Email marketing is alive and well! If done correctly it will build your business
faster than any other marketing method! Email marketing is the number one way to
promote your business online. If you want to succeed with your online business,
email marketing is a MUST. Marketing itself is a never ending task. As long as you're
in business, you will have to actively market your product or service. There are
advantages to marketing through email;
It is free. Not only is your message/advertisement delivered instantly, so are
customer orders! Following up with new products/services is free. Having a fantastic
website is great, but it alone won't bring in customers. That's what email marketing
will do for you! Without an effective and aggressive marketing plan, no one will
even know your great website/product/service exists! Let's look at some ways to
market your product or service through email. Opt-In List ----------- "Opt-In" is
a list of prospects that have contacted you and have given you permission to email
them about your product/service. Prospects contact you requesting more information
or to join your ezine/e-newsletter and you add them to your Opt-In list of contacts.
This is the safest way to handle your marketing campaigns. If you do not have a
person's permission to email them with your advertising/marketing campaigns, you
are spamming that person. Spam is unsolicited commercial email. It is email you
send to someone who you've had no prior relationship with. This is not the way to
handle your marketing campaigns. Most likely the person you have spammed will report
you and you risk losing your hosting/ISP etc.
Build your opt-in list instead and market safely. Ways you can build your opt-in
list; Your current customers. Your best source of contacts is your current customer
list. It is easy to sell to satisfied customers who already know you. Since they
are willing to receive your campaigns, your chance of success is greatly increased.
Your targeted list will bring you more orders and profit. Referrals. Contact your
prospects and offer to send information to their friends who may be interested in
your product or service. Joint Venture with a non-competitive, related business.
Exchange a split of the profit for an endorsed mailing of your offer to their customer
list. Advertising. Include your email address in ALL advertising you do! Website
Visitors. Include a "subscribe to" form for your e-newsletter/ezine onto your website.
Don't have a e-newsletter or ezine? Start one! This is a great way to boost your
business. You can follow up and sell to your opt-in list over and over and over
again! Autoresponders -------------- A great way to free up some time and automate
your campaign is to use an autoresponder. Setting up an autoresponder means having
a system that can make sales 24/7 automatically! Use your autoresponder as the contact
email address your prospects use to receive more information about your product/service.
Store this list in a safe place, you will be able to sell to this list over and
over again. Make sure the message your prospects receive from your autoresponder
is professional, thorough, personable and check your grammar and spelling. Your
autoresponder should also be able to send multiple messages at set intervals you
determine. It takes a customer 7-12 times of seeing your offer before they decide
to buy! If you are going to use your autoresponder to handle your ezine/e-newsletter,
make sure it can handle your subscribe and unsubscribe tasks. Your autoresponder
can stay in contact with your customers informing them of new products/services,
follow-up on sales, reminder of your products benefits, etc. Ezine Advertising -----------------
You can find ezines on practically every subject under the sun. Most people subscribe
to at least one ezine that they receive by email on a regular basis. Ezine advertising
is a great way to market your product/service. Do a search for ezines relative to
what you offer and sign up (the majority of ezine/e-newsletters are free to join!).
Some offer free advertising, some offer contests to win free advertising, most offer
very reasonable advertising rates. Solo mailings are the most effective form of
ezine/e-newsletter advertising. Your ad is sent, alone, to the ezine's entire subscriber
base! You could also find affordable advertising through ezine co-ops. Purchasing
advertising through an ezine co-op will place your classified ad in numerous ezines
for one price. You'll be added to each ezine's subscriber base. Most ask that you
stay subscribed until your ad is run. Here are some great co-ops to check out; Essential
Team http:/ inyurl.com/1ey2 EzineAd.Net http:/ inyurl.com/1ey9EzineAd.Net 2Bucks
an Ad http:/ inyurl.com/1ezg My Wizard Ads http:/ inyrul.com/1ezh Here are two sites
where you can earn free advertising; Free Solo Ads http://wetrack.it/soloads/af.cgi?531
Free Ezine Advertising http://www.ezineadventure.com/default.asp?id=8699 Signature
Tags -------------- Signature tags are little blurbs at the end of your email messages.
They should be about 2-3 lines total length. Make sure they include your website
address or business email address. Signature tags are a great way to get in some
free advertising. Include them each email you send out! You could also partner with
someone who has a product/service relative to yours. Each time they send out an
email your signature tag is included and vice versa. Letterhead ---------- Make
and save an email template (in notepad or similar program) and put your advertisement
at the top of each email you send out! Again, keep this short, about 2-3 lines maximum.
Each time you send out an email, insert your template first before composing your
message. Your ad will be the first thing seen each time your message is read!
Yes, email marketing is alive and well! With aggressive and effective email marketing
you should successfully grow your business! Marketing = prospects = customers!
