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I want to tell you a story about a simple businessman I know. He is not any special or brilliant man, neither is he highly educated.

He came to this country from a land far away, torn by wars and political instability.

When he and his young bride arrived here they could hardly speak the language, so he went to work to earn money and he and his wife went to school at nights. It took about a year but this man learned to speak the language very well.

When he was in school he saw a newsletter and he read it from front to back. It gave him an idea that went along with another idea he was thinking of.

He and his wife spoke of this dream every night on their way home from school. Every night they would put some more planning into the dream until one day he opened up a shop in a strip mall.

He wanted to do this because he had one belief that haunted him day and night. He believed that if you could get a lot of customers, and get to know them and communicate with them as if you cared about them, then they would come into your store to buy your merchandise. He thought many people were tired of not getting service, or even real bargains.

He worked hard to bring in as much money as he could. He was polite and courteous to the people who came in to see him. Once a week he put one item on sale to give his customers a real bargain. He thought that if he could sell this one item for less than what it cost him it would mean it would likely be less than what his customers could buy it for anywhere.

If he followed this plan he thought he would make his business grow. As time went on that is what happened.

He then began to send out a newsletter to his customers. He got their email addresses and every week he would send them an email giving them helpful information and other interesting things. In it he also posted his weekly below cost special.

The more he did this the more his business grew. In a few years he had to expand his premises. His wife worked with him. His daughter worked with them after school. Soon his two sons were old enough to help out in the store. And his business grew.

He still wrote his newsletter every week. He kept it low key and as if he were speaking just to the reader.

Every day he was getting comments about his newsletter. People would talk about the joke he had in it. They would talk about an article he had in it. He found more people came in to buy his loss leader each week and the nice thing about it was they would also buy other things.

He got to know them and he liked them coming in.

Soon he found that the more of his loss leader he sold the more his gross profits were up.

He was able to send his sons to college. One became an accountant and the other received his Masters in Business Administration.

One day his sons came to him and told him he had to advertise. They said if he wanted his business to grow he would have to use television, or the newspaper or radio. The businessman was skeptical about all this. He felt he was doing just fine, and his business grew. “Me, I don’t need advertising. I got my customers and they come in here regular.” he told his sons.

“Papa all you do is that silly newsletter. You must do more advertising. Forget that newsletter. What good does it do you anyway?” they said.

So the simple businessman said he would give them a budget and they could set up the advertising for him. They could spend all the money but it had to be over six months, so he would have time to see what advertising did for him.

In the meantime he told his customers about this in his newsletter. He sent his newsletter out every week just like always. By now it was becoming a very personal thing between him and his customers. They all read it. And his business grew.

At the end of six months the sons had spent the twenty thousand dollars he budgeted. Not one person came into his store saying they saw his ads on TV. Not one said they saw his ad in the newspaper nor heard them on the radio. But everyday someone told him they read his newsletter. He even had customers request he send them the newsletter after they had moved far away. It seems it was one way they could stay in touch with what was happening.

He had a meeting with his sons. He told them he was not going to advertise any more. It cost him money and he saw no results from it.

His sons said “But Papa. Look at the number of people who know about you now!”

“My sons. I love you dearly. The advertising cost me a lot of money and I have nothing to show for it. I have not, in six months, had a customer tell me he saw my advertising. I am not running a popularity contest. I am not trying to be famous. I just want our simple little business to grow. My newsletter tells my friends what is going on and they like that. They tell me all the time. I will stick with that.”

While his sons were disappointed, the simple businessman kept up his newsletter. And his business grew.

One day a large competitor came in to his store. The competitor wanted to buy him out. They struck a deal and the simple businessman decided he would take some time off. The competitor did not want his newsletter. He was going to get his customers some other way. He was a big businessman after all.

So the simple businessman kept his newsletter and he kept writing it to all his subscribers. He received many emails back thanking him for keeping up with the newsletter.

Before long he noticed the big competitor was putting on a closing out sale at his old store, so the simple businessman went in to enquire what was happening.

The big competitor laughed at him. “You can’t do any business at this location. I’m going broke here. I don’t know why I bought it from you in the first place. I’ve got a mind to give it back to you and walk away from a bad deal."

The simple businessman asked what price the big competitor wanted. They struck a deal and the simple businessman was overjoyed he would be able to see his friends again. He told them about it in his next newsletter.

The day he opened his store again he did more business than he had ever done any day before. He kept up his newsletter. And his business grew.

And, so, the simple businessman’s idea, so many years earlier, proved to be the right one. The very best way to build your business is to establish and maintain a regular, personal, communication with those who buy your merchandise. And his business grew.

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This story is a reflection of our Internet Marketing Package. These are the results our customers are getting. This is our product.