Part of your strategy for staying in touch with your clients and potential clients can be through offering them free information services in the form not of adverts but as pure information.  The three main forms of information offering are reviewed below.

But remember that information services have a "voice" as much as the advertisements that go to your potential customers - it is important to ensure that the voice is consistent.  The voice you offer in your newsletter must be the voice that you create for your advertisements.

It is obvious from a quick reading of the daily newspapers how many different voices there are available - if you don't get the right one, people will simply stop reading.

If I can give just one example - a company that sells information on how to make a fortune out of direct mail sends out a newsletter every fortnight writing to its subscribers with a lot of personalisation.   So my copy always starts, "Tony, today I want to tell you..."  I am sure many people like this - to me it is too strident.  I don't know this guy, but he is treating me as if I am in his private tuition class, and I am aged 15.

If you are passing on information it has to be in the right voice.

1. Reports

2. Newsgroups

3. Websites

1. Reports

Writing reports on key issues and passing them on to those who really appreciate them will enhance your reputation and can also bring in reasonable amounts of money - even if the charge for each report is modest.

For samples of a range of articles and reports on direct mail see the Direct Mail articles on our Postal news website.  Some are offered free, others are for sale, usually at £5 or £10 a time. 

For further information reports please also see Key Articles on the Hamilton House website.

2. Newsgroups

Newsgroups are the most stunningly under-used, stunningly effective means of communicating your wares and ideas to those willing to listen.

In essence, every time you write to your potential customers and existing customers you include a page which talks about your newsgroup.   This will be a regular email (once a day, once a week, once a month - whatever is right for you) in which you talk about issues of relevance to your customers.

So if you are selling science software for the classroom, you will cover all matters relating to science in terms of syllabus changes, new ideas, new products, teacher comments etc.  In between the news reporting you add the occasional advert from yourself.

An example of such a service within direct marketing is the Education Marketing newsgroup formed in 2001 and now with over 1000 subscribers.

Subscription is free - you just join by sending an email to education--marketing-subscribe@yahoogroups.com  - and subscribers can leave at any time by sending the same message with unsubscribe at the end instead of subscribe.

If you have not seen such a news service in operation then you can always subscribe for a while.  You might find the news interesting and helpful, but even if not you will see a way of making the service work.   But do stay with it for a week or two - just reading one day's items will not give you an idea of the full width of what can be achieved.

If you are looking for an example for teachers you should subscribe to Secondary Education Management News as an example.   Here there is once again news, but occasionally interspersed with advertising.   To subscribe send an email to secondaryednews@schools.co.uk with the word subscribe in the subject line.  (There is also a primary edition - primaryednews@schools.co.uk) 

The reason the two services have different sign up approaches is because they use different software - there is always some variation, but the approach is the same.

Hamilton House has a team that specialises in gathering news information for educational news groups and if you are interested in setting up such a group yourself, but need help in running the journalism or the software, please do call 01536 399 000

Other news groups that we operate include:

a) DMS - the world's largest direct mail news group.  About 5 emails a week on average.  To join send an email to direct-mail-secrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

b) CreativeDirect - a running commentary and debate on the ways to raise response rates in direct mail.  About 3 emails a week.  To join send an email to creativedirect-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

c) Marketing Minute - a weekly commentary which takes a broader view of direct marketing.  No discussion - just a weekly penetrating article.   Marketingminute-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 

In all cases you will receive a confirmation message.  Just click "reply" without changing the text and you will be a member.  To leave just send a message from the same email address but substitute "unsubscribe" for "subscribe" in the address.  Again you will get a confirmation message - reply and you will be out.

.3. Websites

Websites can be an interesting source of information - providing of course that you can ensure that people will visit your site. 

Just telling people that the site is good and you should go there, is not enough.  You need to make them feel a need to visit - and indeed a need to go back over and over again.

To take one example, visit www.schools.co.uk - a site which gets around 800 hits a day.  Many of the visitors are attracted by the links we have to every school in the country - often to the school's own website.

Below are details of some other sites that we have established that are related to education.

SPECIALIST SITES CONCERNING SELLING TO SCHOOLS AND  PARENTS (sponsored by the School of Educational Administrators)