Show your prospects how you solve problems, and turn them into paying clients

By Marty Marsh

In the early days of the Internet an e-mail newsletter was a novelty. Today, just 
about every coach, consultant and business owner publishes one. In fact, chances 
are that right now your own e-mail box is full of several unread newsletters.

Why are they unread? Surely they must have promised some value at one time or 
you would never have signed up. 

The truth is that you--just like your own readers--just don't have the time to slog 
through all the useless stuff you find in most newsletters. You know that somewhere 
there is a really great kernel of truth, but you don't have time to find it. 

You hear over and over again that if you want prospects to read your newsletter, 
you must give them valuable content, and that's true. But your newsletter isn't just 
for disseminating useful information. It really serves one main purpose and that is 
to get you more paying clients. 

Would a promotional newsletter bring you more clients?

It can if you keep this one thought in mind: to have any impact on your readers at 
all--and to make them want to contact you--every article must focus entirely on 
their needs and problems.

So how do you write effective articles that not only inform but also make your 
prospective clients want to do business with you? Keep the following points in 
mind while writing your own articles and you're sure to attract more clients.

1. Your readers are pressed for time and want their problems solved. Now. Every 
newsletter article must grab your reader's interest quickly, state clearly that you 
understand what problems they're facing, convince them that you have the solution, 
and then induce them to take immediate action to contact you so you can start 
solving their problems.

2. Every article must offer value to your reader. We hear this again and again but 
what does it mean? To offer value, an article must directly address a problem that 
the reader has. Let's face it, we all read newsletters because we're hoping there 
will be at least some nugget of information that will solve our problems and make 
our lives better.

To make sure your articles have value, look all around you. Pay attention to the 
questions that come up while working with your clients. Chances are that others 
also share the same problem or dilemma and would benefit from how you solved 
this problem for someone else.

For example, a client is paralyzed with fear when it comes to making follow-up 
marketing phone calls. You help her minimize her fear by being better prepared 
for the calls by creating a script to follow. You now have the basis for a 
newsletter article by showing your readers step-by-step how to write telemarketing 
scripts and how this will instill confidence because they will never be at a loss 
for words on the phone.

3. Your newsletter can help build trust and credibility. As a professional coach or 
consultant you are confident that you can help solve the problems your prospective 
clients face, if only they knew you could. But most prospects are going to be very 
skeptical, and rightly so.

As your prospects read each issue, they will begin to recognize you as an authority 
and will come to respect your problem-solving skills. When they decide to hire a 
coach or consultant, you'll be the one they turn to because they will feel they 
already know you and understand how you think and work.

One of the best ways to build trust through your newsletter is to include 
testimonials and case studies about how you've successfully helped solve problems 
for others. 

For instance, if your client has successfully increased their monthly sales by 20%, 
tell your readers how this increase in sales came about. Outline the steps you and 
the client took to reach the goal. (And don't worry about "giving away" too much 
information. You want to illustrate clearly that you are a problem solver.) Then, 
with permission of the case study subject, make it easy for your prospects to 
contact them directly for their own testimonial about how you helped them.

4. Tell your reader what to do next. You've now provided some really excellent 
information about solving problems, but don't expect your readers to figure out on 
their own what to do next. They aren't likely to take any action unless you tell 
them what to do. Remind them that if they are facing a similar problem--or if they 
know someone else who is--you are available to help. Then tell them exactly how 
they can make immediate contact with you.