"Regular communication with your customers is essential to your success." - Heidi Richards -
E-zines - The alternative of choice for many companies is a great way to market your company. All you need is an e-mail account and permission from your customers/clients to send the e-zine. In fact, I have found e-zines to be so powerful that I write and produce 4 a month. And I am working on a 5th one.
They are:
Self-Marketing News www.self-marketingnews.com
PetalsNCents (a marketing newsletter for the floral industry) - www.petalsncents.com
Creating A Legacy (a newsletter for the nonprofit community) www.creatingalegacy.com
Ramblin' Rose (a newsletter for my customers) ? www.EdenFlorist.com
WECommerce News (a newsletter for members of The Women's ECommerce Association, International) ? www.WECAI.org
Since the whole topic of e-zine production can be overwhelming, I will just touch on the highlights to get you started.
1. The first thing you must do is collect your customers/clients e-mail addresses. We collect them when they call, come in the shop, answer surveys, or enter our contests. We ask for it every time we have interaction with them.
2. We tell them the benefits. The e-zine is filled with product updates, trends, surveys, special offers, testimonials, discounts and my favorite CONTESTS.
3. Make it easy to read and brief. Two to three pages max.
4. One of the most important things we had to deal with was when our lists started growing (beyond 250); we were very limited in sending through our original e-mail account (AOL). They have rules and sometimes will freeze an account if you send too many at once. The format would also get botched sometimes. The lists became unmanageable when we had to remove unsubscribers and duplicates. Finding the ones who wish to unsubscribe can be challenging. We switched to another service hoping they could send our newsletters and maintain our lists. It was a good service; however, we didn't like the look of our newsletter. It had limited capabilities (no bold or italic). Since I'm the creative type, I didn't want my e-zines to look like everyone else's. We have now found a program we are very happy with. There is no monthly fee, just a one-time purchase fee. It is called Group Mail Pro - Mailing List & Group Management Software. And it only costs $79.95 (and you own it).
If you plan your ezine right, give it a great title and offer your customers and clients benefits, your ezine will be a success!
PROMOTION
Have a subscription form on your website! Have a sign up sheet at the office. Promote it with postcards in your monthly statements. Tell anyone you think might be interested. Offer a free report when they sign up. Buy the URL with the title of your e-zine so you can easily direct traffic to subscribe.
Good things happen with e-zines; increased visibility, increased business and goodwill. Happy Writing!
Excerpted from The PMS Principles - Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business © 2005 - Heidi Richards
Heidi Richards is the author of The PMS Principles, Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business and 7 other books. She is also the Founder & CEO of the Women's ECommerce Association, International http://www.WECAI.org (pronounced wee-kī) ? an Internet organization that "Helps Women Do Business on the WEB." Basic Membership is FREE. Ms. Richards can be reached at http://www.HeidiRichards.com or heidi@wecai.org
If you've been promoting your business on the internet you've... Read More
With the rapid expansion and diversion of commerce, manufacturers, career... Read More
When you want to choose a name for your newsletter,... Read More
Many businesses use email newsletters to introduce themselves to new... Read More
1. Don't bury your subscriber form, place it on your... Read More
I sat here this morning, and decided to work out... Read More
I subscribed myself to many ezines. I'd love to read... Read More
Managing Subscriber addresses: At the top of your email message... Read More
Are you doing "the bounce"? No, it's not a new... Read More
You Have Won! Hold an ongoing prize drawing... Read More
HiHow'd you go with your product search?Here's another way to... Read More
Have you ever accidentally lost an important file on your... Read More
If you are a professional, consultant, coach, speaker, seminar leader,... Read More
It's proven that the FROM field of your emails is... Read More
One morning this past fall, I was going through my... Read More
Since you publish your newsletter on a regular basis, sometimes... Read More
More and more companies are finding the value in informational... Read More
UNESCO's somewhat arbitrary definition of "book" is: "Non-periodical printed publication... Read More
Formatting your text newsletter correctly can make a failure into... Read More
It's all about numbers - or so some ezine publishers... Read More
What an ezine is ? An ezine is an electronic... Read More
In my opinion, Electronic Magazine (Ezine) advertising is the greatest,... Read More
Do you know that many business owners market their businesses... Read More
Why I started this E- ZineSit back, and travel with... Read More
If my in-box is any indication, most of the business... Read More
How would you like to reach millions of people with... Read More
While there are seemingly endless ways to promote your e-zine... Read More
Chances are if you surf the net much you have... Read More
We all know that an e-zine won't attract and keep... Read More
More and more smart business people are finding the value... Read More
Why I started this E- ZineSit back, and travel with... Read More
1. Share your personality with your subscribers. Your subscribers are... Read More
There are literally thousands of ezines being published online these... Read More
When you have an online business you need to utilize... Read More
I can remember my first reaction to word "ezine". What... Read More
When I meet an author with a great book concept,... Read More
Have you ever accidentally lost an important file on your... Read More
We all know how cagey and stubborn prospects can be... Read More
During the free e-zine publishing teleclasses I offer every month,... Read More
The Internet is too rich. Even powerful and sophisticated search... Read More
Ok, it's time to bring out my soapbox.Something has been... Read More
Do you know that many business owners market their businesses... Read More
The theory of writing for newsletters is very similar to... Read More
You can use Word newsletter templates for both Word and... Read More
So you'd like to start publishing special reports and ebooks... Read More
Have you been publishing an e-mail newsletter for at least... Read More
Publishing an e-zine is the ideal opportunity to showcase your... Read More
One morning this past fall, I was going through my... Read More
Did you ever wonder why some business owners seem to... Read More
There are thousands of email newsletters or "ezines" produced every... Read More
Answering Service ResourceAnswering Service Resource |