We have a high value, under used marketing tool – just for you!

That’s right! We have a high value, under used marketing tool for you to use. And it is free. You are reading it now in fact. It is our newsletter.

We put out a weekly newsletter for the entire network to have a look at, read and go over. And you can use it to reach not only the other network members but also the entire internet. Some people think that their news is not interesting to the outside world or that nobody takes the time to look at these write ups. I’m here to tell you that it is just the opposite. From me writing this column alone I get contacted from members, potential members, media and people who just find me on the internet on almost a daily basis. People actually do read the information if it is personal, has new ideas or if it is relevant industry news. And that third point, relevant industry news, covers almost any story, update or announcement that fellow network members would have.

To be successful at getting your news out there first you have to get it to us. Don’t worry that you might not be a good writer, a native English speaker, etc. Let those obstacles go. We are here to help you on that. You can either write the entire story by yourself or if you don’t want to then send it to us with the basic who, what, when, how, etc., and we will take it from there. Make sure to send us high resolution photos or videos (without date stamps if possible) and then we can make the magic happen for you!

Another thing to banish from your mind is the thought that you don’t have any news that would be of interest to network members. You do. And it comes from many sources. I’ll list some examples for you to think about right now:

• New and special moves. There is not a logistics company in the world who doesn’t have difficult, troublesome moves that they like to boast about. These stories are especially interesting to others in our field.
• Company / Market Updates. Sometimes a holiday notice is enough. But there are new local or national regulatory changes that might be of interest to other logistics partners that you could report. Changes in office hours. Port congestion or easement? Stevedore strikes? There are many company and market updates that can be announced or commented on.
• Contracts. Has your company won an interested bid lately that you are able to announce? How about a blue chip customer that you have been after for a while? This is great fodder for announcements to other members. But remember, often you will need to clear any of these announcements with your clients first and they might even demand to first approve any write ups or press releases that you might send out of the matter. But if that is not an issue then contracts are great to report.
• Facilities. Do you have a new office space? Have you opened an entirely new operation in a new city? Have you expanded your warehouse space? New equipment (trucks, forklifts, etc.)? All of this, even though it sounds mundane, is of interest to your logistics partners. It shows your forward moving growth and investment in your company’s future. Let the world know about this information.
• Promotions / Deals. In the logistics world this is a bit rarer that in the retail world. Well, maybe a lot rarer. But it does come up and it does happen. So if you decide to run a promotion on a service, we are happy to disseminate it for you to the other network members.
• Personal. Many times this is the most interesting news. Personal news lets your partners know that we are all part of a team, a family in an extended sense. If your company team members have life milestones to announce you can bet that it would be of interest to the people around the world who work with them. Marriages, births, retirements, graduations, new hires… All of this is good information for your member partners to see. It goes a long way in helping to build bonds between you and them personally and in turn to strengthen the ties with your company – to make them want to do business with you and maintain a long-term view of your relationships.

So do you still think you have nothing to share? I thought not. The issue now is will you get busy sharing it. I give you my word that the more news items you send the more positive knock on effect this will have on your company’s marketing efforts. So what are you waiting for?

Gary Dale Cearley is the Managing Director of Advanced International Networks Ltd. (AIN), one of the fastest growing and most dynamic business-to-business networking organizations in the world. AIN’s networks include AerOceaNetwork (AON), XLProjects Network (XLP), and AiO Logistics Network. Gary Dale has been in many facets of international freight forwarding for more than two decades from operations to sales to the owner of the first 100% foreign owned freight forwarding company licensed in Vietnam. The companies that he has been involved with have been both generalists and specialists. He has also worked from large European and Asian multinationals (Danzas and Hankyu Express) as well has small start up forwarders. For the past ten years Gary Dale has owned and operated AIN. He has lived in several major cities in four different countries and he is multilingual. Currently Gary Dale runs the AIN operation from Bangkok, Thailand, but travels the world over.