Using Email Marketing and Opt-In Mailing Lists to Increase Profits!

Email marketing can be one of the most useful weapons in your marketing arsenal. Building your own opt-in mailing list from your past customers and website visitors can be a goldmine for your business.

If you have been in business for any length of time, you understand that 20% of your customers account for 80% of your sales. This means that the bulk of your profits come from repeat customers.

Email marketing is the most direct, and effective way to communicate with your Opt-in list of customer/visitors. It costs virtually nothing to do a professional mailing and it can generated considerable additional sales or interest in your business.

There are several ways to use email marketing with your existing opt-in mailing list:

• Regular informative newsletters, also know as ezines (or e-zines) online, in your subject: You can send weekly, or monthly newsletters to your opt-in mailing list. This can be as simple as a quick note on any developments, news, or improvements in your area of business. This maintains a level of interest in your business, and is a constant reminder to your list of what your business or group offers to them.
• Product Announcements and Special Offers: You can announce the arrival of new products or services, or run a special sales promotion.
• Follow up with existing customers and leads can generate a mountain of repeat business for you. Think about it, they have already bought from you at least once, you already have built a level of trust. These people are more likely to buy from you than a new customer.

Even if you don't own a website, you can use Email marketing to your opt-in mailing list very effectively. For example, let's say you run a local type of business not usually suitable for website advertising like a spa. If someone is looking for a spa, they are not going to jump on the web, they are going to look in the local yellow pages.

Now, let's say that every time a new customer comes in, you ask them for their email address and permission to email them from time to time. During your slow season, you can send an email offer out, with a 20% off coupon letting them know if they come in during the promotional period they can use the coupon on any service. You can fill up your appointments with business you wouldn't have had, and make more sales on any products and add-ons you have available. Your cost on sending an email mailing? Virtually 0.

Email marketing as a part of your online marketing efforts can be your most profitable advertising medium. The key is to be organized, professional, and provide your opt-in list with real content along with your offers.

Ok, now lets get into the mechanics of setting up your opt-in list to start your email marketing campaign...

Getting your opt-in list started: Every time you have contact with a customer or visitor, make sure you ask them to sign up for your mailing list.

If you are an existing brick and mortar business, meaning you have a place of business of your own like a store or an office, this can be very easy. As you write up an order or check the customer out, make sure to ask for their email address and permission to email them. You can do this any time, over the phone, face to face or in any written communications.

If you only have an online business, make sure you have a sign up form or link on all the pages on your website. Email marketing is about numbers, so the more people you get to sign up the better, and having a way to sign up on each and every page of your site, will help you turn visitors into subcribers and make your opt-in list grow exponentially.

Hosting your Newsletter / Opt-in mailing list: There are several ways you can host and manage your own email mailing list. If you have your own website, it is likely that your web site comes with a listserver where you can host a small mailing list. Small meaning less than 1000 subscribers. The only issue with going this way is that once you get your list to a good size, you will have to transfer your list to a more sophisticated program...for me, it is better to start with a good service or buy my own software and send out top quality mail outs from the start.

I do not recommend you use any of the free 3rd party hosting for your list. First of all, every email you send will have their advertising on it. Second and more importantly of all you want to present a professional image. Using a free service is not going to do it. Email marketing is as much about image and integrity as it is about selling.

Using a service: For this site, I use a 3rd party service to host my mailing list, it is not a free service but it is very affordable. The great thing is, you pay for the amount of subscribers you have, so if you have a small list, they charge you a very small fee, and even if you have a large list, it is still very affordable. This is also a great way to send professional looking emials even if you don't have a website. If you would like to use a service to host your mailing list Click Here for more information.

Using a program or CGI script: For other sites, I have used programs I set up on my server or on my computer to handle the mailing of my email newsletters. The most important thing to look for is the ease of use and how customizable it is to your business. You want to be able to send personalized emails, have automatic additions and deletions of members to your opt-in mailing list, and be able to set up automatic follow ups. Take a look at Mailloop and you'll see what I mean.

Email marketing to your opt-in mailing list will be a recurring topic on this site and in our newsletter. Please check back often to learn more about how to use this great marketing tool!

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