Email Your Way To Success

You've heard that email is one of your best marketing
tools, but you are afraid of spam complaints and you
are discouraged about how long it takes to build an
opt-in newsletter list. Let's dispell that fear
and discouragement. There are actually dozens of
channels you may not have considered to send
spam-free emails and dramatically boost your traffic,
sales and improve your communication with those who
help make you successful.

Opt-In Newsletter

This is where folks often start. That's great. I'll
repeat what everyone else has already said. You need
to have an opt-in newsletter. You need to have the
signup box prominently displayed on your site and you
need to publish a helpful newsletter about the topic
of your market often (preferably weekly). This will
help you build long-term return traffic to your site.
It will also build a sense of community with your
visitors. You will eventually cease to be just a
website and become a person that your visitors
respect and get to know.

Yes; it is discouraging when you only have a handful
of subscribers at the end of your first month. Hang
in there. It's all worth it. Do you think it takes
too much time to write articles for your newsletter?
Use articles submitted by others. More on that
later...

Customers

Is it OK to email your customers? Absolutely. Is it
OK to email them your newsletter? No; not without
permission. Is it OK to email them an advertisement
for your latest product/service. Yes; it probably
is... But hold on just a minute. You have a
relationship with this customer. It's far better if
you recognize and respect that relationship. They
purchased something from you. Why not drop them a
personal note every once in awhile and ask them about
your product/service. Ask them if they are happy
with what they received. Ask them if there is any
way you can improve your product/service. Go ahead
and let them know about your newsletter. It's OK to
mention your product/service. Tell them where they
can find more information if you think it might help
them.

These are your customers. Treat them with the
respect they deserve and they will likely become
repeat customers. Blast email advertisements at them
and they might or might not buy that product, but you
will have missed a chance to build a relationship
with them.

Inquiries/Prospects

You need to have contact information on your site.
This needs to include either an email address or a
form to submit questions and other inquiries. People
who email you are prospects. Is it OK to email your
prospects? Absolutely. In fact, I recommend that
you email them a response IMMEDIATELY upon receiving
their inquiry. I always return prospect email the
same day.

Is it OK to sign them up for an auto-responder that
blasts product information at them for the next
several weeks. Yes; it probably is... But I think
you are really blowing another opportunity if you
do. Instead, why don't you spend some time and
honestly answer their question. Once again, you have
removed the illusion of the faceless website and
replaced it with a one-on-one discussion.

Feel free to send them a follow-up email in a couple
of day if you don't receive an order or another
question from them. Ask them if they have any other
questions. It's OK to send them yet another email
in a week or two. Be helpful and shoot for solving
their problem or answering their question.

Link Requests

Having a resource directory of sites in your market
is a great idea. It's a great way to build traffic
(by trading links with other sites in your market)
and a great way to provide a free resource to your
own visitors. If you have a link directory, you need
to have a simple form to request a listing in your
link directory. That form should have an email
address.

You can have a checkbox on your form to signup for
your newsletter. This will increase your opt-in
subscribers. You should also promptly add the
listing and send them an email to tell them about
it. Is it OK to try to sell your product/service
in your email? Probably; but I don't recommend it.
You have so many more valuable things to talk about.
This is a webmaster in your topic area. They may or
may not be interested in your product. They WILL be
interested in their listing in your directory.
Remind them of the URL to your links page. They may
also be interested in your affiliate program. Feel
free to tell them about that.

Then, make the bold step to treating them like an
equal. Invite them to suggest any other ways you
might partner. Webmasters are a creative bunch.
Reach out and make some real connections with those
who request a listing in your directory.

Article Submissions

Remember that opt-in newsletter? Remember how
discouraging it was to write articles for it when you
only had a handful of subscribers? Take a break.
Add a form to your site allowing visitors to submit
articles. Promise them that you'll be sure to give
credit. Many will be willing to submit an article
just to see their name in your newsletter. If your
newsletter has a really small subscriber list, offer
to post articles on your site as well. Offer a free
link to webmasters who submit articles. This will
give you a chance to take a break from writing
everything for your own newsletter.

It also gives you someone else to email. You should
ask for an email address on your article submission
form. The same rules apply here. If you can use the
article, send them an email and tell them when you
plan to use it. In this case, you can feel more than
comfortable to ask them to sign-up for your newsletter.
They will want to see their own article; right?

Newsletter Publishers In Your Market

Speaking of your newsletter, let's strike out a
little bit. So far we've been emailing people who
have come to our site for some reason or another.
That's great. Everything have been 100% opt-in and
only by invitation.

Let's take the next step. Let's send someone an email
who has never filled out a form on our site, nor
sent us an email. Wait! Isn't that spam? Isn't it
wrong to sent unsolicited email? No; what I am about
to discuss is NOT spam, nor is it unsolicited. Let's
turn the tables around. In the last section, we
talked about sending email to people who submit
articles to your newsletter. That's OK, because we
were responding to an email.

Was it spam when they sent you the article
submission? No; of course not. You invited them to
submit an article to your newsletter. Guess what?
You aren't alone. There are dozens (maybe hundreds)
of other newsletters out there who want article
submissions. Remember those articles you wrote for
your own newsletter? Share them. You will be
sending an email to the newsletter publisher (which
could lead to other possibilities). You will also
have the potential of being published in their
newsletter. Now you have reached a whole new group
of people.

Websites In Your Market With Link Directories

It doesn't stop there. If there are dozens or
hundreds of newsletter publishers in your market,
there are even more websites with link directories.
They are easy to find. Search for your topic along
with the words "submit", "add url", "links" and other
similar words. So if you have a site about
"horses", do a search on your favority search engine
for:

Horses submit
Horses add url
Horses links

Then either fill out their form (if they have one) or
send them an email proposing a link trade. Either
way, they will respond to your email. This is the
time to send a "thank you" note. Remember all of the
above tips about not being pushy and leaping for the
sale. Instead, remember that they are a fellow
webmaster in your market. After thanking them for
the link exchange, mention the same things you would
mention to a webmaster who filled out your own form
for a link exchange.

Affiliates

Don't have an affiliate program yet? You need to
start one. This is where you pay other webmasters
for selling your product/service. You need to
have a form where they can signup.

You know the rest. Ask them for their email
address. When they make a sale, send them an
email and tell them about it. I guarantee you that
no affiliate will resent that email. Most
affiliates will also be grateful for an occasional
email offering tips on improving their sales.

Others

I think you have the idea. There are literally
dozens of groups of people you can and should email
regularly. When you receive an email from anyone,
you should be asking yourself how you can help that
person. Then do it. If you can help that person by
answering a question... do it. If you can help them
by adding a link to their site... do that. Then
drop them an email and let them know you did it. You
never need to be afraid of spam complaints if you
keep these tips in mind. You never need to be
discouraged about not having enough opt-in
subscribers for your newsletter either. There are
plenty of people who want to hear from you. Reach
out and help them.