	Frimtech customers
<<Add Date>= >	Volume 1, Number 1
“Make sure you don’t lose the customers you’ve spent so much energy to acquire.” Keep these things in mind for a newsletter with impac= t: · Use big headlines. · Make your articles short and to the point.= · All information should be of value to the customer.	Staying in Touch with Customers Often businesses spend as much time and effort gath= ering new customers as they do on anything else. It’s also one of the most costly functions of doing business. So it’s important to make sure = you don’t lose the customers you’ve spent so much energy to acqui= re. The alternative is to continue with the time-consuming process of finding= new customers from an ever shrinking pool of prospects. And since it costs mu= ch less to keep existing customers instead of constantly replacing them, it = just makes good business sense to do what it takes to keep them coming back. Regular communication with your customers lets them= know how much you value them and their business. Show them you care by offering valuable information such as tips on how to utilize your products and services more effectively, event announcements, information on upcoming n= ew products and expanded services, and special discounts on existing ones. E-Mail Newsletters—Quick, Easy Utilizing an e-mail newsletter can be an effective, low-cost method for staying in touch with your customers. It helps reduce churn and can easily generate more business from customers you’ve already spent a great deal of effort to win. Since there are no mailing a= nd printing costs involved, it’s also very gentle to your bottom-line. Another benefit is the almost instantaneous delivery e-mail affords you. = You don’t have to worry whether the post office will get the newsletter= to your customers in time for them to take advantage of a special offer. Microsoft Office makes it simple to create and send= a powerful e-mail newsletter for maximum impact. Customers will appreciate = the regular communication and you’ll be rewarded with more business from your existing customer base. Create a Customized Template Add your co= mpany logo, change the colors to reflect the ones your business uses, put in yo= ur business address, phone numbers, Web site address—in other words develop a basic template reflecting your company’s look that will s= tay the same for each issue. It’s a good idea to use the Web Layout view (= View\Web Layout) when creating = your newsletter. That’s the look your customers will be seeing when they receive your e-mail.
Here’s an easy way to use text you've already form= atted as the basis for a new paragraph, character, or list style: 1. Select the text, choose Format\ Styles and Formatting, and click New Style. You’ll see all your new style characteristics displayed. 2. Name your new style, check the Add to Temp= late box, and click OK. Company Name Street Address Address 2 City, ST ZIP Code Phone: (413) 555-0111 Fax: (413) 665-0122 E-mail: xxxxx@frimtech.com= We’re on the Web! www.frimtech.com	Fonts Choose the fonts you will be using for headlines an= d body text. A good rule is to never use more than 2-3 fonts in your newsletter.= Any more becomes confusing, making your efforts look less professional. Be creative with the ones you do choose. Utilize different sizes and colors, using bold and italics to add variety without confusing the look of your newsletter. You can add these custom styles to your template’s style palette so they are instantly available. Finally, delete any features you won’t be usi= ng. Once you are done with these general changes, save the result as a Word template. Add Articles and Graphics One di= stinct difference between a printed newsletter and an e-mail version is the amou= nt of text to include. Unless you know all your readers will be interested i= n a longer version, you should keep the amount of information to around 1,000 words or less. Anything more becomes tiresome to read in an online format= and you may lose their interest before they read the items you really want th= em to see. What to Include Some items to think about including might be new em= ployee introductions, recent awards presented to your company, specials and discounts on products or services, new product announcements, and informa= tion on new ways to take advantage of your products or services. Don’t i= nclude items that might only be of interest to a few customers, you want to capt= ure and hold the interest of as many readers as possible. Add Graphics Add graphics and/or pictures with captions to help = break up the text and create some visual interest. But make sure whatever you a= dd relates to the adjacent text. A picture of the company dog might be cute,= but if the story surrounding it is about a new product the picture will only serve to confuse your readers. Contact Information Be sure to include contact information in more than= one place. Not only should it be part of your master template, you should inc= lude “For more information…” contacts in every article where it’s appropriate. Don’t make your customers hunt for the info= rmation; chances are they won’t take the time. Web Links Include links to the company Web site wherever you = can. Be sure to update the site to include the information you are referring t= hem to. It’s easy to include hyperlinks in your newsletter that will ta= ke customers right to your Web site or get them started with an e-mail to yo= ur sales staff. Proofread When you’ve completed your newsletter, itR= 17;s time for one of the most important steps of all—proofreading. Go ba= ck through every article, headline, caption, and callout. Take several passes through the material, looking for different things each time.