Be a spammer; make lots of money using the
Internet! There issometruth to that claim.
Be a spammer; make lots of money using the Internet!There issometruth to that claim.
I’ve got a feeling that a lot
of business people view email marketing as nothing but being a spammer.
Let’s get the issue of spam out
of the picture. Spam is the sending of unsolicited commercial emails (UCE),
generally to people you don’t know. It works because if you send out enough
(millions of emails are very common), a very small percentage will get an
order. But more likely your efforts will get your emails blocked.
There is a different kind of
email marketing, one that I can recommend every business use. Permission based
email to a list of people who know you (and likely trust you).
That email marketing might be a
notice of a sales promotion. Or it might be a newsletter with useful content. Or
it might be a quick note with a link to a relevant article on-line.
The key to successful email
marketing is 1) permission, 2) relevance, leading to 3) trust. Satisfy all
three, your emails not only won’t be blocked, they’ll be opened.
You should be getting an email
address from every customer or lead you come in contact with! Put a stack of
sign up cards on your store counter. Include an offer on your Web site. Ask for
the address on the phone. But get that address! And then use it wisely.
Don’t send an email to a group
of people by copying their email addresses into the To: field of your email
client. They may not want their email addresses shared. And using the Bcc:
field can get your email blocked.
Once you have more than a few
email addresses, you need to use a “real” email blaster that is designed for
sending messages.
I use a PC application for my
email blasting called GroupMail (http://www.infacta.com).
It is cost-effective, reliable, and has a lot of features I use. It can format
HTML and create text-only alternatives automatically. I use its scheduling
feature to set up emails to be sent weekly at the same time for a couple of months.
That way I don’t need to remember to send my weekly newsletter. It also can manage
LARGE lists and handle unsubscribe requests automatically. I also use its
exclusion list feature to make sure no email I send goes to someone who has
asked to stop receiving emails.
If you’d prefer a Web-based
alternative which doesn’t require any set up, I suggest the Emma email service
(http://www.myemma.com). I found Emma to be feature rich
and very cost effective for most small business needs.
Youcanuse email to build your business, what’s stoppingyou?