l_brSmart’s client newsletters are customizable. Personalize them as much as you like, with custom articles, news about your firm, and photos!

Frequently Asked Questions

You’ve never used a client newsletter from Smart’s Publishing?

Read on to learn more about how Smart’s client newsletters will help you improve your prospecting and customer service!

How do Smart’s client newsletters differ from other client newsletters?

In writing our newsletters, we take readers—your clients and prospects—seriously.  We respect our (your) readers and try not to write our articles in "sound bites."

The philosophy is simple: we provide great content and let you take the credit. Be sure to read the sample issues on this website. If you'd like more issues to review, contact our sales department at 866-762-7879 .

Why should I use a newsletter?

It’s called brand awareness. A newsletter with your name on the front—containing pertinent current information about your products and services, mailed out regularly— tells a lot about your firm. It says you are service-oriented, an expert in your field, and a dependable service provider. And you’ll reap benefits such as:

  • better client retention
  • new product and service sales
  • better-educated buyers
  • lead generation
  • minimized errors and omissions.

What are some of the ways I can use a newsletter?

 

  • Give everyone in your office copies. They stimulate communications and tell employees that client service is an important part of your company culture.
  • Make the newsletter an integral part of your marketing strategy, by sending them to your clients and prospects. Newsletters help establish a positive image in your prospect's mind, making it easier to begin a series of marketing calls to generate expiration dates or set up sales appointments.
  • Have sales people or account executives circle, highlight or place post-its on articles that pertain to specific clients or prospects, thus heightening the reader's involvement with the newsletter.
  • Have copies of your newsletter in your waiting area.
  • Place them in prospect kits and hand them out at trade events.

Be sure to read 10 Easy Steps to a Successful Client/Prospect Newsletter Program located on this Web site.

How effective are newsletters at creating new business?

A newsletter is a marketing tool. Use it to build awareness and create a sense of reliability and professionalism. Once your newsletter has established a positive image, your calls will be much more productive.

We strongly encourage you to take a long-term outlook on using newsletters as a marketing and customer relations tool. Don't expect overnight results. Over time you'll see the payoff. We are proud to count among the firms who use our newsletters many of the most successful regional and national firms in the country. Many of these firms have been our clients for many years. They are successful not because they use Smart's client newsletters. They are successful because they have a focused business strategy that promotes image, service, and value—and our newsletters communicate this commitment.

How often should I send out newsletters?

Ask yourself this: how often do I want my customers and prospects to think of me? While weekly would be a little overwhelming (and costly), monthly is usually the right frequency. Some of our multi-line insurance clients alternate between our property/casualty newsletter and one of our employee benefits newsletters. By the way, if your mailroom can't always get your newsletter out on time, consider using our mailing service.

How effective are business reply cards (BRCs)?

The short answer is amazingly effective. Our business reply cards are uniquely written for each issue, so that people will be prompted by specific concerns, which generates better response than a general interest prompt. While return rates are often low, conversion rates are outstanding. So the cost/benefit ratio is very much in your favor. BRCs also send a message to your clients that you are eager to hear from them and value their opinion. Click here to read more about business reply cards.

Can you provide an email version of your newsletters?

Yes, we can. But please keep in mind that emailed newsletters do not have the same perceived value as a paper newsletter. When you email your newsletter, if the subject line doesn't compel the reader to open it, it will never be seen. That’s if the spam filter hasn't already sent it to the junk pile.

Conversely, when your client receives your paper newsletter, they will at the very least see your branding on the cover page, handle it, look through it, put it aside for later reading, or pass it on to a colleague. Now you’ve made an impression.

When should I send newsletters by email?

Readers who elect to receive newsletters via email are often people who appreciate and already read your newsletter regularly, so email delivery may be a genuine convenience for them. If your prospect base is quite large, it may be a question of economics. It's certainly cheaper to email 10,000 newsletters than send paper copies. The impact will not be as great as with paper, but the return on investment may justify using email in such a case.

Can I customize my newsletter?

Every Smart's newsletter comes printed with your company's name and logo at the top. Beyond that, we can customize the newsletter as much as you wish to suit your color, paper, and design preferences. We also write custom articles. We can even design a "private label" newsletter especially for your firm.

The costs for these services vary depending on which newsletter you wish to customize and how you wish to customize it. We would be happy to provide an estimate. Please contact Lisa Merriman, sales manager, at 866-762-7879 or lmerriman@smartspublishing.com, and tell her your requirements.

Do you provide mailing services?

We provide fast, easy, and efficient mail services. Simply supply us with your list on disk or via email. (We can easily handle almost any file format.) We will insert your newsletters in #10 envelopes (which you can supply—or we can print them for you for as little as $49 per 1000), address them, affix the postage and take them to the post office. You don’t need to tie up your mailroom, pay for bulk rate service agreements, or fill out the tedious postal service paperwork. If you mail over 500 pieces, we’ll arrange for a postal discount. And if we mail your newsletters, you save on bulk shipping charges. Ask for a mailing services price list.

What is Smart's Publishing Group?

James Whitaker started James Whitaker & Associates in 1988 in San Francisco as a public relations and advertising firm. The firm specialized in the insurance industry, where Whitaker had worked since 1975 as an underwriter, broker, and marketing executive for firms such as the St. Paul, Marsh & McLennan and Design Professionals Insurance Company.

During the '80s, while employed by Arthur J. Gallagher, Whitaker wrote a client newsletter for its San Francisco office customers. This was the origin of the several client newsletters now published by Smart's.

In 1992, James Whitaker & Associates purchased Smart's Insurance Bulletin, started by Art Smart in San Francisco in 1953 to report on the California insurance industry. Soon thereafter, the firm changed its name to Smart's Publishing Group. Since then, Smart's Publishing Group has focused solely on information and marketing tools for the insurance, employee benefits, real estate and title insurance industries.

The principal writers and editors of our various publications are Robynne Whitaker (Insurance Buyers' News, Managing Risk, Employee Benefits and Workers' Compensation News and Employee Benefits Report), Eric J. Adams (Real Estate Digest and Employee Benefits Report), Andrew Goldman (Smart's Insurance Bulletin) and Matthew Heller (Smart's California Workers' Compensation Bulletin). Each is an outstanding journalist with many years of experience writing for our publications. Other key people in the firm include Lisa Merriman, sales manager; Michael Clark, designer; Charissa Black-McKay, graphic design and production; and James Whitaker, CPCU, ARM, publisher.

How do I submit changes for my newsletter?

It is easy to make a change to your newsletter, including quantity changes, address changes or logo/artwork changes. Simply e-mail your instructions with updated text and any new artwork (in EPS or high-resolution JPEG format) to bpotvin@smartspublishing.com. Once Brenda receives and processes your request, you will receive an e-mail confirming your changes and notifying you in which issue the changes will start to appear. If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail within 3-5 days, please contact Brenda to make sure she has received your change.

What is a custom article? How much does it cost?

A custom article is a great way to further personalize your newsletter by providing content that’s unique to your firm. A custom article can cover:

  • Special programs or services that your firm features
  • Producers and CSRs — help customers get to know your people better
  • Niche markets you specialize in
  • Special events or accomplishments by your employees or firm
  • Seasonal greetings and updates on civic sponsorship, involvement in community affairs, etc.
  • Anything that makes your firm stand out and makes people glad to know that you’re taking care of their needs.

You provide the text, and we do the rest -- copy fitting, formatting and providing a proof copy. There are two options for submitting a custom article for your newsletter:

Quick Custom Article—Articles can be up to 200 words, and will be featured on Page 1 in the “This Just In” section of the newsletter. The cost is only $100. Business Class clients receive two free quick custom articles per year! First Class clients receive a free quick custom article every other issue.

Standard Custom Article—Articles can be up to 600 words in length, and will be featured on either Page 1 or Page 4 depending on the layout for that issue. The cost is only $250 per article.

DART? What’s D.A.R.T.?

DART ( Distribution and Response Tracking) will change the way you view e-marketing. DART packages information your clients want to read with sophisticated tools that:

  • Track deliverability
  • Gauge client interest
  • Increase sales opportunities
  • Encourage client communications
  • Reinforce your company branding

Want to see how DART can work for you? Call Lisa Merriman at 1-866-762-7879 for a free, no obligation demonstration.

What other services are available for my newsletter? Am I getting the most BANG for my marketing buck?

Economy Class service provides the basic print newsletter in whatever quantity you need. There are many ways to personalize your newsletter:

  • • Take full advantage of your nameplate area. Use color photos, showcase your logo. Ask our designers for their ideas.
  • Use a directory ad to list all your locations and names of key agents.
  • Customize your newsletter with an accent color that reinforces your firm’s branding.
  • You can also have your newsletter printed as a self-mailer.

Business Class adds a lot of extras and is truly our best-value package. In addition to a high-quality print newsletter, you also get:

  • A PDF version of each issue, including licenses to post the newsletter to your website and to e-mail up to copies per issue.
  • FREE DART distribution for up to 200 transmissions per issue.
  • Two free quick custom articles per issue (a $200 value).
  • Free shipping!

Having a hard time getting those newsletters out on time? Let us help! Our First Class package offers all of the great features of Business Class, plus we do the mailing for you! We offer First Class mailing of all your printed newsletters in either self-mailer format or inserted into your own #10 envelopes.

Also, take a look at how business reply cards can increase sales.

How can I make my newsletter WORK for me?

Want to tap into a wealth of great ideas on how to make your newsletter work for you? Subscribe to our new marketing ideas newsletter, Smart Ideas. Each month you will receive an e-newsletter filled with ideas on how to make your newsletter marketing program even better. We will feature ideas from successful client newsletter programs, tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your newsletter, as well as general customer service and marketing ideas that might be of interest.

What if I want to cancel my newsletter order?

We are always sorry to see our clients leave, but understand that sometimes you need to make adjustments. Before deciding to cancel, please contact us to discuss your order—we may be able to adjust your order so you save money while continuing the communications program your clients and prospects have come to expect. You can reduce quantity, change frequency, send your newsletter electronically or make other adjustments that will still allow you to maintain your newsletter service, albeit reduced, and save money.

If no other option remains, we can put your account on a six-month hold. This allows you to restart your newsletter within six months without having to pay another $150 set-up fee. In addition, your customers will experience only a brief interruption of service; unless you plan to replace your newsletter with another regular form of customer communication, we strongly advise not suddenly discontinuing something that customers have come to expect as part of your value-added service.

Unlike many other newsletter publishers, we do not require a contract. However, we do discourage our clients from “just trying” our newsletter program for only a few months. If you think you cannot commit to sending out a client/prospect newsletter for at least a year, it might be better to wait. When you start a newsletter program, you create an expectation among your clients and prospects that they will receive regular communications from you. When those communications stop, they wonder what happened. Did their business suddenly become less attractive to you? Did your commitment to service change? Are you cutting costs? Or did you go out of business?

That being said, we do realize that a client might have to cancel their newsletter service. If you decide to cancel your newsletter account, we require a 60-day written notice. This can be done via e-mail or fax. As stated before, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to you confirming your cancellation request and letting you know when you will receive your final issue. If you do not receive a confirmation, please contact Brenda Potvin at 866-762-7879 to discuss.

 

Call us now at 866-762-7879 to learn more about why our client newsletters are your best marketing value.

NEWSLETTER SAMPLES

newsletter sample

In creating our newsletters, we take readers—your clients and prospects— seriously. We respect their intelligence by providing useful, relevant information rather than marketing fluff and "sound bytes." The philosphy is simple: we provide great content and let you take the credit...read sample issues.