Newsletters will help you keep in touch with your alumni.

All of us would like to have repeat customers but by their very nature some of our businesses and services do not lend themselves to repeat customer. For example, one of my clients sells health insurance for only one company. Once you buy, you are not likely to buy from them again. In order for that person to be a repeat customer, you basically want them to remain on board for life.

A good way to keep the customer and have repeat business is to provide timely information about your business. The easiest way to do this is to create a newsletter that is sent out at least monthly. A newsletter is a tool for creating awareness about what the person has purchased and to inform them of new items that are available.

If you go to most websites, they will offer you the option of joining their email list for their newsletter. Joining a newsletter can be a bit of a problem. It is sometimes difficult to tell whether you will be getting information or advertising hype. Take a look at some of the newsletters that are being offered. You should be able to read some of the back issues to get a taste of the format and the usefulness of what they offer.

If you will be printing your newsletter and distributing it via mail, make sure that you are giving out what the market wants. Printing costs can be high but if you are successful and the newsletter is well received, you can offer both print and electronic versions. Make sure you have the subscription base and the budget to do the mailings. If you send out 65 newsletters each week the costs are very reasonable, but once the letter gets very popular you will need to have extra income to cover the costs. If not, you should switch to electronic format.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people