{"id":22256,"date":"2020-05-28T09:57:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T13:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smarttan.com\/news\/?p=22256"},"modified":"2020-05-28T09:57:21","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T13:57:21","slug":"old-school-customer-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/","title":{"rendered":"Customer Relations: Old-school style"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all!<\/p>\n<p>But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level.<\/p>\n<p>These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you.<\/p>\n<p>I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages.<\/p>\n<p>I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it.<\/p>\n<p>I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale.<\/p>\n<p>I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. Often times I\u2019ll try and tie in \u201cTrivial Trivia\u201d to the current time of year, like St. Patrick\u2019s Day jokes in a March email blast. The objective is to have customers actually look forward to reading your emails, which I only send every four to six weeks on average.<\/p>\n<p>When customers can joke about your email blasts and comment on them, you know you\u2019ve turned a customer into a friend of your business. If they can relate to your business and discuss it with you, you have succeeded. Create a \u201cfamily\u201d of friends, rather than treating your customers like another number. If your email blasts are friendly and familiar, you\u2019re sure to increase your salon\u2019s following.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Customer Relations: Old-school style - Smart Tan News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis  Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all!  But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level.  These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d  And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you.  I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages.  I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it.  I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale.  I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. Often times I\u2019ll try and tie in \u201cTrivial Trivia\u201d to the current time of year, like St. Patrick\u2019s Day jokes in a March email blast. The objective is to have customers actually look forward to reading your emails, which I only send every four to six weeks on average.  When customers can joke about your email blasts and comment on them, you know you\u2019ve turned a customer into a friend of your business. If they can relate to your business and discuss it with you, you have succeeded. Create a \u201cfamily\u201d of friends, rather than treating your customers like another number. If your email blasts are friendly and familiar, you\u2019re sure to increase your salon\u2019s following.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Customer Relations: Old-school style - Smart Tan News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis  Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all!  But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level.  These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d  And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you.  I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages.  I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it.  I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale.  I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. Often times I\u2019ll try and tie in \u201cTrivial Trivia\u201d to the current time of year, like St. Patrick\u2019s Day jokes in a March email blast. The objective is to have customers actually look forward to reading your emails, which I only send every four to six weeks on average.  When customers can joke about your email blasts and comment on them, you know you\u2019ve turned a customer into a friend of your business. If they can relate to your business and discuss it with you, you have succeeded. Create a \u201cfamily\u201d of friends, rather than treating your customers like another number. If your email blasts are friendly and familiar, you\u2019re sure to increase your salon\u2019s following.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Tan News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SmartTan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-28T13:57:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Smart-Tan-Logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"smarttannews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmartTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SmartTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"smarttannews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"smarttannews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/722dc7049af55e0ed743d67ce9ed4819\"},\"headline\":\"Customer Relations: Old-school style\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-28T13:57:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/\",\"name\":\"Customer Relations: Old-school style - Smart Tan News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-28T13:57:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all! But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level. These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you. I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages. I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it. I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale. I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. 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Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all!  But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level.  These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d  And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you.  I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages.  I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it.  I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale.  I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. Often times I\u2019ll try and tie in \u201cTrivial Trivia\u201d to the current time of year, like St. Patrick\u2019s Day jokes in a March email blast. The objective is to have customers actually look forward to reading your emails, which I only send every four to six weeks on average.  When customers can joke about your email blasts and comment on them, you know you\u2019ve turned a customer into a friend of your business. If they can relate to your business and discuss it with you, you have succeeded. Create a \u201cfamily\u201d of friends, rather than treating your customers like another number. If your email blasts are friendly and familiar, you\u2019re sure to increase your salon\u2019s following.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Customer Relations: Old-school style - Smart Tan News","og_description":"By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis  Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all!  But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level.  These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d  And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you.  I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages.  I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it.  I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale.  I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. Often times I\u2019ll try and tie in \u201cTrivial Trivia\u201d to the current time of year, like St. Patrick\u2019s Day jokes in a March email blast. The objective is to have customers actually look forward to reading your emails, which I only send every four to six weeks on average.  When customers can joke about your email blasts and comment on them, you know you\u2019ve turned a customer into a friend of your business. If they can relate to your business and discuss it with you, you have succeeded. Create a \u201cfamily\u201d of friends, rather than treating your customers like another number. If your email blasts are friendly and familiar, you\u2019re sure to increase your salon\u2019s following.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/","og_site_name":"Smart Tan News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SmartTan","article_published_time":"2020-05-28T13:57:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":520,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Smart-Tan-Logo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"smarttannews","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SmartTan","twitter_site":"@SmartTan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"smarttannews","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/"},"author":{"name":"smarttannews","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/722dc7049af55e0ed743d67ce9ed4819"},"headline":"Customer Relations: Old-school style","datePublished":"2020-05-28T13:57:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/"},"wordCount":638,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/","name":"Customer Relations: Old-school style - Smart Tan News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-28T13:57:21+00:00","description":"By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms \u2013 it\u2019s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all! But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here\u2019s why: It\u2019s the only format that let\u2019s my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It\u2019s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level. These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more then an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you\u2019re nothing more than the latest Groupon \u201cDeal of the Day.\u201d And they only come back to you year after year when they know and like you; they feel like family, not just a customer. Take the time to write regular emails from the heart, like you would to a friend, and talk about your business. Tell them what\u2019s new, what\u2019s going well and let them start to feel your personality. This is where they start to bond with your business. It\u2019s harder then it sounds, because writing meaningful, interesting emails isn\u2019t easy. It takes time and thought and has to come from you. I write in \u201clong copy\u201d style. This is an old-school method that seems to have fallen out of favor today and replaced with \u201cshort copy,\u201d where you state your point quickly in as few lines as possible. Here\u2019s what I believe: If what you have to say isn\u2019t relevant and interesting to the reader, they won\u2019t make it to the fifth sentence. However, if what you have to say is relevant and interesting to them, they\u2019ll read five pages. I send my emails in plain text style, just like you\u2019d receive from a friend. I have experimented with graphic, formatted, newsletter types of emails, but found that my subscriber rate dropped. I always start my emails with a numbered, one-line list that previews the four or five topics I\u2019m going to talk about. So if a reader is only interested in one of the topics on the list, they can go straight to it. I write a majority of the article based on what is going on at my salon and then briefly discuss the specials for the month. You absolutely can use your emails to sell, just respect your customers and don\u2019t make it all about the sale. I often end with \u201cTrivial Trivia,\u201d something that has nothing to do with our business but hopefully leaves my customers smiling. Often times I\u2019ll try and tie in \u201cTrivial Trivia\u201d to the current time of year, like St. Patrick\u2019s Day jokes in a March email blast. The objective is to have customers actually look forward to reading your emails, which I only send every four to six weeks on average. When customers can joke about your email blasts and comment on them, you know you\u2019ve turned a customer into a friend of your business. If they can relate to your business and discuss it with you, you have succeeded. Create a \u201cfamily\u201d of friends, rather than treating your customers like another number. If your email blasts are friendly and familiar, you\u2019re sure to increase your salon\u2019s following.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/old-school-customer-relations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Customer Relations: Old-school style"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/","name":"Smart Tan News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#organization","name":"Smart Tan","url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/smarttan.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Smart-Tan.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smarttan.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Smart-Tan.png","width":500,"height":164,"caption":"Smart Tan"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SmartTan","https:\/\/x.com\/SmartTan"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/722dc7049af55e0ed743d67ce9ed4819","name":"smarttannews","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0189f76465f47ce293287354f8076bfdb83130e65538eb34fcd2cd44e9f0e53?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0189f76465f47ce293287354f8076bfdb83130e65538eb34fcd2cd44e9f0e53?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0189f76465f47ce293287354f8076bfdb83130e65538eb34fcd2cd44e9f0e53?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"smarttannews"},"url":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/author\/smarttannews\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22256"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23454,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22256\/revisions\/23454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.smarttan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}