By Margie Dana

I'm currently a blogger for Printing Impressions' site at www.piworld.com. Here's one of my posts from a little while ago.

If I did a survey of all US printing firms, I'll bet you anything that the majority of them don't have a customer newsletter. Talk about a wasted opportunity to shine. Printers hear “newsletter” and think, “too much work, nothing to say, who'd read it, who's got the time?” I, on the other hand, think “must-do, great prospecting piece, perfect educational tool for customers, tons of ways to use it, and easy as pie.”

This post is for all of you who don't have a customer newsletter. Here are 30 reasons why you should start one.

1.	It's a way to communicate regularly with customers & prospects
2.	To build your database of prospects
3.	To deliver something analog and digital (post it on your site once it's mailed); email it, too
4.	To provided valuable information
5.	To keep your firm top-of-mind
6.	To announce innovative processes, products or technologies
7.	Because you have plenty of valuable content
8.	It's a professional, acceptable way to engage with customers & prospects
9.	You can include a feedback mechanism to encourage dialogue
10.	By demystifying the manufacturing process, you make working with you more effective and less intimidating
11.	You can include promotional copy, too. Just not at the expense of information
12.	You can feature new employees
13.	You can feature customers
14.	You can keep customers ahead of the curve
15.	You can include testimonials from other customers
16.	You can include images of knock-yer-socks-off pieces you've produced
17.	You can share news of awards you've received
18.	Because your competitors might be sending newsletters
19.	You can repurpose content in umpteen ways: in tweets, on FB, on LinkedIn, in your blog, in email sales tips, etc.
20.	Posted newsletters keep your web site fresh
21.	You can run contests in it
22.	You can have guest articles
23.	Because your newsletter can be short or long – it's up to you
24.	Because an educated customer feels empowered – and grateful to you
25.	It will complement the information your sales reps are telling customers
26.	It's a way to let your corporate personality shine through
27.	Good content gets shared, so your reputation will grow
28.	It's something to tweet about
29.	It's a place where you can address common customer issues and concerns
30.	It's a lot easier than you think

There you are. Now, get on it! Make a customer newsletter one of your 2011 resolutions. Get in touch if I can help with strategizing or content development. After all, I've been doing this e-newsletter since 1999.

© 2011 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. Your comments are encouraged. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.