quotes or
let your readers know what holiday is taking place. There are
holidays almost every day somewhere in the world and you can find a
list on places like
www.earthcalendar.net. Often you can tailor your newsletter to a
theme reflecting a specific holiday. Tell people about one or two
"featured" products. Do a price or quality comparison. Let them know
if there is a special offer, especially if it is one you are
personally offering. Your goal with this newsletter is to give them
a reason to buy from YOU or join YOUR team.
Send it out!
Now comes the mechanics of actually sending a newsletter. There are
several things you can do.
-
Develop your list in your email program
-
Develop your list on a spreadsheet and copy and paste into your
email program. This gives you the advantage of being able to track
other information
-
Develop your list and use one of the free services such as
www.yahoogroups.com or
www.topica.com
-
Develop your list and use one of the paid services that allows you
to customize your newsletter such as
www.constantcontact.com
-
Develop your list through a sign up box on your web site that
connects directly to your chosen service
-
Develop your list from a sign up form on your web site. Be sure to
include a check off box that people must check to opt-in to your
newsletter
However you decide to develop your list, always have a privacy
policy in place. Do not sell the names of these people. They are
folks who are interested in you and what you have to offer. Do not
break their trust in you.
The bottom line is that in the direct sales industry, newsletters in
several forms can help you grow and attract others to you. As
always, I wish you the best of success!
_______________
Linda Sikut has been in the direct sales business for over 10 years
and has worked exclusively from home for the last 8 of those years.
You can visit her online at
www.fantasticvanilla.com
©2004 This article was written
exclusively for Internet Based Moms™ and may not be
re-published or copied without permission from Internet
Based Moms™, except to print one copy for personal use.
Comments and general questions about the article's content
can be directed to the author.
