Periodicals and Media Kits

The benefit of newsletters and periodicals.

Yes, Your Clients Read Newsletters

The good news: 92 percent of your buyers read newsletters. Buyers like to be kept up-to-date on breaking issues that affect their businesses. The bad news: Some of your competitors receive as many as 200 newsletters each month! Nevertheless, newsletters that are not too long (most readers prefer no more than four pages) and that are packed with brief and usable information attract the attention buyers. Still, even if you get it right, more or less half want newsletters and alerts in print to read at their leisure on the commuter train or at home, and half want information via email. Your job will be to find out which half want which.

Put News into Newsletters But Don’t Give Away the Store

A newsletter worth reading may leave the client or prospect with just one new idea or one new piece of information. What kinds of ideas or topics are appropriate? Anything that's new and relevant can be "news"—new market trends, new regulations, new laws, new services that benefit clients, new ways of doing business, strategies for new markets or new opportunities. News about the firm itself may also interest clients, when it is relevant to their businesses. The addition of an e-discovery practice, the opening of a Paris office, the introduction of extranets—these developments can be important to clients.

Few of us have time to spare. A considerate editorial strategy would be to make news stories brief. Readers appreciate news summaries that are no more than two paragraphs in length. Send readers to your Web site or offer a phone number for those who want more detail. If you believe the full story needs to be told, offer an executive summary at the beginning to allow readers to answer the question, "Does this story affect me?" Short summaries lead to (1) reduced internal resistance to writing articles; (2) better stories (Mark Twain—or if you are French, Pascal—once said, "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter."); (3) more interested and appreciative readers (test against your own behavior which items you are most likely to read in your favorite magazines or newsletters); and (4) the distinct possibility that your firm might actually publish on schedule!

Periodicals Should Be Published Periodically

In the magazine or newsletter publishing business, the worst sin is not publishing on time. Yet service firms frequently announce quarterly newsletters with a grand splash in the first issue, and then get only one more issue out that year or, even worse, never publish again. If regular newsletters are part of your individual service area marketing plans, then you must deliver on your promise. Otherwise, all your investment is wasted. A publication is a contract between the reader and the publisher. So, before you begin, answer the same questions you would before starting any business: What are our goals and strategies? How many resources do we have? Do we have management support? If any answers come up short, do not even start. There are other ways to keep in touch with your clients and prospects that may work better for your firm.

Develop a Voice

You may not even realize that your favorite publications keep your allegiance and command your affection because they have developed a voice you admire or like. Consider The New Yorker, Atlantic, Metropolitan Home, Vanity Fair or Forbes. All magazines that lead their markets do so with a strong editorial voice. Let your voice—your personality—come through. Have opinions and a point of view. You will be read. Editing for clarity, power and personality is what good publications do best.