Archive for e-Newsletters
E-mail doesn’t always work…
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Email isn't always the best form of communication
Recently I changed the way people can get a newsletter from my business. Now, they can either get it via email or in the post. A number of people questioned this and the answer is simple - not everyone wants to get an email newsletter, some people prefer something in the post, and others simply don’t sit on the computer as much as we do.
I run a number of workshops and events - one is tonight - and I sent invitations to my database via email. Looking at the statistics, less than a quarter of the people I was inviting opened the email, and even less clicked on the link to book or for more information.
Thinking about my own habits, I often receive an email newsletter and leave it marked unread until I have the chance to go back and read it… and sometimes it stays unread until I delete it to clear out my inbox.
So, what have I learned from this?
Simple, communicating with your customers solely via email doesn’t always work.
It’s helpful to communicate via a number of methods, both online and offline. This could include sending something in the mail and picking up the telephone.
What am I going to do next time?
Next time I run an event, I plan to send a postcard or invitation to my database as well as send them an invitation via email, Facebook and other places they hang out.
How do you communicate with your customers? Is it solely via email, or do you have other strategies as well?
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There are so many different marketing ideas and opportunities out there - from directories to networking to banner ads to letterbox drops to… the list goes on and on and on.
It is tempting to look at the opportunity and your bank account & jump on anything that comes along that can get you in front of your target market that you can afford. Much of the marketing material I see looks like this is what has happened - basically there is no thought to it.
Before taking up any opportunity, think about what you want to get out of it. Do you want subscribers on your newsletter list, traffic to your site, sales, people signing up to your next information session or do you simply want people to see your business name? Whatever the aim, make sure your marketing material supports this.
For example, you have the opportunity to put some items in a goodie bag that will be placed directly in the hands of your target market. As a first step, you want people to visit your website and subscribe to your newsletter. With whatever you include in the goodie bag, include an invitation for people to visit your website and have an amazing bonus for anyone who subscribes to your newsletter. It could be an eBook or audio or gift voucher or some other “no strings attached” gift.
Once you know what your goals are, you can then track how well your marketing material works for you. Make sure that whatever invitation you have in your marketing material backs up the goals you set.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyFriday Five - Uses for e Books
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It’s a great idea to create e Books and reports for your business to share your knowledge and give tips and ideas to your customers. Most people can think of one or two ways to use them in their business. In this post, I will share 5 ways you can use eBooks in your business.
- Sell them - this one is obvious. E Books can be a great product to sell and bring in additional income to your business. A product such as e-Junkie makes selling e Books easy.
- Incentive for newsletters - e Books are a great way to grow your email list. Give away an e Book in exchange for people signing up to your email newsletter list. You can send the e Book through an auto responder, or simply have a download link on the confirmation page.
- Goodie bag giveaway - there are many opportunities to include items in goodie bags. If you have an e Book, you can either print it out or burn it to a CD and use it as an insert in goodie bags. Make sure it is branded with your business so those who read your e Book can follow you up.
- Gift with Purchase - e Books can make a great gift with purchase. You can either email it to people after they have bought your products or provide them with a download link. You could also either print it out or burn it to a CD to include with the package you send out. How you present your e Book as a gift with purchase will depend on what you sell and how people buy from you.
- Strategic Alliance Offering - some of your strategic alliance partners may be looking for e Books to use as a promotion or reward for their customers. If you have an e Book, you can offer it to some of your strategic alliance partners for them to give away. Again, make sure it has your business details on it so readers can follow up your website if they want further information or to buy from you.
While printing an e Book or burning it to a CD may seem a bit odd, if you are able to do this, you can end up with an additional promotional tool for your business and a new group of people who will read your information and be exposed to your business.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For your daily dose of business mums websites and blogs, check out Business Mums DailyFriday Five - Email Newsletter Content
Posted by: | CommentsChanging topic this week to Email Newsletters. These are a great way to keep in contact with your customers, however it can sometimes be hard to know what to include to keep your newsletter interesting and grow your business.
This weeks Friday Five report will give you a few ideas of what you can include in your newsletter, including some tips on how to get your strategic alliance partners involved.
As always, reports are available for $5 through PayPal.
Marketing Monday - turning blog readers to newsletter subscribers
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have a lot of people reading your blog, and not many subscribing to your email newsletter, you may want to take a look at Kylie’s blog over at Tilda Virtual Services.
Kylie produces an email newsletter called Techno Update. When she knows it’s about to be sent out, she puts a post on her blog that looks a little bit like this. She lets her blog readers know her newsletter is coming an invites them to subscribe to her list.
So, in line with that, you may want to subscribe to the Business Mums Network or Business Mums Magazine email newsletter! It only takes a minute, and I’ll still be here when you get back.
Friday Five - Kids Recommendations
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Term 2 and this weeks Friday Five. This term, I will be looking at ways your kids and business can co-exist together.
This weeks Friday Five is about using your kids to help with marketing by making their own recommendations on your products. Friday Five reports are only $5 through PayPal, and you can download your report right away.
Note: This Friday Five report is no longer available. To purchase a similar report, click here.
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Posted by: | CommentsI get a lot of newsletters from different businesses, as well as send newsletters. To be honest, I was thinking of making this a Friday Five report, however figured it was too important, so decided to make it free.
Here are some things you should not do in your email newsletter and why:
- From address - have the from address of your newsletter a newsletter from your domain and NOT a hotmail address. With the number of emails I receive, there is a high chance your newsletter will end up in spam and not get read.
- Free newsletter accounts - if you must use free mailing list software, make sure the first thing people see when they get the newsletter is not an ad for someone else! I have a little alert that pops up with the first line of the email that arrives, and if I see an ad for someone I don’t know, the email is likely to end up deleted or in spam - either way, it doesn’t get read.
- No content - please, make your newsletters interesting with content. This could be anything from a free reprint article to the story behind a product to announcements of new products. If there is no content in your newsletter, people are likely to unsubscribe.
- Whole newsletter an image - this is something that irritates me because more often than not, the text appears blurry. A friend was telling me that her email program is set to block images in emails, so she can’t even read them! Sure, these newsletters look pretty, but they are very hard to read.
- Just adding me - OK, this is not only really annoying, but is also against the Australian Spam laws - I hate it when people just add me to their email lists! And how do I know? Usually they add the email that I send them an email (either they’ve subscribed to my list or I’ve replied to an enquiry) or they’ve got the address off my site. This is not the email I usually use to join email lists.
These are just a few of the things I recommend people don’t do in email newsletters. Email newsletters are a fantastic marketing tool, if they are used right.
If you would like some ideas on newsletter content, check out this Friday Five Report. You can also get free reprint articles from The RepOZitory, the Aussie Article Bank.
I hope these tiips will help you with your newsletter and help you to keep subscribers and readers.
Friday Five - Compiling an eBook
Posted by: | CommentseBooks are a great way to grow your email list or as an information product to sell. One way you can easily create an eBook is using submissions from your customers and network.
This weeks Friday Five report will give you some tips on how to compile an eBook. Reports are available for only $5 through PayPal.
Friday Five - Grow Your Email List
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A challenge for many business mums is how to grow their email lists. I have written down some of the strategies I have used in the past for this weeks Friday Five report.
Note: This report is no longer available. To purchase a similar report, click here.
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