Done well, the leverage of the old fashioned newsletter can win the hearts and minds of your key referrers. But no one does ‘em anymore because they are too lazy. Great! The stories in your newsletter are a way to uniquely build relationships and let your “Dirty 30” (top 30 referral potentials) know more about you and what you are doing.
Consider these perks of sending out a newsletter for your architecture firm:
- Keeps you front of mind without having to meet every week (leverage)
- Builds your personality and trust (branding)
- Informs about new services or tricks you have learned
- Allows you to educate and non-directly reveal how good you are
- Allows you to provide ideas that they will want to show others
- Gives people something to talk about when you do connect directly–especially when you include personal stories (which you must)
- Make them look forward to the next month’s stories
- Makes them feel connected to you
- Chance to make offers and generate leads and referrals without being being “salesy”
A newsletter on its own won’t necessarily make you a millionaire but it is the backbone of your communication strategy. If these people–your Dirty 30–are truly power referrers then combine a newsletter with a little extra “love” (occasional calls and meeting or social events) and you are in business.
A few more tips for your architecture firm's newsletter
Brand your newsletter with a unique name: make it yours, make it interesting. The front cover is your first impression to make a lasting impression. Use it to connect with the reader by including a personal story. Clients are more likely to hire an architect they have connection with. Make it easy for someone to get in touch with you by including your contact details. Don’t forget to include your company or personal profile.
Write a feature article. It can be on something interesting and doesn't necessarily need to be about architecture. A short article such as “Building of the Month” can be a review of one of your projects or a famous building. (AMI Mastermind members get a monthly call with our content team who write and edit articles for their newsletters. Find examples on architectnews.com.)
Puzzles, crosswords, sudoku or cartoons will increase the “stick factor” of your newsletter. There are plenty of free online tools to help you create puzzles. (Just ask Google.) Quotes are another easy way to fill some space in your newsletter. The hardest part is shortlisting your favorite.
Have a Monkey’s Fist (free offer) visible and easy to get. A major benefit of the hardcopy newsletter is that it might hang around a lot longer than an email or PDF–and so does your offer.