E-mail Capture Form. Having a e-mail capture form on your website is essential. This gives your visitors the opportunity to keep informed about your product or service through your newsletter or email alerts. Now your e-mails to visitors are not "spam." You're responding to their request for more information. I recommend capturing first and last name in separate fields so you can market personally to them. You can offer an incentive for visitors giving you their email addresses by automatically sending out an auto-responder to them offering a discount on their first purchase. For example, I offer this tutorial to everyone who signs up for my online newsletter.
Rent Targeted Email Lists - Rent targeted e-mail lists. The direct marketing industry has developed targeted e-mail lists you can rent consisting of people who have agreed to receive commercial e-mail messages that are specific to your industry. I recommend that you do a small test first to determine the quality of the list.
Install a "Signature" in your E-Mail Program . Most e-mail programs such as AOL, Netscape, and Outlook allow you to designate a "signature" to appear at the end of each message you send. Limit it to 6 to 8 lines: Company name, address, phone number, URL, e-mail address, and a one-phrase description of your unique business offering. Look for examples on e-mail messages sent to you.
Buy a Text Ad in an E-Mail Newsletter. Some of the best buys are small text ads in e-mail newsletters targeted at audiences likely to be interested in your products or services. Many small publishers aren't sophisticated about advertising and offer attractive rates. For example, we offer low-priced 50 word ads in our newsletters. You can find list of E-zine owners in our "How to Ezine" tutorial.
Ad Swaps - If you own an online newsletter you can do ad swaps with other publishers with similar newsletters. The rule of thumb for ad swaps is 1-to-1. For example, if you have 3,000 subscribers and I have 6,000 subscribers, you will give me two ad swaps for one. This can be an inexpensive way to build up your newsletter subscripotions.
Promote Your Site in Mailing Lists and News Groups. The Internet offers thousands of very targeted e-mail based discussion lists and Usenet news groups made up of people with very specialized interests. Discussion forums are an often over looked avenue to market your product or service, you can enter a forum simply by posting your expertise for others to read in different business related forums. People with diverse backgrounds and experiences use these discussion forums. Share your knowledge or post a question you need answered. When posting to these discussion groups I recommend that ad a "signature" at the end of your e-mail message do your marketing for you. People will gradually get to know and trust you, visit your site, and do business with you. Our "Discussion Group" tutorial has
I do recommend an Email Software program that I use to manage my 100,000 subscribers to my newsletters called, Mailloop. This software will help you organize your e-mail newsletters to your clients. Write one e-mail or newsletter and send it to as many clients as you like with one touch.
It is one of the best solutions for managing your own newsletters and email marketing campaigns. The cost is under $400. This software will allow to send out unlimited emails and automatically manage your subscribe/unsubscribe requests. You can download a trial version of Mailloop by clicking here .
Our "How to E-zine" Tutorial comes with a sample e-zine for you copy and use, formatting tips, 40 E-zine directories to submit your newsletter, and the strategies I used to get 10,000 subscribers in 90 days |
