E-mail -- Another Internet Feature to Boost your Business

Many people think that the internet is the same thing as the World Wide Web. This is not so. Among others, two features of the internet can be used, in conjunction with a web site or alone, to boost your business -- E-mail and Newsgroups. This edition will discuss e-mail and newsgroups will be discussed later.

Most people, now days, are fairly familiar with e-mail. We use it daily to keep up with our friends and family. But, how can you use e-mail to boost your business? Lets look at a few ways.

First of all, if you have a web site, direct mail links and "forms" can be offered so that visitors to your site with interest can contact you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have more than one person in your organization, you can have links to each person or use a form with variable addresses. Take a look at the contact page we designed for Benchmark Financial:

http://www.benchmark-financial.com/main.html

Not only can visitors select to whom they wish the correspondence to go, but they can also use the check boxes and other features to indicate in what they have interest.

Such "guides" on a form are a second way to boost business. By providing the visitor with certain suggestions, you can help them focus on the services you offer.

I cannot emphasize the importance of quickly responding to inquiries from your web site. These are prospective customers who have taken time to look you up, taken time to contact you, and who are used to the fast pace of the internet. These are HOT prospects. If you wait a few days, it may be too late. They may have moved on and selected someone else.

These first two suggestions have illustrated how e-mail can help customers interact with you. You can also use e-mail to interact with your customers. By using a e-mail news letter, you can easily reach your customers and clients with timely information and offers.

However, you have to be alert that there are certain regulations regarding sending "unsolicited" mail. Your internet provider likely has some rule related to this. At Web Net Solutions, we created our list from individuals who are part of companies with which we do business. We also provide an easy way to be removed from the list. You may wish to begin this way too. Send your first news letter to your clients telling them that you have started an e-mail news letter. If they do not ask to be removed, keep them on the list.

IMPORTANT -- As a curtesy, be sure to send the list "bcc." That is, in such a way that every recipient sees only their address and not the entire list. This prevents your customers addresses from being collected by other customers.

There could be written volumes about how to write a good news letter. Suffice it to say, keep it simple and too the point.

Another way to use e-mail to boost your business is for communications between your own employees, staff, or team members. At Web-Net Solutions, we frequently use e mail to send "attached" documents between team members. We correspond with team members who are out of state to keep them in the loop on important decisions as well.

Next time, we will discuss Newsgroups -- a cousin to e-mail that can lead to big returns for your business.

About the Author

Bill Snodgrass is a partner in Web-Net Solutions, a company dedicated to helping businesses get the most from technology. His primary contribution is in the area of web site design and engineering. Web-Net Solutions offers small to medium businesses the chance to access top level technical support, state of the art web design, and customized programming without the need to hire full time technical personnel.

snodgrass@web-net-solutions.com
http://www.web-net-solutions.com