Marketing: what do your clients need?
To really fill your clients' needs, "you must start thinking about your clients' strategies." How can you help them satisfy their customers or clients? Don't just give your readers information; help them succeed.

Find out what publications your clients read. What valuable information and tips do those publications provide? What do those publications fail to provide? What content can you provide that they don't already get? How frequently do they want it?

How can you discover the answers to those questions? Ask your clients, individually or in representative groups.

You may have to segment your clientele and offer more than one newsletter, if they are a diverse lot with diverse needs. "Many law firm newsletters don't succeed because lawyers try to use one newsletter to serve all their clients," Zwicker says. "People are too busy to search out information in a general-purpose newsletter when they want specific information."

Usually it's better to devote your limited resources to producing one excellent newsletter, for a narrow segment of your clientele, than to produce a broad newsletter for all clients. Otherwise, you "dilute the information and you produce a mediocre newsletter."

Developing a Plan
Many firms jump into newsletter publishing without a full appreciation of the challenges they face. "A successful newsletter is a major publishing venture and not a moonlight promenade," Zwicker says at the beginning of the second chapter. You need talent and you need a plan.

Aside from that solid advice, the second chapter, "Developing a Newsletter Marketing Plan," is among the few weak ones in this book.

Developing content
Zwicker repeats his mantra again and again: "You must continually ask, 'What do our clients need and want? What do we need to tell our clients to help them with their problems?'"

Most readers want serious information to help them identify problems, take advantage of opportunities, and be more productive and happy.

You always must be on your toes to find mateiral and stories. Above all, keep in touch with your clients for information that may interest them. Spend time on the telephone asking clients what they think of your newsletter.

Balance serious, heavy stories with lighter human-interest stories. Write about your clients. Tell their success stories, problem-solution stories.

You can...use your newsletter to welcome new clients and describe what they do. This gives your clients an opportunity to network with [each other].

Your newsletter probably will not feature hard, breaking news. You'll have to get deep into the news to analyze and interpret what's already been reported in daily and weekly media; tell readers exactly how the news affects them.

Budgeting, production & distribution
"Most readers want it short and pithy," Zwicker says in Chapter 4. "Smart marketers take a minimalist tack and limit their publications to one or two 8.5 x 11 inch pages.

Stick with this length unless you have solid reasons for going beyond this number. You will find your readers want quick, readable bits of advice. The longer your newsletter, the fewer readers you will have.

Zwick intelligently addresses the issues of frequency, circulation, paper size, and distribution methods. He breaks down production and distribution costs to help you create a budget for a printed newsletter.

How to write well
Zwicker gives good writing tips: get right to the core of your message, use strong nouns and verbs, use active voice, be crystal clear and unambiguous, write in first person (but don't overuse "I") and second person ("Remember, you are writing a letter to a reader").

If the story is too long (over a thousand words), break it into two or more stories, or break out a sidebar.

The volunteer editor
"Unfortunately," Zwicker leads off Chapter 7, "among the dullest and poorest newsletters are those published by law firms." Why?

"The default editor job usually falls to a lawyer or staff person untrained in journalism and writing." If you don't have a person with such training on staff, engage a freelancer.

One of the most difficult tasks for an editor, whether in-house or outside, is motivating the contributing authors.

You must use creative ways to motivate them to write. If you have an expert from whom you would like an article, the direct approach may not work. Instead, ask the superstar to suggest an author for an article on which you know that superstar is the expert. Often the ego of the superstar will take over and he or she will do the article.

Getting articles from firm volunteers requires more than ego massaging. You must also provide editorial advice, direction, and follow-up. When you get a commitment for an article, stay in touch with the contributor.

Compelling headlines
Chapter 8, which tells how to write "hook 'em" headlines, is excellent. Zwicker's advice includes the following:

• Promise a benefit. For example, "25 Ways to Save on Your Tax Return."
• Promise to solve a problem.
• Use a news slant. For example, "How the New Tax Cahnges Will Affect Your Business." A news-slant headline often uses words like new, announcing, launch, and breakthrough.
• Grab attention. Startle your readers! For example, "Biggest Win Ever."
• Suggest human interest. "An Inside Look at the Real John Smith."
• Use tried-and-true verbiage, including: results, guarantee, love, money, proven, benefit, free, save, safe, how to.

Good design
The four chapters on design offer good, solid fundamentals. I wonder where Zwicker got all this expertise -- he doesn't attribute any of the design information and tips to any real designers.

He provides several sample newsletters, layout templates, nameplates, and mastheads, none of which inspire.

Nitpicking
One shortcoming: When Zwicker attributes information to or quotes another source, he rarely gives source information. For the Inc. magazine quotes at the top of this review, he did not say which article or which issue of the magazine they appeared in. Several times he says "studies show" or "experts tell us," without citations or footnotes. In a few cases, source notes are needed to support a dubious assertion, like the following:

Some experts estimate that the use of a second color can increase readers by as much as threefold.

Despite this and few other minor flaws, Successful Client Newsletters will get the beginner into the swing of newsletter publishing, and will help experienced editors improve their publications.

About the author
Milton W. Zwicker is the managing partner of Zwicker Evans & Lewis, an Ontario law firm. His practice is restricted to business and commercial law and estate planning. He is the author of several articles and books on the subject of law firm management, and he is a member of the editorial board of Law Practice Management magazine (ABA).