I like to think of a person as a client far before they sign on the dotted line saying they want to invest in me and what I have to offer. To me, the client experience begins when someone fills out the form on my site asking how they can work with me.

With that in mind, I’ve been able to build out a process that helps me elevate the value of what I provide way before someone experiences it for themselves. One of the ways I do this is by having a client magazine that I send out to all people who inquire about working with me.

 

Now, it hasn’t always been this way. I used to send over an email after someone inquired with all the details they needed to get started working with me and a link to schedule a call. I found that this was not the most effective or conversion focused method of doing things.

The biggest problem I found was people who wanted to price shop and weren’t really looking for the best value. I quickly realized that my client experience didn’t match up to my value based pricing structure.

If I wanted people to understand the value of what I offer and that working with me is an elevated experience then I needed to do that from inquiry all the way to the thank you gift. So I revamped the way I do things around here and boy was it a game changer!

I get a lot of questions about how to create a client magazine, what to include in the magazine, and how to share it with your potential clients and I’ve got all the answers for you right here. I’ve also created a checklist you can print out and have with you as create your own client magazine. You can grab that right here.

 

Step 1: What to include in your client magazine

This is by far the most daunting part of the process. Most people don’t know where to start so they just don’t. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen, mkay?

First things first, think about what people need to know before working with you.

• what questions do you get asked when people inquire
• are there questions you want to answer before you get on a call with someone or they officially book
• what would your ideal client want to know before they hand over their hard earned cash

Next, think about what you’d want included in something like this if you were looking to work with someone. This mindset really helps you think like a client instead of the business owner so you’re better able to serve them through this client magazine.

If you’re still stuck here are a couple of things I like to include in a magazine like this:

• About section
• Pricing (or a general idea of pricing)
• What the general process of working together looks like
• FAQ

Now, once all the main details are included I like to add in some strategic things in there to help get people excited about working with me or my clients.

This can be things like:

• CLIENT TESTIMONIALS- social proof is so powerful! Including testimonials and transformation stories within your client magazine goes a long way.
• DATA AND RESULTS- if you work with people by promising them certain results like a high converting launch or an organized inbox I’d recommend including some examples of what you’ve been able to accomplish for others. This gives people confidence and an understanding that you are good at what you do.
• YOUR WORK- showcasing examples of your work or including a link to your portfolio is a perfect way to do this. I would include a link to your online portfolio if you deliver this digitally, which I highly suggest (I explain why further down).

As a side note this is also a great place to include your differentiator or your unique selling proposition. The differentiator is one of the things I go through with my clients in my signature Captivate and Convert ™ branding process.

Essentially what you want is to show your potential clients what makes you different. This is what allows you to have value based pricing instead of competing for the lowest price. You want them to know that what you offer can’t really be replicated by anyone else.

This doesn’t mean that you’re like the mean kids on the playground saying “na nana boo boo I’m better than everyone else” (took you back to the playground days, didn’t I?). What you are doing is showing them why they NEED to work with you over someone else.

 

Step 2: Mapping out the client magazine

Now that we know what to include we are ready to map out how the magazine will look. Before I ever get into Illustrator to design and create the magazine I map out how it will flow.

Think through the process someone might walk through in their heads as they think about working with you. For instance if someone was considering working with me their thought process might look something like this:

Who is this person? > what does their work look like? > what does working with her include? > what is the cost of all of this? > ok how do I get in touch?

Not everyone is going to think like this but for someone who has taken the extra step to fill out the form on my site this is the general flow they would take.

Once that’s been figured out you will know what the flow of your magazine should be and on what pages you should have what. I recommend writing this all down or using a program like realtimeboard.com to mind map how you want the magazine to be laid out.

PRO TIP: Your magazine should not be just words cover to cover. You should also have full page images so that it doesn’t seem overwhelming to the person taking a look at it. You want to keep them engaged throughout the entire thing. If they just see words for miles and miles they may not make it to the parts you really want them to see!

 

Step 3: Get into your design program of choice and start laying out your client magazine.

I use Illustrator and then export as a PDF, but you can easily make this in Canva and Photoshop as well. Don’t overcomplicate this step and just get started with whatever tools you have available. Yes, using a fancy program like Illustrator is helpful but you can make just as good a magazine in Canva!

Canva is free and you can do so many cool graphic design things with it for your business.

By laying out, I mean just use place holders without inputting anything just yet (see below). This helps you to get a good overview of what it will look like before you waste a ton of time finalizing everything. This also allows you to make sure the copy will fit the images and vice versa.

 

In terms of sizing, I recommend using letter size (8.5 in x 11 in) formatting. I actually like to make the first page that size and then the pages that come after that 17 in x 11 in so that I can see both pages side by side. This allows me to format images and text much easier, but I know that is not possible to do in Canva so just keep it at the letter size formatting and you’ll be just fine.

Once the layout looks good and you feel confident about the way it flows you are ready to include all the pretty elements like images, text, and color.

 

Step 4: Determine the platform you will use to share your newly branded client magazine.

I use Publitas to share my client magazine. Personally, I prefer a digital sharing platform over emailing it as a PDF because I can track that data. I’m better able to see what my conversion rates are as opposed to tracking emails and not knowing whether someone opened it or not.

I use the free version of that program and don’t pay for it at the moment. I am not sure if they still have a free option available, but there are many other platforms that allow publishing like this as well such as Issuu. Take a look around and find what works best for you and your business.

Your client magazine will also be quite large when you finish it so if you send it via email, it might require the person to download it first. That’s an extra added step on their end as opposed to just clicking a link and they may not want to download an unknown document from you.

From a strategy standpoint, you want to make this process as seamless for them as possible. In today’s world we are so distracted that the added step of downloading something is just too much. Making the process as simple as clicking a link is a win win for everyone.

The other cool thing about using a platform like Publitas is that you can insert clickable links within the magazine. For instance the last page of my client magazine has links for people to schedule their call, take a look at my portfolio or they can email me.

I was able to put in those links so that they didn’t have to manually put them into their browser. This shows my potential clients that I am thinking about their needs, trying to make things as seamless as possible, and care about the details.

Here’s a look at how I set my client magazine up in Publitas and how I make it strategic.

 

Tell me, what do you think of client magazines and do you use them in your own business?