Make Your Email Marketing Spam-Free
| Category: E-mail Marketing | Date: 2002-06-14 |
Learn how to harness the power of email without the the backlash of Spam.
Lately, the mention of email marketing makes the faces of small business owners transform into ugly grimaces associated with liver, or Spam (Spam in this sense refers to unsolicited email, or junk-email.")
It’s true that we all seem to have a lower tolerance for unsolicited email than for so-called junk mail, or even for telemarketing. But email marketing isn’t always spam; it is simply the process of using email to keep in touch with, and keep your name in front of, those with whom you have a business relationship in other words, past, current and possibly future customers, colleagues and vendors, even friends and family.
The Advantages of Email Marketing
Never before has out of sight, out of mind meant so much. The minute a piece of paper is filed, or an email message is deleted, it is forgotten. Now more than ever, you must keep in constant touch with your prospects, so that when they are in their moment of need for your services or products, they will think of you. Here are just a few reasons you should mount an email marketing campaign:
1. Email keeps you in mind. It keeps your customers connected to you and up to date on what you are doing. If you send them something useful, quick tips or a link, they will also feel like they’re getting something valuable out of signing up for your email list.
2. Email motivates people to respond. If a prospect has been meaning to contact you, but hasn’t gotten around to it because she’s been busy with everything else, your email message will give her an opportunity to reach out. She’ll say to herself, I might as well do it now, when all I have to do is click on reply.
3. Email educates your customers and prospects about your work, and can position you as an expert in your field, thereby instilling confidence in your work. That way, when they are in need, they already know you can do the job.
The Nuts and Bolts of Email Marketing
There are two kinds of email marketing:
Cold (or warm) email marketing, whereby you very briefly introduce yourself and your company to someone who’s never heard of you before. If you can use the name of someone they know who referred you, all the better, but not necessary.
An email marketing campaign, through which you send regular email messages (either monthly or twice a month) to a list of highly targeted prospects who have either signed up to receive these messages, or with whom you already have a relationship. Quick tips are perfect for email marketing, as well as a few industry links, or even a simple update on what’s new in your business.
For both strategies, the trick is to make it brief and make it useful. Keep your messages short, sweet, and to the point, so people don’t have to spend too much time reading or searching through it to find the useful info. You can send long emails, but they must be interesting and useful throughout.
How to Capture Email Addresses
Offer a few different ways for people to sign up for your email messages.
Offer a form on your Web site where people can self-subscribe.
Allow people to send subscribe me email messages to you or your list service.
Offer it to people you speak with. But don’t say, What’s your email address? Instead, say, I send out an email newsletter about (your specialty) and I’d be happy to put you on the list. They will usually respond with their email address and their permission.
Include your subscription address on your business card and other printed materials, along with your normal email contact address.
Offer incentives for people to sign up. Something free is always enticing. It can be something you can send electronically, or by mail. It can also be a service. For example, you could give people a free evaluation that relates to your business if they sign up thereby giving them something for free, and also talking to them about their needs and how you can satisfy them.
Do not buy large lists of email names from someone else who sent you an unsolicited email. This kind of untargeted email blasting is the worst kind of spam, and does more harm than good.
Don’t worry about the size of your list. Let it grow slowly and naturally, as you spread the word about your business.
What Makes a Message Spam?
The true definition of Spam is not just unsolicited, but unwanted email.
Spam is that annoying kind of email that’s usually too-good-to-be-true, hard-sell advertising hype. You don’t learn anything from it; it just wastes your time downloading it and deleting it.
Some unsolicited email is actually useful, so you don’t mind getting that. You can discover new things through unsolicited, but helpful email. And if someone approaches you via email out of the blue, but has taken the time to decide that you might be a real prospect, then you might be interested in their email, because it might help you.
The most effective email you can send is written by you. It is either meant for the person you’re sending it to, or it is information that is truly useful and easy to digest. The closer your email can come to this description, the less likely your email is to be perceived as spam.
How to Avoid Spamming
To guard against spam, keep this Anti-Spam Checklist handy:
Did someone else write the message?
Are you sending it to a long list of people?
Is it full of sales hype, instead of useful information?
Is the offer too good to be true?
Are you sending it to people who may not be viable prospects? (Source: Journalist, Phaedra Hise)
Email is quick, easy, and effective, and believe it or not, people actually welcome some of the email they receive. If you do your email marketing right, your recipients will look forward to receiving it, instead of cursing you for sending something. They may even thank you.
About the Author
Ilise Benun is the publisher of the Web site for The Art of Self Promotion, a quarterly (print) newsletter of manageable marketing ideas, and the author of Self Promotion Online, an invaluable resource for anyone interested in learning effective strategies to promote oneself via the internet.
artofselfpromotion.com
selfpromotiononline.com
(201) 653-0783
http://www.artofselfpromotion.com
http://www.selfpromotiononline.com
Lately, the mention of email marketing makes the faces of small business owners transform into ugly grimaces associated with liver, or Spam (Spam in this sense refers to unsolicited email, or junk-email.")
It’s true that we all seem to have a lower tolerance for unsolicited email than for so-called junk mail, or even for telemarketing. But email marketing isn’t always spam; it is simply the process of using email to keep in touch with, and keep your name in front of, those with whom you have a business relationship in other words, past, current and possibly future customers, colleagues and vendors, even friends and family.
The Advantages of Email Marketing
Never before has out of sight, out of mind meant so much. The minute a piece of paper is filed, or an email message is deleted, it is forgotten. Now more than ever, you must keep in constant touch with your prospects, so that when they are in their moment of need for your services or products, they will think of you. Here are just a few reasons you should mount an email marketing campaign:
1. Email keeps you in mind. It keeps your customers connected to you and up to date on what you are doing. If you send them something useful, quick tips or a link, they will also feel like they’re getting something valuable out of signing up for your email list.
2. Email motivates people to respond. If a prospect has been meaning to contact you, but hasn’t gotten around to it because she’s been busy with everything else, your email message will give her an opportunity to reach out. She’ll say to herself, I might as well do it now, when all I have to do is click on reply.
3. Email educates your customers and prospects about your work, and can position you as an expert in your field, thereby instilling confidence in your work. That way, when they are in need, they already know you can do the job.
The Nuts and Bolts of Email Marketing
There are two kinds of email marketing:
Cold (or warm) email marketing, whereby you very briefly introduce yourself and your company to someone who’s never heard of you before. If you can use the name of someone they know who referred you, all the better, but not necessary.
An email marketing campaign, through which you send regular email messages (either monthly or twice a month) to a list of highly targeted prospects who have either signed up to receive these messages, or with whom you already have a relationship. Quick tips are perfect for email marketing, as well as a few industry links, or even a simple update on what’s new in your business.
For both strategies, the trick is to make it brief and make it useful. Keep your messages short, sweet, and to the point, so people don’t have to spend too much time reading or searching through it to find the useful info. You can send long emails, but they must be interesting and useful throughout.
How to Capture Email Addresses
Offer a few different ways for people to sign up for your email messages.
Offer a form on your Web site where people can self-subscribe.
Allow people to send subscribe me email messages to you or your list service.
Offer it to people you speak with. But don’t say, What’s your email address? Instead, say, I send out an email newsletter about (your specialty) and I’d be happy to put you on the list. They will usually respond with their email address and their permission.
Include your subscription address on your business card and other printed materials, along with your normal email contact address.
Offer incentives for people to sign up. Something free is always enticing. It can be something you can send electronically, or by mail. It can also be a service. For example, you could give people a free evaluation that relates to your business if they sign up thereby giving them something for free, and also talking to them about their needs and how you can satisfy them.
Do not buy large lists of email names from someone else who sent you an unsolicited email. This kind of untargeted email blasting is the worst kind of spam, and does more harm than good.
Don’t worry about the size of your list. Let it grow slowly and naturally, as you spread the word about your business.
What Makes a Message Spam?
The true definition of Spam is not just unsolicited, but unwanted email.
Spam is that annoying kind of email that’s usually too-good-to-be-true, hard-sell advertising hype. You don’t learn anything from it; it just wastes your time downloading it and deleting it.
Some unsolicited email is actually useful, so you don’t mind getting that. You can discover new things through unsolicited, but helpful email. And if someone approaches you via email out of the blue, but has taken the time to decide that you might be a real prospect, then you might be interested in their email, because it might help you.
The most effective email you can send is written by you. It is either meant for the person you’re sending it to, or it is information that is truly useful and easy to digest. The closer your email can come to this description, the less likely your email is to be perceived as spam.
How to Avoid Spamming
To guard against spam, keep this Anti-Spam Checklist handy:
Did someone else write the message?
Are you sending it to a long list of people?
Is it full of sales hype, instead of useful information?
Is the offer too good to be true?
Are you sending it to people who may not be viable prospects? (Source: Journalist, Phaedra Hise)
Email is quick, easy, and effective, and believe it or not, people actually welcome some of the email they receive. If you do your email marketing right, your recipients will look forward to receiving it, instead of cursing you for sending something. They may even thank you.
About the Author
Ilise Benun is the publisher of the Web site for The Art of Self Promotion, a quarterly (print) newsletter of manageable marketing ideas, and the author of Self Promotion Online, an invaluable resource for anyone interested in learning effective strategies to promote oneself via the internet.
artofselfpromotion.com
selfpromotiononline.com
(201) 653-0783
http://www.artofselfpromotion.com
http://www.selfpromotiononline.com
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