One key to keeping clients coming back for more is to make sure that they don't forget about your small business and the services it provides. This doesn't mean barraging customers with junk mail or spam, but by balancing your marketing efforts to provide value. One great way to do this is with newsletters.

Newsletters can be electronic or paper or a combination of both.

Print Newsletters

For established customers, a quarterly or monthly newsletter is a great way to keep you business fresh in their minds while providing valuable information related to your area of expertise. For example, my investment advisor sends out a quarterly, four-page traditional type newsletter filled with great tips that are relevant to the time of year. I love getting it because the information is great; and for him, well he's my go to guy when it comes to financial questions. His newsletter is not only establishing him as an expert, but also helping to build the relationship with me, his client.

The newsletter can be as large or as small as you want, the important thing is to provide valuable, relevant information that your customers will want to receive. You can write the pieces yourself, or there are several resources online for free reprint articles on tons of subjects. You can also hire someone to write the pieces for you – it's more affordable than you may realize and unlike reprint pieces, these will be attributed to you (no references to other businesses with the same expertise).

Electronic Newsletters

An electronic newsletter is similar to a traditional one in content, however, there are considerations. CAN-Spam laws need to be taken into consideration when sending the newsletter as do delivery options. There are many services available that will help to make sure your newsletter is compliant with anti-spam laws as well as manage your list and delivery options and I strongly recommend using one.

I don't recommend sending more than once a month unless you have valuable information your customers will want to know. Also remember, people get LOTS of email, so over-sending is one way to ensure your e-mails will end up in the trash or your subscribers will UN-subscribe.

Which is Better: Print or Electronic?

The answer to this question is dependent on your market. In some cases a combination of the two can work affectively as well. You will have to determine what your customer demographics are and which option would be most effective for your small business.

My mantra is "Communication, communication, communication," and newsletters are just one more way to get your message to your customers. By sharing your valuable knowledge with your customers you are reinforcing the value of your small business and supporting the relationship you have with your customers. I encourage you to take the first step and start thinking about ways a newsletter can work for your small business.