One valuable continuity program for Information Marketers is the paid newsletter. With this type of program, you will publish and deliver a monthly newsletter along with an audio CD to your subscribers. This is a physical newsletter and CD shipped to their mailing address.

Once someone subscribes, you can immediately begin building a relationship with them by giving them a free gift that they can download instantly. If they subscribe on your website, simply put the gift on the thank you page. If they subscribe over the phone or in person, simply tell them the url to visit in order to download the gift. In either case, send an e-mail with the url to the gift just in case they didn’t get it.
Now that you’ve got that relationship started, it’s time to start building that customer loyalty. Here are the top 7 secrets to keeping your subscribers reading each and every month:

1. High Quality Content

Obviously, the content you put in your newsletter and on your CD needs to be focused, specific, helpful and timely. Your paid newsletter should help your subscriber learn something new or solve a problem. Keep the focus on helping them, and give them at least one article that has complete information rather than a teaser to convince them to buy something.

2. Ask

Find out from your subscribers what they want, and give it to them! You can set up a survey on your website or even do it manually, then mention it in your newsletter. Paid subscribers will tell you what they want.

3. You, Revealed

Allow your personality to show through in your paid newsletter. Let your readers know who you are. Share your humor and your insights. Educate them on some of your experiences with the topic of your articles.

4. Service

Customer Service seems like it should go without saying, but it’s so important to your success that it’s included here. When your clients contact you for support, be sure to respond to them within 24 hours. If you have a support staff, respond to them within 2 hours. Always make the effort to look at things from the client’s point of view.

5. Recognize Subscribers

Put a section in your newsletter to highlight subscribers who are doing something special. It could be they’re starting a new project, they reached a goal (especially if it’s due to your teaching), even if they’re setting up a charity event. Tell the subscribers how they can apply to be in the spotlight. People love recognition!

6. Loyalty Gifts

Send your subscribers a gift after they’ve passed the 6 month mark. One of the best gifts to send is a binder, with CD pocket inserts, branded with your company information, for them to store all of their newsletters from you. Then, if you’d like, you can send them a new one each year.

7. The Extra Mile

Take the time to let your subscribers know you care about them and their success. Send them cards for holidays and birthdays. Set up special gift or very special discounts (VERY special) web pages for them. Make the effort to make them feel special.

Keep in mind: yes, customer loyalty means increased revenue for you, but there’s a more important factor. The longer your subscriber receives your material, the more you will be able to help them achieve their goals, and isn’t that why you’re an Information Marketer?