Internet and Business Online

E-mails are one of the most personal ways to get in touch with your clients. After all, not everyone has all the time to surf your web pages and take note of the latest products you have in your catalog.

Here are 6 key ways to excel in e-mail marketing:

1. Use your name in the From field. Don’t sugarcoat your e-mail; it will only raise suspicion from your customers. Emails look more credible when they are coming from reputable business or persons.

2. Test your e-mails. It’s essential that you can send your message across even if you are only sending it through e-mails. That’s why you have to test them before you send to check that all features, including images are properly loading on your recipients’ end.

3. Personalize your e-mail. You can customize your message by using your potential’s full name. It’s actually a very old trick, but it always works. It’s because it never fails to capture the attention of your customers.

4. Don’t send e-mails to unsubscribed members. Once someone has unsubscribed to your list, make sure you remove him/her in your database. Otherwise, they will get annoyed thinking that you don’t respect their personal choices.

5. Avoid using dollar signs. This is a classic hint that you’re only trying to sell, not really giving them valuable information. Focus more on the benefits that your e-mail brings to your customers, and sales will simply follow.

6. Encourage your customers to view you as Trusted Sender. Your e-mail may end up in Junk Mail folder and thus deleted without being read. Encourage them instead to add your address in their Address Book. This way, your message will surely go to their inbox.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to email marketing success, ‘Secrets of Email Marketing’

Download it free here: Email Marketing Secrets

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Email marketing is tougher than it used to be but it’s really just a matter of using “best practices”. In today’s spam filled In boxes it is getting more and more difficult to avoid the delete key. By offering relevant, useful content and maintaining permission based privacy standards, you can not only keep your customers informed of your latest sales or company news but also build relationships that keep them coming back. All it takes is a little respect and responsibility.

1. DON’T SPAM!

If you use email you know what a pain it is to start your day deleting a bunch of garbage. The only responsible way to run an email campaign these days is use permission based lists. Depending on your site’s traffic and how compelling you make the sign-up form, this could take a while but don’t risk ruining your brand and your customer relationships.

2. Optimize the Subject Line

Ok, you have their permission but that doesn’t mean you’re in just yet. You’ve got one line of about 50 characters between “Open” and “Delete”. The subject line should quickly let them know what the email is about. Personalize it if you can. Don’t use the same subject line for all of your emails. Experiment and run A/B tests to see what works best. Make it interesting.

3. Send Something Useful

Don’t send an email just because it’s that time of the month. OK, yes you should (see number 4) but give them something worth opening. Tell them about a new product, teach them how to do something, offer them an exclusive discount. You get the idea. Most people aren’t interested in an advertisement in their inbox anymore than they want pop-up ads while they surf. Think about the value from their perspective.

4. Make sure your mails get through

Before you send your actual campaign, send a test mail to as many different email clients as you can(Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, Thunderbird etc.). Send them to different networks as well to check for ISP blocking, blacklisting, and various anti-spam efforts. You should make the required adjustments before you send out a large number of mails and wind up on several blacklists.

5. Use the “Preview Pane”

More and more email clients are using a preview pane so the recipient can see the content before it is opened. This is why you want your most compelling content right up at the top. If you are covering more than one topic, such as a newsletter, this is a great place for a table of contents.

6. Mind your P’s and Q’s

Use a spell checker, but don’t rely on it. Proofread your content for errors, then have someone else do it. Also look for HTML errors, broken links or anything else that might irritate readers or just make you look incompetent.

7. Use graphics sparingly

Once again anything that slows down your message is not useful. You should use your branding and maybe one or two well optimized graphics, but don’t use two when one will do. Rely on color and contrast (and of course your well written content) to create interest.

8. Provide a “Call to Action”

What’s the point? Make it clear to the reader that you want them to got to your site or download the latest white paper. Make them want to, tell them how to, and don’t forget to ask them to.

9. Create a Landing Page

A “Landing Page” is a page within your site designed specifically for the readers of your email. This is where you provide the solutions they came clicking for. If they land on your home page and have to hunt for whatever you offered in the email it will probably end badly for both of you. Make it easy on them.

10. Test, Measure, Test again

Track your results, pay more attention to conversion rates and revenue-per-email than to opens and click-through rates. Test a variety of subject lines. See which ones are not only getting opened but are actually generating revenue. Test different font sizes, different colors, different word totals. Find out what works for your customers, in your industry and make the most of it. Have fun with it.

Chip Simons is an internet marketer from Little Rock, Arkansas. He is the owner of http://www.AsgardMedia.net. Chip has been working on the web since 1996.

Database management is an essential part of marketing. It requires the collection of information and the development of statistics about customers and prospects that, when analyzed, permits marketing to carefully target each with the most effective messages possible.

There Is A Difference Between A Customer And A Prospect

A customer is someone who has already reacted to your product or service offering by purchasing from you. A prospect is someone who has demonstrated some degree of interest by seeking information, but has not yet become a paying customer. Herein lies the difference between the two that must be addressed with the proper messages.

Database Marketing Addresses These Differences

When marketing to people who are already customers, larger and more sophisticated marketing people often build elaborate databases about their customers. These are usually made up of a variety of data starting with the customers name, address, demographics, review of prior contacts and, of course, a history of the customer’s shopping habits and purchases. Marketing to people who are still just prospects depends on having third-party information assembled from various sources. Ordinarily, this information is limited to name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and available demographics. Some of this data can be extracted by using contests, sweepstakes programs, online registration data and other sources used for developing leads.

Business-To-Business Marketing Is Somewhat Different

Databases for business-to-business marketing are a bit more difficult to assemble and the databases are generally far smaller than those used in business-to-consumer marketing programs. This is due to the fact that business-to-business marketers have numerous contacts within a single company and it’s often difficult to accurately determine who is the right person to reach by direct marketing. However the databases for B-2-B marketing frequently include data that can be used to segment markets by using special, dedicated software programs for each segment identified. Customers in B-2-B often have specific loyalties due to their need for after-the-sale service for the products they purchased as well as new information such as available updates and refinements for those products.

Prospects Must Be Motivated To Become Customers

All marketers really know about a prospect is that he exhibited interest by asking for additional information or simply by visiting their website. Now the challenge is to convert prospects into customers and that usually requires highly targeted mailings designed to increase interest and promote further action on the prospects part. Marketers use a wide variety of techniques to do this including free offers, bonuses and others.

Keeping Customers As Customers

Part of a good marketing mix also includes making an effort to spur existing customers into purchasing anew. There are several ways this is achieved. The contention used is that existing customers will always be prospects too. In fact, many marketers have methods designed to increase what a customer is buying during the initial purchase. This is referred to as ‘upselling’ and is a well-established marketing practice. Offering on-the-spot upgrades, or adding another item that is discounted if the customer buys right now accomplishes it. Many customers are quite receptive to this type of offer since the company’s credibility has already been established with the first sale. Even websites have upselling offers that get results. Marketers also employ ‘backend selling’ or selling other related products or services to customers who have purchased before. Statistics show that customers who have already purchased from you are significantly more likely to purchase again.

Referral Selling Is Another Marketing Technique

If a marketer has an effective system to develop referrals from satisfied customers, he has another good source of business. These prospects are a step-up from un-referred people since they have at least some credibility for the company when someone they know who has had satisfactory personal experience refers them. Marketers utilize customer surveys as one method for developing referrals.

Database Management Is Essential

When a company is on a growth cycle and their lists are growing as well, database management becomes essential. Doing his is much easier today thanks to computer technology and the ready availability of virtually every type of list management software. Highly detailed statistics about customers and prospects permits the savvy marketer to precisely target people with dedicated marketing messages that are customized based upon the statistical analysis of detailed database information.

For more resources check out our email marketing page. If you want to make money online then visit our work at home website.

In short, the way to create trust with your subscribers is to always be consistent. Do what you say you are going to do. If you cannot do it, do not say that you will. If you tell a story, make sure it is the truth – so that every time you tell the story it is the same.

I had a funny instance happen to me once. It was when I had about 1000 articles online and someone had read one of my articles that indicated that I only had about 200 articles online. Then they read the bio in the other article, and it said I had written over 1000 articles. And they wanted to know the discrepancy, and how they could believe me if I couldn’t even get my article counts right.

Now, that is a little unavoidable – we should all know that if I am constantly writing new articles (and currently I am) then I am going to have an increasing number of articles in my bio.

But what are some areas that are avoidable? Be sure to state statistics using the same metric all the time. For example, if I say I ‘take in’ $10,000 and I ‘net’ $8000 – to someone who doesn’t understand the difference, they could think I am being untruthful.

So be sure to be careful when stating anything, that it is the truth – and try to keep metrics similar so there is no confusion.

Another thing is that your email campaign should be congruent with any other campaigns going. I regularly have people on my list mention a new article I have written – people do keep an eye on you, so it pays to be honest and truthful all the time.

Do you want to save time? Do you want to boost your productivity 200%? Well, if you are like many online business owners, sending a prompt and thorough reply to your customers can build a strong relationship and a good reputation. When it comes to handling some of your emails, think about using an autoresponder. What is an autoresponder? An autoresponder, does exactly what its pronounced as. It automatically responds to your email requests that you receive. You can confirm with your customer that you will be right back with them as soon as someone is available. You can also include some information regarding your company and features or solutions that you company can offer. There are tons of ways to set up a series of messages to help your customers through your product pipeline and convert them into buyers. But essentially, simply put, autoresponders help save time and effort to give your customer the attention he or she needs.

When your client sends you an email regard his or her transaction, you must immediately answer the email so that they would feel like you are giving them importance because if you will not answer the business related email message or if the email response is takes too long, the client may and can get frustrated and may settle on another online company. In addition to that, the acquaintances of that particular client might not recommend your business thereby loosing potential clients. On the other hand, if you have an autoresponder, the client will immediately get the much needed response that they require from you; thereby adding efficiency to your online marketing business.

Each and every autoresponders that are available in the market these days are unique. Each has its own unique features that differ from one another. Certain types of autoresponders have certain features that are created for a particular situation. If you are planning of purchasing an autoresponder, it is highly recommended that you first find out the particular feature that you will need from an autoresponder. It is best that you must first compare the numerous and diverse selection of autoresponders that some companies offer. Remember, always take your time in choosing the right autoresponder, and treat it like it is an investment –of which it is.

Finally, always consider the price. Like all of the marketable products these days, the products that have the best and most usable features are more costly. Shop around, compare and opt for the autoresponder that you think is what you need. Just use the search engine that you prefer when you want to look for an autoresponder. And lastly, always consider the features you need, there are some autoresponders that have great features that you can not or seldom use.

You need to remember that when it comes to email marketing, your opt in email list is not a static thing. In other words, as time passes, the names and addresses on your list become stale, non-functioning and useless. Even if the addresses remain current, after you try to promote your product or service to a particular individual many times with no response, the odds that you are going to win them over in the future – even if they do not make the effort to remove their names from your list – is beyond minimal. Therefore, it is important that you generate new subscribers daily.

The most effective way that you can generate new subscribers through an email marketing campaign is to offer them something of value immediately. If the consumer feels that he or she is getting something tangible and of value immediately they will be far more inclined to end up as subscribers. Beyond the promise of something down the road and in the future, consumers definitely respond to having something of interest and valuable given to them forthwith.

An email marketing campaign succeeds in the final analysis when there not only is connection with the consumer but when the consumer (in this age of immediate gratification) can actually see a tangible benefit at the start of his or her subscription or other type of business relationship with you. As silly as it may sound, give a fish a worm and the fish really will bite. Give the fish a hook and you will have an empty hook.