Start an email newsletter for your business
By Publicity Heaven writer Adam Constable
The power of email marketing cannot be underestimated – it is fast, direct, and very cost effective.
Email can be used to build your business by encouraging existing clients to buy more from you more frequently. And it can persuade prospects to become clients.
Here are the 7 steps to start your own email newsletter:
Work out what you want your email newsletter to do: Are you trying to establish your name, reputation and brand? Or maybe generate leads and sell products. You might also be trying to drive traffic to your website, or simply keep your name in front of potential clients.
Write your newsletter: Your emails should be consistent and reflect the personality of the business. The easiest way to achieve this is to have the same person write them. If it’s you that does this, don’t be afraid that your writing might not be “good enough”. Just write in your own style. Make a list of topics for each issue, find source of information and save ideas in a file whenever you have them.
Format your newsletter: Newsletters are sent either as plain text or HTML (which is the code web pages are made out of). These days it seems to be easier to get plain text delivered to inboxes than HTML, and of course you don’t have to waste time formatting the text. It can be a clever strategy to send plain text emails that direct people to a website to read the full story.
Work out how regularly you are going to send your newsletter: Some people don’t like being bombarded with regular emails – and these people are more likely to delete email newsletters. Your options are weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. Quarterly is too little, and daily probably too much. Your clients will soon tell you if you are sending emails too often.
Build your email list: Data can be captured via your website using an opt-in box. Give something away free in return for their contact details. Offline there are many more strategies: Asking for an email address with every sale by offering something of value for free; running joint ventures with other businesses; or running a competition. These details can then be easily stored and managed on your desktop using a software package such as Aweber or Infusionsoft.
Launch your newsletter: Don’t get stuck in the trap of waiting to launch until everything is perfect. Just get your newsletter out there. Make a commitment to a regular one, and improve it along the way. It’s the Ready Fire Aim method of working. A newsletter that’s a little rough round the edges will work better for you than no newsletter at all!
Continue to review and improve your newsletter: Make sure that you continue to seek feedback from your subscribers. This will help influence the content of the newsletter. Subscribe to other newsletters to get ideas for your own, and always look for new ways to make the newsletter help your business achieve its objectives.
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