E-Newsletters - Trade Press Services

Trade Press Services Introduces:
Business Builders
A Quarterly Newsletter
Summer 2008
Qu a r t e r ly Fe at u r e
E-Newsletters: A Powerful, Affordable
Marketing Tool
Publishing an e-newsletter is an excellent way to attract sales leads, enhance your
brand, educate and inform people, maintain contact with clients, announce special
events and assume the role of a problem-solver/expert in your field - all for a fraction
of the cost of traditional direct mail. However, if not prepared and distributed with
care, an e-newsletter can hurt your image in the marketplace and create other serious
problems.
Know Thyself - and Thy Readers
To decide if publishing an e-newsletter is right for you, answer the following questions:
• Are you willing to invest a great deal of your time, effort and perhaps money?
• Are you passionate and knowledgeable about a subject?
• Can you supply meaningful content that will hold readers’ interest for years to
come?
• Are you a disciplined person?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” or if your motive is self-promoting,
consider a different outlet. People read newsletters for only one reason: to learn useful
things and/or to solve problems. If an e-newsletter isn’t totally focused on answering
the readers’ needs, it won’t succeed.
In Th is Is s u e:
• Feature Article
• TPSsst Marketing Tip
• Recommended Reading
• Business Resources
• Quarterly Quote -
“I Wish I Said That”
TPS Wr it in g Se rv i c e s:
• Feature Articles
• Opinion Columns
• Success Stories
• White Papers
• Marketing Research
• Newsletters
• Books
• Memoirs
• Corporate Profiles
• Grant Proposals
Starting Out
Vickie Sullivan, president of Sullivan Speaker Services, Inc. (and a TPS client), has
been publishing newsletters for twenty-two years (e-newsletters for the past twelve).
She is nationally recognized as a top market strategist for experts on the professional
speaking circuit. Sullivan uses her e-newsletters to distinguish
herself from the competition, and offers this a•dvice
to anyone considering launching one:
Vickie Sullivan
• Content is key
Sullivan believes so strongly in the importance of market
intelligence that she gives it away for free in “Tips
& Trends” and “The Sullivan Report,” her two newsletters.
“No fluff!” says Sullivan. “No ‘Here’s what’s
going on with me.’ Truthfully, readers don’t care that
you’re a new grandma! They want something that will
help them.”
Bu s i n e s s Re s o u r c e s:
List servers can be a valuable marketing
tool. Check out these companies:
• Constant Contact
www.constantcontact.com
• Global Intellisystems
www.globalintellisystems.com
• SubscriberMail, LLC
www.subscribermail.com

• Keep it short.
The writing must be brief and thought-provoking. It’s not easy. “Be prepared to kill off brain cells as you pare down the writing,”
say Sullivan. “Seriously! Brain cells will be harmed!”
• Be consistent.
Establish a publishing schedule and adhere to it. “If you start this, you have to keep at it,” says Sullivan. “I am committed! I could
be dead in a ditch, but my newsletters keep going out!”
• Stick to a simple formula.
People are more likely to read a newsletter with a consistent graphic appearance, writing style and framework for presenting
information. Sullivan’s “Tips & Trends” is comprised of four “nuggets” of market information, each leading off with a news item or
statistic, followed by Sullivan’s analysis and a recommended “next step” for the reader – all in five sentences or less.
• Email etiquette is essential.
Common sense dictates much of this. The most common faux pas: repeat distribution of unsolicited e-newsletters, which can result
in being blacklisted by anti-spam watchdogs.
• Inject some personality.
Adopt a writing style that conveys enthusiasm, passion and a sense of who you are. A little humor helps, too – but only if it’s
genuine and comes naturally.
• Be a resource person.
Always credit information sources and tell readers how and where to find out more.
• Integrate the newsletter with your website and other marketing tools.
A solid e-newsletter linked with a robust website will increase traffic to both. Be sure to put a ‘To Subscribe/Unsubscribe” newsletter
link on every page of your website.
• Collect data and experiment.
Employ the services of a list server to distribute your e-newsletter – the best ones can provide a wealth of valuable data regarding
how many newsletters reached their destination, were bounced, opened, read, forwarded and much more. For examples of a well
done newsletter, please visit Vickie Sullivan’s website at www.sullivanspeaker.com.
TPSsst! (A Trade Press Services Marketing Tip)
One of the big advantages of editorial coverage over traditional advertising is its long shelf-life. When you make
and use professionally designed reprints, it increases your return on investment and the value you get from published
articles. Follow these suggestions for the most effective use of reprints:
• Display framed, laminated or poster-sized copies in your lobby, reception or other public areas of your company.
• Provide sales and marketing staff with reprints to use in their sales presentation materials or at trade shows,
conferences or other meetings.
• Post reprints of your articles on your website.
• Mail or email reprints to prospects, customers or other strategic alliance partners.
Before making reprints, make sure you have the publisher’s permission, which in most cases, Trade Press Services
can get for you. For more information about the design and use of reprints, contact Carol Sacher, TPS Director of
Client Services - carol@tradepressservices.com
PRODUCTION AND INVENTORY
A REPRINT FROM: APICS JUNE 2007
The
Swe et
BY DOUG GAULT
Sp t
Striking a balance between
happy customers and optimal inventory levels
The traditional challenge for most distributors is The baker’s dilemma
to have the right amount of inventory for each product Demand can and must be managed. When demand
they stock. Too much inventory ensures all orders management principles are applied intelligently, scientifically,
and analytically, the results are higher fill rates,
will be filled, but carrying that inventory is costprohibitive.
Conversely, not enough inventory keeps more satisfied customers, and far fewer headaches for
the investment low, but customer orders go unfilled. inventory managers. Additionally, when combined with
When it comes to addressing this problem, sup ply rigorous supply management, target and contractual service
levels are more profitable and lower inventory levels
chain management usually gets most of the tention. at While
this is perfectly understandable, the approach only addresses are achieved than even current industry best practices.
one dimension of the situation. There’s another problem that To explain the most effective approach to demand
is generally overlooked: Customer demand is subject to un - management, consider the following fictitious
predictable extremes – and these extremes are the single situation. Fred is the proud owner-operator of a oneman
bakery specializing in doughnuts. He has a solid
greatest source of inefficiency in inventory management.
Most inventory managers are reluctant to deal with base of loyal customers, who come in with their
this problem because they think there’s nothing they orders on a predictable schedule. Fred makes only
can do about it. Plus, the demand side of operations one batch of doughnuts each day, but he knows his
often is viewed as untouchable. The accepted wisdom customers so well that he’s able, most of the time, to
is, while supply can be managed, demand is off limits bake an optimum amount – in other words, enough
and can’t be questioned or controlled. Following to fill every regular customer’s order with a minimal
that logic, extreme orders are handled in two steps. number of unsold doughnuts scrapped at day’s end.
First, accept large orders; fill them on a first Early one morning, a new customer comes in and
come, first served basis; and deal with the inevitable places a large order for half of Fred’s doughnuts. “What
backorders later.
an opportunity!” thinks Fred, “ a chance to fill half my
Then, send out a flurry of expedited purchase orders
to suppliers in a desperate attempt to replenish He fills the order, while savoring the idea of this new,
day’s orders with one sale!”
stock levels.
important customer and a wonderful profit opportunity.
Unfortunately, this strategy is reactive and does But reality intrudes later that morning when the bulk
little to resolve the problem.
of Fred’s regular customers come in and are turned
AMERICAN BANKER
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DAILY
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28,2007
www.americanbanker.com
Why Bank Here?
That Deserves a Good Answer
Banks’ share of deposits and loans to
businesses and consumers is declining.
Consequently, most banks are seriously
challenged when it comes to organic revenue
growth.
Many customers view banks as commodities
– one is as good as any other – and in many
cases as less attractive partners than other
financial firms.
Novantas research indicates that when smallbusiness
owners and consumers ask business
bankers or branch employees, “Why should
we bank with you?” less than half can compare
the benefits of their own products and services
with those of other banks, and less than 10%
can distinguish their own bank from other
banks or nonblank providers. Instead, the
responses are tread-worn variations of “We
have great products,” or “We have lots of
locations and ATMs,” or “We offer great
rates.”
These responses lack any sense of how team
members work with customers to generate
value.
To differentiate themselves, bankers need an
accurate view of their customers, as well as
relevant and compelling reasons why people
should do business with them.
By Nick Miller
The reasons come at five specific levels:
The industry (why choose a bank rather
than another type of financial institution?);
the company (why choose this bank?); the
company (why choose this bank?); the line of
business (why choose this bank for a particular
suite of services?); the sales rep (why work
with this person?); and a specific product (why
choose this product compared to alternatives?).
Banks need competitive strategies that define
with whom they do business and how they
provide a positive alternative to other financial
companies.
Some banks have positioned themselves
distinctively. Many have defined value
propositions for individual products. However,
few have defined value propositions for their
lines of business or their salespeople.
Imagine that, instead of saying, “We’re
convenient, we offer attractive rates, and you’ll
work with a team of specialists to handle
all your banking needs,” a banker took the
following approach with a small-business
prospect.
Offer a value proposition. “We help our
clients reduce the costs and risks in their
payment cycles and accelerate their cash flow.”
January 2008
Strategic
FINANCE
Leadership Strategies in Accounting, Finance, and Information Management
The Project Professional:
IN THE RECESSION OF THE EARLY 1990s, companies
learned a lot about resilience. They adopted Just-in-Time (JIT)
techniques to reduce the fixed cost of inventory, and they used
emerging technology to gain more control over production. They
also outsourced many noncore functions like mailroom and
graphic services to minimize obligatory overhead. But later, as
business boomed, amnesia set in. Companies added more and
more people to handle the growth. When the growth stopped,
the bloated employee ranks became all too apparent, and layoffs
were inevitable.
In 2007, the economy accelerated again. Companies executed
growth strategies that they had to shelve during the last economic
downturn. Even with the recent turmoil in the housing sector
and credit markets, companies moved ahead with new strategic
and operational initiatives – all of which required additional
infrastructure in the form of talented people.
How can companies build resilience now and yet prepare their
organizations to retain that resilience through good times and
bad? How can companies find the expertise they need to execute
their strategic plans? The answer is by developing a flexible
human capital strategy – one that leverages Just-in-Time talent
and independent expertise in the form of project professionals.
Project professionals can fill a void for many different types
of departments. Finance and accounting departments, for
example, often don’t have adequate staff to do the necessary
work, and getting approval for additional headcount is a struggle.
Performing some activities on a project basis, rather than via a
staff position, can allow companies to move forward on highpriority
items. Project professionals can run or assist with process
reengineering, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance preparation,
scorecard implementation, enterprise resource planning (ERP)
FLEXIBLE HUMAN CAPITAL
TO ENABLE GROWTH
By Robert Moore
implementation, large-scale reconciliation, database design, audit
preparation, and financial planning and analysis, to name a few
(see “Projects Consultants Typically Perform for Management
Accountants”).
Let’s look at why companies hire an independent project
professional as opposed to a consulting firm, how to get the
person on board quickly, and how to get the most from the
engagement.
THE RISE OF THE INDEPENDENT
PROJECT PROFESSIONAL
In addition to relying on their employees, companies have learned
to gain flexibility by using the services of temp agencies, which
have served the clerical and administrative needs of firms as well.
As industry has given way to the service economy, however,
the need for knowledge workers has exploded, but where do
companies find flexible resources with unique management
expertise?
Consulting firms have traditionally provided firms with
strategic advice and skilled implementation teams, but this comes
at a price and often lacks the flexibility to give companies a true
Just-in-Time resource.
Project professionals are senior-level independent consultants
who come from a variety of situations, but they all have one
thing in common: seasoned expertise and situational wisdom they
use to help solve client problems. Some project professionals
are former titans of industry who, having achieved significant
success in business, set up their own shop in true entrepreneurial
style, offering their unique skills on a contract or project basis.
Others are former full-time employees who were forced into
more unstable jobs by shifts in the economy and found that
Reprinted with Permission from the November 2007 edition of PM (Project Management) World Today
PMWorldToday
Why Don’t Big Visions Translate
into Big Outcomes?
The Answer Is in the Code!
By John Foppe
Unfortunately, having a big vision is simply not Or consider the employee who tells us to, “Write to
enough to set a company in motion. Nor is it the the company president” if we don’t like the service
way for employees and managers to achieve a we receive.
specific outcome just to align their initiative with Adding fuel to the fire, this exasperation is
the vision. If only it were that simple. Even when accompanied by certain ways of seeing, doing and
the vision is stated clearly, employee initiative being. In other words, once someone feels that
doesn’t always materialize. Instead, they believe sense of exasperation, it becomes a lens through
there is nothing they can do that is new or
which they perceive what is happening around them
innovative. As a result they just step back and (the “seeing”). Then,
watch as things happen or don’t happen around their perceptions influence the actions they
them. At the same time, people can often identify take (the “doing”). Finally, they develop a set of
countless things coworkers and team members can
say or do differently. When this occurs, they begin
to shift responsibility onto others. Leaders point the Shifting from a Code of
finger at employees and vice versa. Management
then claims employees simply won’t take the Exasperation to a Code of
initiative, while employees believe management Execution doesn’t require a lot
doesn’t truly support their efforts. Ultimately,
progress stagnates. What’s happening? People of doing, but it does requires
are surrendering to an overwhelming sense of
exasperation.
our full being.
The Code of Exasperation
practices (a way of “being”) that helps them cope
with what is happening around them. Once they
For many reasons including lack of vacation
embody the exasperation, they perceive everything
time, increasingly longer workdays and the need
through that same distorted lens, which further
to take work home, for example, workers are
reinforces their interpretation of what is happening
being stretched. Their exasperation manifests
as justification for being exasperated.
itself in the form of anxiety, depression, burnout,
Around and around it goes. It is a vicious cycle
frustration and turnover. We have all experienced
where people are literally creating their experience
these types of emotions on the job at one time
of the world based on the way they perceive it to
or another, and we have seen it in others as well.
be. In this case, it is a cycle of exasperation.
Think of the harried customer-service worker who
Add another layer to the mix, and the cycle
is overwhelmed and curt, suggesting we take our
creates an organizational reality, not just a
business elsewhere if we don’t care to wait in line.
personal one, where exasperation is the norm.
This reality becomes encoded into the very fiber of

Re c o m m e n d e d Re a d i n g: Be s t-Se l l e r s
According to Wisconsin-based bookseller 800-CEO-Read (www.800.ceoread.com), the ten business books
most likely to be found on the desks and nightstands of corporate leaders in the U.S. today are:
1. The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to
Google, Nicholas Carr
2. How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in
Business (and in Life), Dov L. Seidman
3. Release Your Brilliance: The 4 Steps to Transforming Your
Life and Revealing Your Genius to the World, Simon T.
Bailey
4. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental
Strategy to Innovate, Create Value and Build Competitive
Advantage, Daniel Esty, Andrew Winston
5. We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of
Crowds in Your Business, Barry Libert, Jon Spector
6. Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?, Seth
Godin
7. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the
Future, Daniel Pink
8. Rules to Break and Laws to Follow: How Your Customers
Will Help You Beat the Crisis of Short-termism, Don Peppers
and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.
9. Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional
Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your
Effectiveness, Annie McKee, Richard Boyatzis and Fran
Johnston
10. Corporate Reputation: 12 Steps to Safeguarding and
Recovering Reputation, Leslie Gaines-Ross
Qu a rt e r ly Qu o t e: I Wish I Sa i d Th at
“Long-range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.”
Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)
Trade
Press
Servicess
Writing and Publishing Specialists
2854 Sapra Street
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
805.496.8850
www.tradepressservices.com