Case History: The Newsletter for Firms in Crisis
Let’s say your business’ reputation has been damaged by negative Internet posts. Or maybe your company is facing thousands of recalls of baby products.
Who you gonna call?
Well, you can start with Jonathan Bernstein, a former military intelligence professional with experience in journalism and corporate public relations. Bernstein created and ran the first crisis communication group in a major PR agency.
In 1994, he left his job and is now drawing on his expertise in damage control to dig others out of holes. He works with hundreds of companies worldwide, picking up the pieces to avoid corporate image damage, interruption of business, hostage situations, or threats—to life or property.
One of his personal marketing tools is his e-newsletter, Crisis Manager. “It keeps my name out there between crisis’,” Bernstein says in regards to the publication with a direct circulation of over 4,000 and readership of over 14,000.
He attributes the 10,000 difference between distribution and readership to “big time pass along.” “A company’s CEO may get it, but then he passes it off,” he says. “I have clients that make management read it.”
Growing the List
Bernstein first sent the e-newsletter in February 2000. Readership grew through word of mouth and others who became aware of the e-zine through PR, Bernstein’s writing outside of the newsletter and his public speaking engagements. The biggest challenge was that initial push to get the word out.
“I started with my own client network and went from 400 readers to 4000,” Bernstein says. “It really took off on its own when people started passing it on and doing reprints.”
The subscription list is now growing at a rate of about 50 to 75 names per month. Readers opt in on The Crisis Manager Web site, and Bernstein takes advantage of the e-zine’s pass-along value by adding opt-in instructions in the newsletter. And his article reprint requests are granted with the requirement that the reprint include his URL, leading people to his home page. “What I wanted to do from the get-go was to make the Web site a crisis management resource and to develop my reputation,” he says.
Newsletter Advantages
There are several advantages to Bernstein’s e-newsletter. “It puts me under the nose of potential clients twice a month and has resulted in my Web site being ranked two or three on Google under all key terms where I want to be found,” he says. Bernstein chalks up his Google ranking to almost 1,900 mentions of the word crisis management within his site.
Unsubscribers automatically receive an e-mail generated by Lyris Service, Bernstein’s service vendor. Those e-mails state that the e-newsletter is sorry to lose them; yet, it is understood that people have reasons which lead them to unsubscribe.
The letter then asks why the subscriber is leaving. According to Bernstein, unsubscribes generally fall into one of three categories. Some are individuals who are no longer working in a field where they would find the information useful. Others get too many e-mail newsletters. And some simply moved and didn’t forward their e-mail. “I have a very low bounce rate—about 23 per issue,” Bernstein says. “The delivery rate is about 99 percent.”
Tracking and Learning
Bernstein doesn’t specifically track newsletter open or click through rates, but his site tracking will tell him if a visitor has come through the newsletter. Pass along readership and other things, are tracked by asking readers to respond to a questionnaire. For their response, they receive a free crisis management manual.
Bernstein also surveys his readers on how they would like the newsletter delivered. Based on their responses, he delivers the e-newsletter in text because readers have said that it’s quicker and easier to read. The archive version is available in HTML.
Another key piece of information Bernstein has garnered from his readers is to target the release of the e-newsletter for the first and fifteenth of the month. But he won’t mail if either of those days falls on a weekend or a holiday because surveys have shown that correspondence tends to get buried in in-boxes, and is less likely to be read and more likely to get dumped on those days.
Bernstein pens 80% of the newsletter himself, and 20% is written by guest authors. There are usually two articles on crisis related subjects—a case history, analysis of current news event, or tips for crisis management—and reviews of relevant books, tapes or training manuals.
Making Money
“I don’t take advertising,” Bernstein says. “But my e-newsletter generates business with a big-time ROI. Between my newsletter and my Web site it’s phenomenal.”
Aside from his time, which occupies approximately 4-5 hours a month, Bernstein says the cost of the e-newsletter is about $50.00 for distribution.
After the feature articles, Bernstein advertises his books, CD-ROMs and other products through his “Blatant Self Promotion. ” This generates a side income of $12,000 to $15,000 per year.
Spam doesn’t seem to pose a problem for Bernstein who relies on Lyris’ spam potential analyzer. But he also says the fact that his e-newsletter has “technically zero potential for spam because it is legitimate. The key thing is that it has my full mailing address and phone number in it—which is apparently important to spam filters.”
The Crisis Manager gives readers, clients and potential clients a good sense of who he is, Bernstein says.
“The greatest compliment that I’ve received from subscribers is that they say, “We feel like we already know who you are before we talk to you,” he continues. “That’s what brings in business. It’s all about personal relationships, which is exactly what I wanted to accomplish.”
