1. What’s the difference between custom content and the articles included in your lead
nurturing/brand awareness products?
Each of these two classes of products has individual strengths. Our custom content offering is a way
to provide commissioned articles or other material that is created to meet the needs of a specific
customer. If you purchase custom content, you own it. Customers use our content for magazine
articles, web sites, blogs, newsletters, trade show collateral, and more. There are no usage or
licensing restrictions or costs. You can even use our custom content to support lead nurturing
programs of your own.
Our lead nurturing/brand awareness products include some content also. Each package includes
one monthly newsletter article. The difference is that the articles included in these programs are not
specific to your organization. They are relevant to your industry but they are not exclusive. Use of this
content outside of our programs is prohibited unless otherwise agreed.
2. Why is custom content so much more expensive than the generic content in your lead
nurturing/brand awareness products?
Custom content is created specifically for one client, so the cost to research, write, and edit the
content is not spread out across multiple companies. Though the cost for custom content is higher, it
comes with an unlimited use license. After paying for an item such as an article or customer case
study once, our clients have used them as web site content, fulfillment for download requests, trade
shows, magazine articles, and in social media. The also make excellent material for presentment at
conferences, webinars, videos, and slide shows.
3. Who writes this content?
PMC Writing Services and Print/Mail Consultants recruit writers and experts in each industry in which
we have clients. These industry experts assist with identifying appropriate topics and then, under
guidelines supplied by us, they create the articles we use in our lead nurturing/brand awareness
packages. For custom content, we may at times broker a connection between the writer and our
client.
We review all content provided by our industry experts to ensure they meet our standards for quality,
focus, clarity, and voice. We may edit the content to achieve acceptable levels of quality.
In some cases, we create the content ourselves depending on the industry, the topic, and the depth
of experience required.
Unlike some other “newspaper-like” services you may have seen, we do not scour the internet
looking for miscellaneous content written for other publications. Any content we include will be
expressly created for use in our products.
Note that we also don’t include “fluff” pieces like recipes, household hints, or other stories that keep
your busy prospects from finding the information they really value.
4. Can I customize the newsletter articles included in lead nurturing/brand awareness
programs?
The core of the articles in these programs cannot be modified. However, we do make space
available in your newsletter templates to accommodate short introductions or comments you may
provide. If you want to replace our article in its entirety with one of your own, that can be arranged,
given sufficient notice.
Newsletters can also include sections with links back to product pages on your web site, special
announcements, etc.
5. What do the newsletters look like? Can we design our own?
There are certain elements of a newsletter that should be customized to your company such as
corporate colors, logos or other graphics, and perhaps a typeface. We will match your standards as
much as possible. If you have an existing template you want to use we can accommodate most
HTML newsletter layouts. Please contact us directly for more information Note that most commercial
email marketing services prohibit the use of their templates outside of their own service. We will
secure your approval before publishing your first issue.
Unlike the newsletters, e-mails that are included in the automated sequences tend to be short, text-
based messages. Links are included but we do not use graphics in these types of communications.
6. Please explain the differences between your lead nurturing/brand awareness programs.
There are three varieties of programs:
Starter Edition – This program supports brand awareness by publishing monthly newsletters with
relevant, informational content that is distributed to your list of customers and prospects. This is
probably the easiest newsletter program ever. We do all the work! We write the articles, import your
contacts, maintain your database, and show you statistics about email open and clickthrough rates.
Automated Sequence Edition – This program includes all the elements of the Starter Edition, plus
powerful automated sequences designed to move your prospects along in the buying process,
turning more of your leads into buyers. We create landing pages, forms to gather additional
customer/prospect data, and more.
Intelligent Trigger Edition – Our premier program takes automation to a more personalized level. In
addition to the features of the other two programs, the Intelligent Trigger Edition supports PURLS,
and events triggered on customer actions such as downloading certain content or visiting certain
web pages. There is no limit on the amount of automated sequences we can develop and maintain
for you. We’ll also review all your existing content and make recommendations regarding the best
way to use each piece.
7. Which program is best for me?
Unless you’ve been actively working a brand awareness strategy already, we recommend that most
customers start out with the Starter Edition. Once you’ve established a solid reputation with your
customers and prospects as a trusted source of industry knowledge and they are used to receiving
content from you, then move up to the Automated Sequence or Intelligent Trigger Edition. All the
elements developed for one of our programs transfer seamlessly into the more advanced products.
There is no conversion charge to upgrade.
8. What are your cancellation policies?
For custom content, you will be billed for projects that are postponed or cancelled after work has
begun. The amount due is dependent upon the work completed at the point of cancellation.
Research, customer interviews, outlines, writing, and editing all contribute to the delivery of the final
product and will be billed appropriately.
Brand awareness/lead nurturing packages are billed to your credit card monthly, depending upon the
date you signed up. To cancel without additional billing, please notify us at least 7 days prior to your
next billing date. Once your credit card has been charged there are no refunds.
9. What is the length of commitment for lead nurturing/brand awareness packages?
Other than the first month, there is no commitment. Just cancel prior to your next scheduled billing
date to avoid additional charges.
10. What happens to my data once I cancel?
Upon your request for cancellation, we can return your contact data to you in a comma separated
values (CSV) file format and then delete the database from our system. When your program
terminates, all emails, automated sequences, landing pages, or other resources will be deleted.
11. We don’t have a contact list. Do you sell them?
We do not sell email marketing lists. All of our customers must sign a waiver indicating they have
secured permission to send email to all the names you supply us. We’re serious about complying
with SPAM regulations. If you don’t have permission, or you aren’t sure if you do or not, we can send
an initial email out as a permission confirmation process to ensure that we are only mailing to those
individuals on your list who have agreed to get email from you. Read our anti-spam policy.
12. Will the emails look like they came from us or from you?
We can set the “From” line of the email to be any valid email address you specify. Note that some
email clients display the “true” mailer rather than the display value. In these cases, the emails will
include the notation “on behalf of YOUR COMPANY.
13. Do you archive the email newsletters?
At this time we do not archive email newsletters, though this functionality may be added in the future.
For now, we recommend copying the text into a monthly posting on your blog and referring interested
prospects there for past editions. This method also allows for easy sharing on social networking
sites like Twitter or Linked In.
14. What happens if we add a contact between monthly newsletters? Will they get the latest
edition?
Newly added contacts will receive the next scheduled newsletter. To send them a previous version
we recommend using the “Forward to a Friend” functionality or directing them to your blog if you are
archiving newsletter content there. "Forward to a Friend" buttons are not available in the Starter
Edition.
15. Automated sequences often include links to other resources. Where does that content
come from?
We’ll supply you with a list of items that are required for the automated sequences. If you don’t have
appropriate materials, we can create some for you under our custom content service offering. A lack
of content will not impede the implementation of automated sequences. We will simply re-word the
messages until the required content is created.
16. What automated sequences are included in the Automated Sequence Edition?
We will program up to 3 automatic email step sequences:
a. New Prospects added to the file
b. Existing Prospects Long Term Follow-up
c. Customer Long Term Follow-up
Each event in a step sequence is fired a pre-determined number of days since the prior event in the
sequence. We will recommend the basic content of the emails generated from automated
sequences and the timing. Clients may request modifications. The automated sequences included
in the Automated Sequence Edition will consist of no more than 12 steps each.
17. Can we include additional step sequences to our account?
Yes. We can program additional step sequences. Contact us for pricing.
18. How are the automated sequences different in the Intelligent Trigger Edition?
Sequences in the Intelligent Trigger Edition can be date-based, or can be initiated by actions taken
by individual contacts. Contacts can also be automatically moved from one automated sequence to a
different one due to pre-defined triggers. The Intelligent Trigger Edition sequences can also include
tasks, such as reminders to sales people to call certain contacts at pre-defined times. There is an
unlimited number of automated sequences included with the Intelligent Trigger Edition.
19. Can automated sequences include direct mail pieces?
There is an ability to generate on-demand 6 x 9 postcards based upon an automated sequence.
Customers will be charged for postcards. Please call to discuss pricing. Any other type of direct mail
can be arranged with a printing and mailing bureau. Notification and data extraction for the mailing
pieces requires the task functionality found only in the Intelligent Trigger Edition. We can generate
address lists for batch mailings upon request. Please let us know if direct mail is part of your
strategy so we can capture physical addresses when contacts are added to the database.
20. Do you require access to our web site?
Usually not. For all our programs we will supply you with HTML code used to display a mailing list
sign-up form on your site. For the advanced programs there may be other code we supply you to
enable tracking or other functionality. It’s up to you or your web master to incorporate the HTML code
into your web site. Automated Sequence and Intelligent Triggering Editions include hosted landing
pages. Major modifications to your web site are generally not required.
21. Did you develop this program yourselves?
PMC Writing Services and Print/Mail Consultants have developed many of the techniques and
strategies used in our lead nurturing/brand awareness programs. Vendor partners actually
developed the programs and interfaces that make implementation possible.
22. How do I know my customer data won’t be revealed to competitors who may also be using
your programs?
Each of our client’s data, along with newsletters, emails, forms, automated sequences, etc. are
stored in their own database under a separate account. At no time are the accounts or any of the data
in the database ever merged or processed simultaneously.
23. Couldn’t I just use the same vendor partners and do this myself?
There is no reason you couldn’t operate a lead nurturing system yourself. In fact, that’s the way most
commercially-available lead nurturing or automated marketing systems work. But the reason most
small and medium-sized companies struggle with getting the results they want from these systems
is finding the time and the resources to set up and administer the automated sequences, triggers,
contact database segmentations, and other details that are required. Not to mention the need to
create all their own content. We offer a way to get the benefit from lead nurturing/brand awareness by
eliminating these common stumbling blocks.
24. What kinds of results should I expect if I sign up for your services?
The real value in content marketing or brand awareness is cumulative and long term. Many of our
clients also experience some more immediate results such as better customer feedback or re-
connecting with long-lost prospects.
Some benefits we’ve noticed over the longer term are more invitations to speak at events, less time
spent explaining your products to prospects, unsolicited inquiries, and referrals.
With lead nurturing products, the sales results may be a little more concrete. A more active
management of leads should result in more of them buying from you instead of losing their
business to the competition.
nurturing/brand awareness products?
Each of these two classes of products has individual strengths. Our custom content offering is a way
to provide commissioned articles or other material that is created to meet the needs of a specific
customer. If you purchase custom content, you own it. Customers use our content for magazine
articles, web sites, blogs, newsletters, trade show collateral, and more. There are no usage or
licensing restrictions or costs. You can even use our custom content to support lead nurturing
programs of your own.
Our lead nurturing/brand awareness products include some content also. Each package includes
one monthly newsletter article. The difference is that the articles included in these programs are not
specific to your organization. They are relevant to your industry but they are not exclusive. Use of this
content outside of our programs is prohibited unless otherwise agreed.
2. Why is custom content so much more expensive than the generic content in your lead
nurturing/brand awareness products?
Custom content is created specifically for one client, so the cost to research, write, and edit the
content is not spread out across multiple companies. Though the cost for custom content is higher, it
comes with an unlimited use license. After paying for an item such as an article or customer case
study once, our clients have used them as web site content, fulfillment for download requests, trade
shows, magazine articles, and in social media. The also make excellent material for presentment at
conferences, webinars, videos, and slide shows.
3. Who writes this content?
PMC Writing Services and Print/Mail Consultants recruit writers and experts in each industry in which
we have clients. These industry experts assist with identifying appropriate topics and then, under
guidelines supplied by us, they create the articles we use in our lead nurturing/brand awareness
packages. For custom content, we may at times broker a connection between the writer and our
client.
We review all content provided by our industry experts to ensure they meet our standards for quality,
focus, clarity, and voice. We may edit the content to achieve acceptable levels of quality.
In some cases, we create the content ourselves depending on the industry, the topic, and the depth
of experience required.
Unlike some other “newspaper-like” services you may have seen, we do not scour the internet
looking for miscellaneous content written for other publications. Any content we include will be
expressly created for use in our products.
Note that we also don’t include “fluff” pieces like recipes, household hints, or other stories that keep
your busy prospects from finding the information they really value.
4. Can I customize the newsletter articles included in lead nurturing/brand awareness
programs?
The core of the articles in these programs cannot be modified. However, we do make space
available in your newsletter templates to accommodate short introductions or comments you may
provide. If you want to replace our article in its entirety with one of your own, that can be arranged,
given sufficient notice.
Newsletters can also include sections with links back to product pages on your web site, special
announcements, etc.
5. What do the newsletters look like? Can we design our own?
There are certain elements of a newsletter that should be customized to your company such as
corporate colors, logos or other graphics, and perhaps a typeface. We will match your standards as
much as possible. If you have an existing template you want to use we can accommodate most
HTML newsletter layouts. Please contact us directly for more information Note that most commercial
email marketing services prohibit the use of their templates outside of their own service. We will
secure your approval before publishing your first issue.
Unlike the newsletters, e-mails that are included in the automated sequences tend to be short, text-
based messages. Links are included but we do not use graphics in these types of communications.
6. Please explain the differences between your lead nurturing/brand awareness programs.
There are three varieties of programs:
Starter Edition – This program supports brand awareness by publishing monthly newsletters with
relevant, informational content that is distributed to your list of customers and prospects. This is
probably the easiest newsletter program ever. We do all the work! We write the articles, import your
contacts, maintain your database, and show you statistics about email open and clickthrough rates.
Automated Sequence Edition – This program includes all the elements of the Starter Edition, plus
powerful automated sequences designed to move your prospects along in the buying process,
turning more of your leads into buyers. We create landing pages, forms to gather additional
customer/prospect data, and more.
Intelligent Trigger Edition – Our premier program takes automation to a more personalized level. In
addition to the features of the other two programs, the Intelligent Trigger Edition supports PURLS,
and events triggered on customer actions such as downloading certain content or visiting certain
web pages. There is no limit on the amount of automated sequences we can develop and maintain
for you. We’ll also review all your existing content and make recommendations regarding the best
way to use each piece.
7. Which program is best for me?
Unless you’ve been actively working a brand awareness strategy already, we recommend that most
customers start out with the Starter Edition. Once you’ve established a solid reputation with your
customers and prospects as a trusted source of industry knowledge and they are used to receiving
content from you, then move up to the Automated Sequence or Intelligent Trigger Edition. All the
elements developed for one of our programs transfer seamlessly into the more advanced products.
There is no conversion charge to upgrade.
8. What are your cancellation policies?
For custom content, you will be billed for projects that are postponed or cancelled after work has
begun. The amount due is dependent upon the work completed at the point of cancellation.
Research, customer interviews, outlines, writing, and editing all contribute to the delivery of the final
product and will be billed appropriately.
Brand awareness/lead nurturing packages are billed to your credit card monthly, depending upon the
date you signed up. To cancel without additional billing, please notify us at least 7 days prior to your
next billing date. Once your credit card has been charged there are no refunds.
9. What is the length of commitment for lead nurturing/brand awareness packages?
Other than the first month, there is no commitment. Just cancel prior to your next scheduled billing
date to avoid additional charges.
10. What happens to my data once I cancel?
Upon your request for cancellation, we can return your contact data to you in a comma separated
values (CSV) file format and then delete the database from our system. When your program
terminates, all emails, automated sequences, landing pages, or other resources will be deleted.
11. We don’t have a contact list. Do you sell them?
We do not sell email marketing lists. All of our customers must sign a waiver indicating they have
secured permission to send email to all the names you supply us. We’re serious about complying
with SPAM regulations. If you don’t have permission, or you aren’t sure if you do or not, we can send
an initial email out as a permission confirmation process to ensure that we are only mailing to those
individuals on your list who have agreed to get email from you. Read our anti-spam policy.
12. Will the emails look like they came from us or from you?
We can set the “From” line of the email to be any valid email address you specify. Note that some
email clients display the “true” mailer rather than the display value. In these cases, the emails will
include the notation “on behalf of YOUR COMPANY.
13. Do you archive the email newsletters?
At this time we do not archive email newsletters, though this functionality may be added in the future.
For now, we recommend copying the text into a monthly posting on your blog and referring interested
prospects there for past editions. This method also allows for easy sharing on social networking
sites like Twitter or Linked In.
14. What happens if we add a contact between monthly newsletters? Will they get the latest
edition?
Newly added contacts will receive the next scheduled newsletter. To send them a previous version
we recommend using the “Forward to a Friend” functionality or directing them to your blog if you are
archiving newsletter content there. "Forward to a Friend" buttons are not available in the Starter
Edition.
15. Automated sequences often include links to other resources. Where does that content
come from?
We’ll supply you with a list of items that are required for the automated sequences. If you don’t have
appropriate materials, we can create some for you under our custom content service offering. A lack
of content will not impede the implementation of automated sequences. We will simply re-word the
messages until the required content is created.
16. What automated sequences are included in the Automated Sequence Edition?
We will program up to 3 automatic email step sequences:
a. New Prospects added to the file
b. Existing Prospects Long Term Follow-up
c. Customer Long Term Follow-up
Each event in a step sequence is fired a pre-determined number of days since the prior event in the
sequence. We will recommend the basic content of the emails generated from automated
sequences and the timing. Clients may request modifications. The automated sequences included
in the Automated Sequence Edition will consist of no more than 12 steps each.
17. Can we include additional step sequences to our account?
Yes. We can program additional step sequences. Contact us for pricing.
18. How are the automated sequences different in the Intelligent Trigger Edition?
Sequences in the Intelligent Trigger Edition can be date-based, or can be initiated by actions taken
by individual contacts. Contacts can also be automatically moved from one automated sequence to a
different one due to pre-defined triggers. The Intelligent Trigger Edition sequences can also include
tasks, such as reminders to sales people to call certain contacts at pre-defined times. There is an
unlimited number of automated sequences included with the Intelligent Trigger Edition.
19. Can automated sequences include direct mail pieces?
There is an ability to generate on-demand 6 x 9 postcards based upon an automated sequence.
Customers will be charged for postcards. Please call to discuss pricing. Any other type of direct mail
can be arranged with a printing and mailing bureau. Notification and data extraction for the mailing
pieces requires the task functionality found only in the Intelligent Trigger Edition. We can generate
address lists for batch mailings upon request. Please let us know if direct mail is part of your
strategy so we can capture physical addresses when contacts are added to the database.
20. Do you require access to our web site?
Usually not. For all our programs we will supply you with HTML code used to display a mailing list
sign-up form on your site. For the advanced programs there may be other code we supply you to
enable tracking or other functionality. It’s up to you or your web master to incorporate the HTML code
into your web site. Automated Sequence and Intelligent Triggering Editions include hosted landing
pages. Major modifications to your web site are generally not required.
21. Did you develop this program yourselves?
PMC Writing Services and Print/Mail Consultants have developed many of the techniques and
strategies used in our lead nurturing/brand awareness programs. Vendor partners actually
developed the programs and interfaces that make implementation possible.
22. How do I know my customer data won’t be revealed to competitors who may also be using
your programs?
Each of our client’s data, along with newsletters, emails, forms, automated sequences, etc. are
stored in their own database under a separate account. At no time are the accounts or any of the data
in the database ever merged or processed simultaneously.
23. Couldn’t I just use the same vendor partners and do this myself?
There is no reason you couldn’t operate a lead nurturing system yourself. In fact, that’s the way most
commercially-available lead nurturing or automated marketing systems work. But the reason most
small and medium-sized companies struggle with getting the results they want from these systems
is finding the time and the resources to set up and administer the automated sequences, triggers,
contact database segmentations, and other details that are required. Not to mention the need to
create all their own content. We offer a way to get the benefit from lead nurturing/brand awareness by
eliminating these common stumbling blocks.
24. What kinds of results should I expect if I sign up for your services?
The real value in content marketing or brand awareness is cumulative and long term. Many of our
clients also experience some more immediate results such as better customer feedback or re-
connecting with long-lost prospects.
Some benefits we’ve noticed over the longer term are more invitations to speak at events, less time
spent explaining your products to prospects, unsolicited inquiries, and referrals.
With lead nurturing products, the sales results may be a little more concrete. A more active
management of leads should result in more of them buying from you instead of losing their
business to the competition.
Professional - Industry Focused - Experienced
| Copyright 2006-2009 Print/Mail Consultants All rights reserved. |
Professional - Industry Focused - Experienced
| Frequently Asked Questions PMC Writing Services |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
