20 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
20 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Customer wants monthly e-newsletter written for him - what to charge?

by 512 Designs
13 replies
I have a possible client that wants to send out a monthly e-newsletter. He's in the carpet cleaning business. I told him the newsletter could contain various carpeting tips such as what to do when you spill red wine, best way to spot clean a carpet, etc.

He will then tell me when he's having special deals and coupons which I'll add to the newsletters before they go out.

I'm sure I can get someone to write 12 newsletters at one time. Then I'll put them in an autoresponder and we'll be set for the year. But what would be a decent price to charge for this?

How much would I expect to pay for say a 400-500 word newsletter to be written? Any recommendations to use here on the WF? Would like to keep it in the family

Mike
#charge #customer #enewsletter #monthly #written
  • Profile picture of the author beeswarn
    Written or written well? In text or in HTML?

    Either way, have a look at iWriter dot com. 500 words of web copy from a good writer will cost about $10.00. Check fiverr too I guess.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024028].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Eddie Spangler
    You can get carpet cleaning plr for next to nothing. here for example.
    The newsletter would have more impact and increase branding if they owner were to deliver tips on video.
    Signature
    Promise Big.
    Deliver Bigger.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024117].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author David Miller
      As Beeswarn says, written or well written. If you value your client, PLR is going to be a mistake and so are most of the 5-10 buck people.

      If it's going to have value, each article should be written in such a way as to weave your clients expertise throughout. So rather than an article about how to get monkey excrement out of a carpet, it needs to be written to show how your client does it. Better yet, a story about how he did it.

      If his newsletter is just a ramble of info so coupons can ride on it's back, it's not likely to be something his readers will care about.
      Signature
      The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
      -- FRANK SINATRA, quoted in The Way You Wear Your Hat
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024271].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Bredfan
    I do this for several clients, and have been offering this for 3 years...

    I charge $500 up front. For this, I create a nice Constant Contact newsletter template to match the look and feel of their website. CC makes this easy - start with a template and customize. In one case I made two versions and brought paper copies to the client for them to choose. (Doctors are not so technical.)

    Then, I charge $250/month to write and distribute the newsletter and $100 more for each additional newsletter.

    For one client, I also post the newsletter article to their site as a blog post - it's a nice value add that I don't charge for.

    If this is going out to their existing customer list - it MUST be written well. Especially if it is for a local, service-based business.

    These newsletters can bring in a ton of business. Two months ago, one of our newsletter clients used their newsletter to promote a seminar about botox and other cosmetic injectables. I wrote a great article about botox and cosmetic fillers, what to expect, cost, recovery times, etc, and also touted the upcoming seminar. They got 4 new patients from that one email, at an average value of about 1800. Nice. I also do the local SEO for this client - with the newsletter it bills 750 per month. He has no problems at all with that figure - the ROI handles it all.

    Sorry - I'm rambling... For the OP -

    If it were me, I would try to make this a high value service that will also win SEO, PPC Social Media, and perhaps web design business. A company like that could be paying you a grand a month in no time if you do it right.... 12 articles from fivrr and aweber auto blast is not going to yield that result...

    My point is...make this a very real, high value service. Write it yourself if your any good, or hire a real writer to do it. Expect to pay $50-$100 for a very high quality article. Then, charge accordingly.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024279].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author David Miller
      @bredfan - I have no idea why you should apoligize for the length of your reply. First of all it's not all that long and secondly, you could have sold this as a WSO.

      I for one, am glad you chose to share it rather than sell it!
      Signature
      The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.
      -- FRANK SINATRA, quoted in The Way You Wear Your Hat
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024334].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Ronald Nzimora
      Hi 512DEsigns,

      Bredfan has said it all, but let me add my 2 cents.

      Do NOT use PLR ever.

      The reason is simple. You don't know how many others in your clients industry are using it too.

      Imagine then if you do, your client calling you one day fuming over the phone because he just discovered he and his clients mailed the same newsletter content to the same customer database.

      That will definitely sour your relationship with them.

      Here's what I suggest you do.

      Use an outsourcing site like Hire Filipinos - Find Online Workers in the Philippines | EasyOutsource or Hire the best Filipino employees and virtual assistants the Philippines has to offer! to look for good writers.

      Ask them to do a sample of what you want them to write BEFORE you give them the job.

      If you like what you see, then go ahead and hire them.

      Pay them no less than $20 for each one. I hear from my friend who told me about these websites, these guys don't get paid more than $5 for writing an article.

      But I wouldn't do that to them. I'd pay them 4 times what they would ordinarily charge.

      This will make them happy and they'll do the best job they can for you! And if they're good, you've got yourself a reliable offshore worker!

      For 12 newsletters, you can easily charge your client $500 - $1,000 for this service. I know I would.

      I hope this helps.

      Ron
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024512].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Bredfan
    Hehe - thanks, David. I appreciate that very much. :-)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024412].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author beeswarn
    I second the idea of having a real writer write the web copy. But good ones are hard to find and charge real money.

    The O.P. is usually looking for the fastest, easiest way (with the largest consensus from forum members) so I pointed him to iwriter and fiverr
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6024594].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author 512 Designs
      Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone. Especially Bredfan and Ron.

      I agree about the PLR and wasn't considering using it. I do want to find a writer that can write something decent which is also affordable for my client.

      It was mentioned to set up a template newsletter that looks like the client's website. Are graphic newsletters ok to send or is it still better to send plain text ones? I thought it was difficult to get past the spam filters with graphic based newsletters.

      Originally Posted by beeswarn View Post

      The O.P. is usually looking for the fastest, easiest way (with the largest consensus from forum members) so I pointed him to iwriter and fiverr
      I don't remember me asking for the fastest and easiest way (although it's nice when it turns out that way).
      Signature
      Let Me Show You How You Can Turn Your
      Existing PLR CONTENT Into CASH MONEY
      In Dozens Of Different Ways!
      CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6025947].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
    I get all sorts of HTML newsletters. Once the customer opts in then you should be good to go. I get tons of the IM text emails/newsletters and know the drill. However if a real business sent me something like that I would wonder what is wrong with them! The CC stuff looks great and will really stand out.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6025992].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    I would charge him $100 per newsletter either 6 or 12 in advance. Maybe offer 300-500 words of content per newsletter max. Keep it simple.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6025994].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Travis
    I would suggest getting a journalism student from a local university to write your newsletter articles. They love doing articles on different subjects and if you paid them $20 for each article they would be excited.

    I would also make the newletter look similar to your client's website, esp., the header. Create an html version and also a pdf version. This allows the newsletter to be viewed by anyone.

    I had looked into offering newsletters to businesses before and I found if you Google "newsletter niche" then you will find several sites that have newsletters you can sign up for. Sign up for a few that look reputable. This will help you with ideas on what to include in your newsletter. You can even find last year's newletters on some sites for examples.

    A key concept would be to stay within the same niche so you can use the same articles for several clients.

    Michael
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6026957].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Creativegirl
    That's a great gig! I would charge $350 per month and here's why. You are planning the campaign strategy strategy and editorial content, and providing the content too though you may obtain some from the customer. On top of that you're likely managing the broadcast.

    If you wanted to discount you could offer 3/months at $1000 but I would do minimal discounting.

    Good luck with it!
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6027051].message }}

Trending Topics