Inspired Action: Email & Newslettters
Editorial
Welcome to the Third Edition of Inspired Actions. This month we are really proud to be sharing some of the best articles on Email and Newsletters. We start right at the basics and move through some of the more important points.
Director/Curator: Lori Lynn Smith
Contact Us Sacred Earth Partners Training and Retreat Center Inc. 6326 37th Ave NW Edmonton AB Canada T6L 1H8
I believe that emails and newsletters are the best way to stay connected to your potential customers. It is the way to truly engage and interact with people. Emails & Newsletters can be a really special and intimate connection with your clients. I always love to share some of the special things I have going on in my life, these gives the opportunity to relate on so many different levels. If you are on the edge of whether or not to start a newsletter… really it is time to take action and get started. We are here to help you succeed. Here’s to your success this month!
©Sacred Earth Partners Training and Retreat Center Inc 2012 All Rigths Reserved
If you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, please feel free to contact me at info@sacredearthpartners.com. Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy!
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The Business Of Email Marketing
The world is adapting fast and easy ways to communicate and do businesses. Email is also an electronic means to communicate and as we all know stands for electronic mail. One can send and receive an email within seconds regardless of where they are residing and from where the email is being sent. Email marketing has become one of the main resources for doing business and the potential seems to rise as more and more people are now towards electronic sharing of information. There are currently millions of active emails accounts that are accessed every day. As it is such an active technology, people have been encouraged to take up email marketing to advertise their products
may have other options and packages. By employing such companies, people can save their time on research and sending emails. The email marketing companies benefit by making the most of a company’s marketing needs. The emails sent can be limited to particular users as specified by the product owner. A premium car seller may like to advertise to the elite belonging to the upper echelons in society or a company selling computer parts may not get respectable sales from an area that does not have adequate facilities or customers who may be interested in the computer industry.
through emails. A website may also not be this effective since it requires people to discover it first and then to come to the site exclusively for viewing the product. An email however, is sent directly to a person from where the product can be seen and if there is a link, a person can visit the website if the product seems appealing. An email helps direct the viewer to a website.
Many advertising companies take the responsibility of sending emails to the concerned group of people so that more productive results can be seen from using fewer resources and funds. The advertising companies adapt various methods to achieve this and the system can be expected to become more sophisticated if the email marketing potential develops further and more people sign up for email accounts.
Seeing the potential and opportunity, there are some companies and websites that offer to undertake mass emailing to users as required by an advertiser. Some function exclusively for this purpose while some may take it up as a supplementary service. Nevertheless, people are making a business out of it. They charge a fee for sending emails. Some may charge per email sent and some
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How Do You Choose An Email Marketing
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Choosing An Email Marketing Company Nowadays, as outsourcing is becoming popular among companies and businesses, there are many email marketing services and providers that promise to plan and execute the best email campaign for your business and help achieve the best possible results. If you surf online for some of those businesses you will see that there are so many that you will end up having a really hard time choosing which one could be better for you. There are though some criteria that could consider while you decide who you can work with.
The service provided by a business is the start and end of everything. Email marketing campaigns consists of so many details and so many aspects – like the creative and technical part – that you really need to consider working with a company that has the knowhow and the software to meet your expectations, needs and requirements. Some of the companies just provide you the software you need in order to create mailing lists and organize your marketing campaign, while others work entirely on the project, providing pretty much the whole package. They do the job for you completely, from the very initial steps of organizing the campaign, to actually launching and executing it.
One of the most important factors when choosing an email marketing service is the level of customer support they provide. As a customer you should be able to first of all reach them during business hours and contact them in all sorts of ways. Email, phone, live chat or SMS, are just the most common and fastest ways of communication and the company should assure you of being able to provide all of them. Assistance and technical support is mandatory if you are an amateur in the email marketing process, as this means that you might have additional questions and requirements when working with software or are trying to apply a campaign planned by professionals. Services that cannot give immediate response to questions are probably not the best choice.
Full services are really a great choice, especially if you don’t have the necessary knowledge on creating email templates and HTML design, or you simply don’t have enough time to spend on this kind of marketing. Keep in mind that full services cost more money, but are usually really effective as the companies consist of professionals and they do their work fast and accurately.
Whatever you choose try to do a little research in advance, so as to check the background of the company you are going to work with, read up on some feedback and reviews and see what other people think. The standards of service, support and price, combined with a good level of customer satisfaction should be enough for you to decide who you are working with.
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Mailing List Basics
The advent of Internet in the 21st century has opened up new vistas for its uses. One major one is the use of Internet as a means of income. Internet income has become a prime source of earning for a good segment of population ranging from housewives and old men to big enterprises. A mailing list is an important element of the same. The size of mailing list does matter but in itself is not sufficient to maintain the revenues. It has to be ensured that your website maintains a persistent traffic which reflects in the number of hits your site gets per unit of time.
sequently forward the offer to their friends and colleagues if they find it useful, which will further serve to increase the Internet income. To ensure the same, you can add your signature and the company profile in the mail
First, and the most important, is to keep on adding new members to the mailing list. The aim is to attract more subscribers by offering them various freebies to generate more interest and hits. For this the new offers and news on the site should be communicated to the subscribers regularly to keep them bringing to visit the site. This will most likely increase the hits on your website and increase the internet income as well. In addition to this the subscription information should be easily available on the website for a good visibility and user friendliness of the website.
Other means to populate your mailing list further is to look out for people and associations that rent or sell the mailing lists. These people or associations have huge mailing list and your business can use it to manifold your Internet income. But there are few things to watch out for before doing the same.
The free offers that attract new subscription and increased readership can comprise of number of things .they can be in the form of free informative articles, free downloadable e-books, newsletter or any other thing. The offer can be sent directly to the mail box of the mailing list or can be downloaded from the site that brings Internet income. Whatever be the way, it should be easy to understand and download. The use and simplicity of the offer would definitely boost the Internet income. The members of the mailing list can sub-
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First and foremost you should be well versed with the laws and regulations that are involved in the trading of mailing list. Secondly, you should also keep in mind the trust and sentiments of the members of your mailing list. You should take their consent before you go ahead with your decision of trading the mailing list.
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Internet Income requires time and knowledge and with the application of both there are absolutely no reasons why it would not increase.
5 Tips For Successful Email Marketing For Small Businesses If you own an online business and you work well with services and products then you already know that email marketing is one of the most important techniques of marketing. Whatever you do, either hiring a professional or doing it yourself, you need to enhance the results you get from your business’ marketing efforts and this can happen by sending out bulk emails to well-targeted groups and individuals. Especially if you are a small business, this is even more crucial because it could be your main means of direct communication with your existing and potential clients. A few tips to bear in mind that can help your campaign are: 1. Lists: You have to track down all the groups and people who could be interested in your niche and products, as well as create a subscription list for your existing clients and those who visited your A Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners
website and are interested probably in doing business with you. If you have good software that maintains and updates lists, that could be really easy. 2. Use the right text: HTML or plain text both actually depending on what is your strategy. HTML looks definitely more professional and gives you more possibilities in design, however some email services don’t allow some users to read HTML so plain text should be also included, or given as an alternative, so as that your emails don’t end up in the trash can even before they are read. 3. Templates: If you use some kind of software or if you are searching online, email marketing templates should be something you should find in abundance. Having multiple templates helps you create some very professional looking emails that can be enhanced 9
with images or even multimedia and sent to subscribers or potential clients generating good results. Creativity is something you should have in mind, and the variety of templates can ensure that. 4. Feedback: Giving the customers the chance to rate the products and your services though the email campaign can prove to be a great plus for your company, because people will understand that you value their opinion and that you are interested in making your business better through their comments and reviews. This shows certain professionalism that people will appreciate. 5. Personal Tone: This is important, especially for small businesses. Since you are not a colossal business of hundreds of employees, you can use some personal and very approachable tone to make an impression on the user and reader. Using the name of the recipient and writing in a friendly tone is something that people like, because it seems personalized and well-targeted both professional and personal. If you can do some follow-up it would truly help because in this case clients see a one on one communication which makes them feel more at ease, and more valued. There are no big secrets in email marketing, but if you do everything right following the rules and using your creativity and personal instinct and tone, you can make your small business thrive.
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I am so happy to welcome Rosie Taylor to the magazine this month. Rosie is a Certified Duct Tape Marketing Consultant & Constant Contact Local Expert who loves energetic conversation over coffee! My kind of girl for sure!
ness owners on Sunday mornings and I’m sure his open rate is terrific. I know that on Sunday morning I’m more likely to read it all the way through and click the links since I’m not distracted. I tried it out myself in my own business and off-hours did get a better response for busy entrepreneurs. Also look at your social media metrics for high engagement times.
Rosie Taylor from Rosiemedia LLC
Question 1: What are you feelings on the importance of Email and Newsletter marketing strategies?
Question 3: What do you feel is the best strategy enticing people to opt-in to your newsletter?
Email has been around for decades but is more relevant now more than ever. Marketing by email is a very cost-effective tactic to engage both prospects and existing clients. Having a strategy behind all helps get the most from your efforts. Creating a strategy based on creating relevant content with high value means you’ll build a quality list and your current subscribers will happily forward your email to their colleagues and friends.
Offer something of value in exchange for their email. People hate spam so they tend to be guarded about handing over their email. Offering a free guide, checklist or eBook is a great way to reinforce the idea that you are going to deliver valuable information and not spam them with promotions. Another piece of list building strategy is to have a clear call to action that describes what the person is receiving when they sign up for the list. So, the call to action is more than just “Sign Up for Our Newsletter.” It looks more like: “Live like a Rock Star. Get monthly lifestyle tips and exclusive offers in our newsletter.” This Call to Action sets up the expectation that I will get a monthly email with tips that I want to receive along with the occasional promotion. By being transparent at the beginning, a person is more likely to trust their email to me.
Question 2: What would you recommend as a strategy for the frequency you send emails? It’s all about the habits of your audience. I recommend segmenting your list and then doing some tests sending emails at different times and days than you normally would. Chris Brogan is a great example of this. He started sending his newsletter to busi-
Email: rtaylor@rosiemedia.com Website:http://www.rosiemedia.com
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Why Should You Email Market? If you are sitting at your computer trying to figure out how you are going to get the word out about your business or service then you need to explore email marketing. The benefits are manifold and you just might be able to obtain an opportunity to make a lot of money. You do need to keep in mind that it is not an overnight miracle pill so to speak, but once you get it going it is all more or less smooth sailing there on. First things first is to do some research so that you know which way to head out. Through email marketing you have the opportunity to reach millions of potential customers in a short span of time. If you decide to campaign by advertising in magazines and newspapers that is fine, but email marketing is much quicker. You also have the opportunity to purchase a list so that you can target the specific market that you are looking for.
Do be careful when getting a list. You need to make sure that it is up to date with a current list of potential buyers. Email marketing is also beneficial because you have the opportunity to respond to your customers more quickly.
have a new product to offer you can send your current customers a promotional offer. It will make them feel special that you cared to remember them and you could also include introductory discounts or vouchers so you are assured of a repeat purchase.
When someone sees information on your product, they are able to get to your website a lot quicker by clicking on the link you provide as opposed to browsing through endless web pages to find what they are looking for.
Remember, if you are looking for a quick way to get the word out, to be able to keep in touch with your customers at the push of a button, email marketing is the way to go. It is cheap and inexpensive and depending on the route you take, it can also be free.
Get yourself an auto responder. This program will send your potential customer an email right away as soon as they click on your link. You can cash in on this tool as customers usually have to input their information when they send in a query. You can then use the information to invite them to join your ezine or blog and offer them more marketing material such as catalogues or newsletters to make their choice easier. Email marketing is the fastest way to keep in touch with your customers and when you
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How Do You Go About Targeted Email Marketing? Email has become one of the biggest means of communication between people whether they are living in the same country or in a different country or continent. An email uses the internet as a medium through which it can be accessed for viewing or sending. The use of internet has also been growing exceptionally for a long time now and millions of people can be seen to choose the internet as their primary source of information for sharing and viewing. This has led to increased email usage, the results of which have favored the advertisers. Advertisers can send emails to thousands of people without utilizing physical resources and material. A sign board on the streets requires ink, paper, and a board in order to prove useful. An email however, does not need many resources other than a computer system, electricity and some basic knowledge.
Targeted email advertising means to send advertisement emails to people who are more likely to take an interest in them. A grown up may not be interested in college courses or music CD’s.
Similarly, targeted email marketing takes one group into consideration and based on the audience sends out pertinent emails that are likely to appeal to the people on the other side of the mail box.
The point being that resources can be wasted if a proper and appropriate place is not chosen for them and it can also turn out to be a waste of time and money. Though the chances of attaining success may not be always 100 percent but a little thinking can help maximize the outcome and help achieve positive results.
For example, a video game selling company can send emails to people who belong to the younger age groups, say less than 20 years or any other which they may consider appropriate based on the product.
A proper group or section should be chosen according to the product which appeals to that certain audience. There is also software available that make mass email sending easier and less time consuming compared to manual emailing. You can compare targeted emailing to a trend commonly seen in young people. Students and teenagers often have multiple email addresses and use each one of them for different purposes. One could be used for classmates, one for friends outside college and one for parents and relatives.
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Such techniques are used in email marketing in an attempt to convey the right message at the right time and mostly to the right people.
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Educate Your Customers Through Email Marketing
you can obtain one of the many templates which are given away free.
Email marketing is not just about sending out an avalanche of emails to prospects. Effective email marketing involves disseminating newsletters, marketing information, training and study guides, or other customer information that could increase your sales and, in this game, being covert is paramount – people do not like being sold to.
If you are unable to write HTML then obtain one of the WYSIWYG software creations on offer – again, many of them are free. WYSIWYG [meaning ‘what you see is what you get’] allows you to cut and paste the information you want to put into your newsletter into your WSIWYG editor then, with a click, your WSIWYG editor converts plain English [or any other language it is compatible with] into beautiful web-ready HTML text. You can add background, sound, pictures, attachments, subscribe buttons plus many more features such as that silly little wizard floating around the page, and produce a very professional looking newsletter.
Provide the information in such a way that the customers decide for themselves that they must have the product and your sales will go through the roof. The key, however, is good email marketing. Take newsletters, for instance. Make it attractive, with a good design, eye-catching graphics and catchy little headings. The idea is to guide the reader’s eye downwards and onwards – if they keep reading long enough they will begin to identify with the product. Nowadays there are innumerable template services out there in e-space. You can either pay for the design to be done for you or
You can, of course, employ a professional email marketing service to do the work for you. They have the knowledge to incorporate all of the above features, add trackers, click-through monitors, and conversion ratings amongst other details. Making use of professional email marketing allows you to have much more time available for the work you prefer to do and are
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probably better at doing. Professional email marketing newsletters incorporate articles and information how-to’s and assist you in tailoring a marketing service most appropriate to your own business. What you really need to get out of email marketing is increased business, more web traffic and, ultimately, more customers who return again and again. The key to business is customers: the key to web traffic is also customers. The key to customers is acquiring a large mailing list, keeping in touch with them on a regular basis and monitoring the results. This works better if your email marketing campaign is friendly and you are able to develop a relationship with each of your subscribers. Success in email marketing does not just mean acquiring customers, it means keeping those customers.
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How To Set Up An Email Marketing Business And Make it Work Setting up and operating an email marketing business is one of the best ideas you can have, as email marketing is considered as one of the most effective methods in enabling the direct approach of a large amount of potential and existing clients. Moreover outsourcing is something that companies seek for in a significantly rising degree, as it can be a cost effective and time freeing method for them. These are mainly the reasons why email marketing companies today flourish, however if you are one of them you need to consider some elements that make the company stand out for its standards and services. First of all you should keep in mind that businesses that seek your services consider email marketing as a crucial component of their entire marketing campaign. This means that it is of significant importance that you meet their needs and deadlines and achieve the goals they have first of all envisioned.
You should be able to work fully professionally and effectively, gathering data and information for your work, building the right mailing lists, targeting correctly the market groups and performing all series of necessary actions for a successful campaign. If you want to be among the top services you need to provide great services such as: Creation of email messages with well appointed and quality content that look both creative and inspiring so as to achieve a good response rate. Perform a series of tasks, like updating the subscription lists often, incorporating new members and deleting the non existing, trying to find new subscribers and working parallel campaigns that can bring more customers and more subscribers for your lists. Provide a series of data information to the buyer, such as rates, percentage of clients who respond, number of emails sent and emails opened or deleted, click-through ratios, and any kind of feedback you get.
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Of course in order to be able to do so you need some good software which is functional and easy to use that allows you as professionals to work faster and more efficiently. Personalizing the messages you sent, keeping good records and track of the emails, offering templates and editorial services to clients who don’t wish for the whole package but rather some particular services, and most important constant contact with the clients and buyers, through a customer service support that should be available at least during business hours and that can provide help and meet requirements of all clients at all times are a few things that a good email marketing company should endeavor to provide. Setting up and working as an email marketing company is not the easiest thing to do if you are not up to working professionally and seriously. Especially if you are new to the business prepare yourself for some long hours, because you need to establish yourself in the market and make companies and individuals trust you. 18
Basics Of Email Marketing That Help Bring In Profits Email marketing as the name very well suggests is the technique of marketing using emails. Email marketing is in fact one of the easiest and most effective ways to make money online. The primary requirement to see through any profitable email marketing project is an effective email list. Email lists can be purchased from one of the many companies selling such lists, however it is better to create an email list on your own. When you build a list on your own, you know what you are dealing with and if you have the right targets on your list. That makes the job much simpler and helps in effective communication. If you do not target your emails right, you are not likely to see any results pouring in. Though auto responders are quick and help save time and effort an approach where every query is answered personally can have a more desirable effect on the customers. It casts a better impression on the recipient and adds a personal touch, which is not really possible through an auto responder. Plus it gives the customers a feeling that somebody is bothering to read their mail and it is not just being scanned and answered mechanically. Appropriate content is another important parameter of email marketing. In order to make email marketing more effective, make sure that the content you have is able to capture the interest of the readers. Nobody is interested in reading boring and non-focused content. The best way is to judge impartially, put yourself in the client’s A Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners
shoes and see if the content appeals to you. If yes, then the recipient at the other end is likely to receive your email positively and if not, it might just get deleted even before it is opened. Your emails should be capable of stating your purpose clearly. They should be capable of reflecting your thoughts, whether related to product selling, product promotion or any other marketing aspect. In case you want to educate people or convey some important message, your email should be clear enough to state the purpose behind the exercise. Basically your email should be accountable for your online presence. You can use a significant number of emails to do so. Email marketing campaigns help tremendously in generating qualified traffic to your sales pages. Email list building allows you to attract more and more people to visit your sales pages as well as affiliate pages. Whatever be the business you are promoting, it is not likely to go further if it is not made known to every single potential customer out there. This desired traffic can be generated with the help of a properly planned email marketing campaign. Online free gifts are a great tool to attract subscribers. Make sure to provide free gifts, which have true value as free gifts and reflect the value and image of the paid items offered by you. There are a number of methods that can be employed make your email marketing campaign effective and profitable.
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Welcome Kathy McHenry to the Magazine this month. Owner of Your Virtual Advantage.
Kathy McHenry from Your Virtual Advantage
Question 1: Do you feel that Newsletters and Email marketing are still a valid marketing strategy? if so why? Yes, I do. If you have a product or service that people want, then what better way than through email marketing. They’ve already opted in after all. I have clients who are very successful with their email marketing.
Email: kathy@your-va.com Website:http://yourvirtualadvantage.com
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Question #3: Do you have any strategies for what should be in the actual sign up box? It’s easy to get people to sign up to receive your freebie, but the trick is to keep them for the long run. So your sign up box should include something that tells them that you’re giving more than you’re asking of them. And of course a call to action. The outline is something like this: • An attention-getting headline. • Nice photo or image of the product you’re giving away. Make sure you say FREE. • What is the benefit of them receiving it? • Keep it brief. • Your opt in fields. Name & Email or just Email. The less you ask from them, the more optins you’ll get. • Call to Action Button. What you want them to do. Stay away from ‘Go’ or ‘Submit’ try something like ‘I Want In!’ or ‘Yes, Let Me In!’ • A short privacy policy
Question #2: What do you feel is the best strategy enticing people to opt-in to your newsletter? Ideally you provide information relevant to your audience and people trip over themselves to opt in. But in reality, you provide great information but you still have to give something away. I’ve seen everything from a one page check list to a 60 page ebook. My recommendation always is to give away something really good. One of your better products. Or maybe it’s your only product, but you hope to sell them your services through your newsletters.
People can opt out as quickly as they opt in, so make sure you’re providing value.
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Building a list of loyal readers with an Email Newsletter [Ezine] A Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners
Email newsletters are basically started for addressing certain goals and the benefits at hand. Firstly, you would need the functionality and infrastructure for ensuring the goals are attained. Secondly, you need appropriate content for sending email – like a database of clients/ customers, an HTML form, a technique for sending the emails in bulk, etc. Functionality and Infrastructure: If you are under the notion that for infrastructure, you ought to know a lot of programming and also that getting infrastructure is difficult, you are wrong. There are numerous websites that provide paid services for the infrastructure you need. What you pay to these websites is only a portion of the finances needed for develop24
ing the infrastructure on your own. A common example of this would be Constant Contact and Aweber. Aweber has a comparatively intuitive interface and usefriendly. All you would have to do is log into your account and create a HTML email or text auto-responder messages for all the visitors to your site or those that sign up for the ezine. You can develop a simple HTML form that requests people’s name and email. In fact, the html code for the form would be specifically created for you and all you would have to do is cut and paste it onto your site. You do not need any programming whatsoever. All the given information is stored in the database server of the provider. People can manage their leads listed in
the browser and sort according to their needs. The given in information also allows users to monitor how many auto-responders have been delivered. What’s more, every email that you send would have a personalized first name greeting. Content: Merely having the functionality and infrastructure does not suffice. You would also need suitable content that lures people into accepting and reading your newsletters more often. The content you publish in the newsletters ought to be related to the organization and the website. Every organization has a unique and valuable knowledge and experience to provide. You would be surprised to know how many people are actually getting the knowledge you deliver.
By sharing your experience and knowledge with the potential and existent customers is the main benefit of using the World Wide Web. So, ensure that the newsletter contains all the aspects of the business you deal with. You don’t need much for building an email newsletter. If you can frequently create classy content, just sign up for any online service and jump on to the email newsletter bandwagon. Customer email lists are valuable assets for every organization. Make sure you handle them with care. Avoid selling or renting your list to anyone. Always try and offer value in what you deliver, and avoid exploiting it as a medium for promoting and advertising your business.
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Get Creative When Naming Your Newsletter Since newsletters play such a critical role in ezine marketing, great stress and emphasis needs to be laid in order to compile an effective and efficient newsletter. You can write a good newsletter despite financial restrictions, because all that a newsletter requires to make it attractive and appealing to the audience is an eye catching headline, useful and precise information. You could either write one yourself or if you lack the skills or the time, you could hire the professional services of a ghostwriter to perform the task for you. Nowadays, you will also find numerous newsletters management packages available that are very economical and time saving. These are also 25
very popular since they offer a wide variety of other services also like image hosting, unlimited subscriber list and several other campaigns that prove to be very useful. However, the very first step before all this is to choose a good and interesting name for your newsletter, one which not only has a mass appeal but also is attractive enough to lure your readers towards your newsletter and the information within it. Make A List Begin with making a list of as many as ideas of newsletter names that you can think of. The more ideas that you can get, the easier it will be for you to make a good choice. Ask your friends, family members and associates for help. You can also browse through the internet and borrow ideas from other newsletter names.
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You don’t need to copy them though, but you can definitely look for inspiration. Additionally, you can also take help from names of magazines and other publications. Short List The Good Names Once you have made a list of as many newsletter names possible, then you need to start working on deciding which ones are the best. The ideal way to make this decision would be to start crossing out the less desirable ones rather than choosing the good ones. This makes the task not only simpler, but also less time consuming and comparatively more effective. When you are finally left with only five of the best newsletter names, you can take your final decision and decide on the
most apt name for your newsletter.
Getting started with your ezine marketing campaign
Keep It Simple Yet Attractive
If you are a business owner, it is essential that you have an online presence. One of the best known methods of promoting your business is through ezine articles.
Not only should the name of your newsletter be appealing, but also relevant to the information that is provided in it. The name of your newsletter is very important since it will inspire the readers to subscribe and attract regular traffic to your site. Hence, keeping the information of your newsletter and other features of your site in mind, choose a name that gives the readers a brief description about your newsletter. You may prefer to pick a serious or a humorous name depending on what information your newsletter contains.
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If you publish an article on an online directory, you instantly create a link back to the search engine and web site. Furthermore, use of the article on the business website, blog or ezine creates more link backs to the site, making it more popular among search engines. Ezine marketing is very similar to “off line” advertising, except for the fact that businesses place their ad(s) on online ezines. Ezines are said to be the best sources of information for various fields of interest. These are usually free of cost and can be web based, or can 27
be delivered via email. They are usually published monthly, biweekly, weekly, or daily on the basis of how often it is distributed. Following are certain factors you should bear in mind before deciding upon an ezine for placing your ad. Number of Subscribers –An ezine article should atleast have 400 subscribers. Date of Publication – Advertise in ezines that are published on weekly or more frequent basis. You may not want to wait for a month or more than that to see your ad appear in the ezine. Number of Ads – An ezine should have not more than 15 ads per issue to be considered as a mode for your advertising campaign. If there are numerous ads, your ad may not be visible in the clutter of ads.
Payment Method - Make sure the ezine accepts online payment with the type of card you use. Ad rates – You should be able to pay the ad rates. Ezine articles for small businesses depend on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) targeted, or keyword rich articles that are to be published with the explicit keywords and original content. This makes for it easier for retrieving these articles from search engines while locating information over the Internet. Meta tags and Hyper-links help in attracting more traffic to the article or web site.
lishers and have appropriate keywords to make it easier for the search engines to identify with them. It may seem very tedious, but if you have a huge Internet presence you would have to put in only a few hours of work every week. Marketing business through ezine advertising is said to be one of the most effectual ways of getting in touch with the target audience. There are thousands of ezine articles on innumerable subjects. Opt for this service today and you are sure to have a long lasting impression on all the prospective and present customers.
To make this step more successful you ought to publish numerous articles on carious directories. Moreover, you also need to ensure that the articles are popular with pubA Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners
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Leverage the power of Ezine Newsletter [Ezine]
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Newsletter leads the list of advertising options an online business owner can use to promote his business. In order to advertise online businesses and reach out to their target audience effectively, business owners rely on this dynamic tool – Ezine advertising!! Typically, Ezines are email newsletters that business owners send to their clients or subscribers so that they regularly receive updates and latest info pertaining to their field of interest. Online communities usually make it a point to read Ezines and everything that’s associated with that particular Ezine. Thus, if you match the Ezine to the kind of product or service you are selling, you can quickly connect to your target audience and spread a word about your online business. 29
With more than 90,000 Ezines being published each month, it’s not very difficult to find the one that best suits your type of business. In addition, Ezine advertising is very cheap and you may expect to pay as little as $5 and $20 per issue for a small five line ad. This amount is hardly anything as compared to the amount of exposure your business will get soon after your ad is published. Business owners usually place an ad with several Ezines and when responses start pouring in, they are unable to figure out which Ezines were more productive. When advertising through Ezine you need to track your ads carefully so as to know which Ezines got a better response. Once you are able to identify the more lucrative
Ezines, you can continue to grow your business and expand your clientele by sticking to those ones. Ad tracking is possible by appending a code or key at the end of your email address that helps you differentiate the more lucrative Ezines from the less lucrative ones. A common mistake most business owners make is to place their ad in the wrong Ezine that has little or nothing to do with the kind of business they are in. Thus, business owners selling home furnishings will fail to get good response if they place their ad in Ezines related to home loans. The best way to deal with this is to refer to any Ezine directory and find an Ezine category that best fits your needs. Once you have short-listed a few ads, all you need to do is subscribe to them to see if ads in
those Ezines are being repeated in every issue. Repeated ads indicate that the Ezine you have chosen can invoke the desired response and help you quickly develop a list of prospects. You must however ensure that your ad gets the much-needed visibility to get response. Ideally, choose an Ezine publisher who doesn’t favor ads of similar products or services in the same issue so that your ad gets full attention. Some publishers offer discounts for bulk advertising, so grab them and repeat your ads to leverage the power of Ezine for your online business promotion. You may choose to advertise your business through Classified Ads, Sponsor Ads, or Solo Ads on Ezine to reach out to millions of Internet users worldwide.
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Tips To Leverage The Power Of Newsletters To Boost Web Traffic And Promote Your Home Based Business For all home based businesses, their websites are a potential source of increasing their sales profitably. In order to benefit, they first need to increase the traffic to their website which consequently requires them to attract more of target audience. Since there is a huge competition amongst online entrepreneurs, and besides using the usual business tactics like ezine advertising, you also need to do something different that will make your website stand out amongst the rest. One such very valuable online business tool that definitely has a massive appeal are regular newsletters that you send out to your subscribers. 30
Give Them A Reason You need to provide your subscribers with good and valid reasons as to why they should sign up for your newsletters. If you give them reasons good enough, they will definitely subscribe. For instance, it could be free access to a helpful tool kit or an e-book on a subject useful to the targeted audience or perhaps you could lure them to subscribe with free offers. However, getting them to subscribe is not the hardest part. Once they have subscribed, you need to make efforts to ensure that they remain with you. Useful And Relevant Information In order to make certain that your subscribers continue subscribing to your newsletter, you have to provide them with useful and helpful information,
news that they can relate to and that serves their interests. This is very essential or else very soon you many find that you are losing potential customers.
products and services that you offer, and other similar features that will appeal to the targeted audience. All these points combined together will guarantee you wider mass appeal.
It should cater to the needs and requirements of the particular market that you are targeting. Once you have caught the fancy of your subscribers, you can be assured of getting referrals from your subscribers.
Professional Newsletter
ters and hence increase traffic to your site and consequently boost sales.
you must leverage the power of Newsletter to boost your profits and expand your business.
Top five reasons why Newsletter is the hottest advertising tool today!
1. Newsletter is by far the most effective way of communicating with your clients and prospective customers on a regular basis, to remind them of your services. As a busy business owner, you are faced with the challenge of creating a special bond with your clients to ensure repeat business from them. However, it would be nearly impossible to write to each one of them and that too on a regular basis. Newsletter comes to your rescue and helps you attain this goal effortlessly and thus spread the word about your business. The frequent communication helps to establish a good rapport with the clients and compels them to often think about you and your company.
In the modern business scenario, business owners cannot rely on traditional methods of advertising alone to keep up with the changing demands of their businesses. Many who earlier tried investing huge Content Of The Newsletter amount of money and time in promotions through mail realWriting a newsletter is not a ized that these were wasted very difficult task. Include interefforts, as the mail was often Newsletter software programs esting and attractive features ignored as junk. They soon are very easy and convenient in it that catch the attention of since they provide you with realized that the only way to your subscribers in the very stay in touch with their target step- by- step guidance and a first instance. variety of formats which makes audience and to strike a chord the task even simpler and time was through “Newsletters” or Incorporate hot scoops, feature saving for you. With the profes- “Weekly Newsletter Marketa friendly column with some sional guidance of these news- ing”. If you are a business helpful advice, provide cusowner trying to carve a niche letter software programs, you tomer oriented services, usecan compile attractive newslet- in the dynamic business world, ful information regarding the 31 A Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners Although, writing a newsletter is not as difficult as it sounds, as long as you have writing skills and the necessary time, taking professional assistance from software programs designed specially for this very purpose will only prove to work in your favor.
2. Just write a good Newsletter (this does not require any special skills), add a “tell a friend message� on top and leave the rest to your readers. Chances are they will recommend it to their friends if they thought that the newsletter benefited them in some way. This form of viral marketing will boost your business and help you create a better market presence. 3. Writing an Newsletter establishes your expertise in the public eye and you are therefore likely to get a loyal list of readers who in turn may become your future clients. Once you are positioned as a specialist in your field, people are bound to look up to you for advice and guidance and will have more faith in your services and products.
4. Newsletter enables you to get contact information of online visitors by using the free subscription option. Thus, if you offer a free newsletter to people along with a free gift, people would be more than willing to receive your tips and advice that can help them to deal with issues. While these subscribers may not necessarily convert into clients, they will surely consider you the next time they have need for the kind of products or services you offer. 5. Publishing an Newsletter is very easy and the best part is that it is not at all expensive! Being such a dynamic and affordable advertising tool, it is not difficult to guess why everyone is raving about NEWSLETTER!!
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Why Newsletter is the hottest place to post your articles?
Newsletter is one of the best marketing tools available online. It usually comes free of cost and is accessed by a number of people helping you reach a larger segment of the target audience. There are many benefits of posting articles on Newsletters and this is what makes them very popular. A Newsletter will help you to brand your business along with your website. When you submit articles to Newsletter, you have a resource box at the end of the article where you can enter personal information and a contact address. If you want to find the Newsletter that suits your needs, you can use Google and type in the key word that describes your target market along with Newsletter or newsletter. If you write and post articles on a continuous basis, you will become an expert on the various topics. This will help to build your credibility as an individual and at the same time increase the credibility of your business. This will also help you to distinguish yourself from your competitors. An additional benefit you can enjoy is if your article is placed on the publisher’s home page. This will help you to get maximum exposure, especially if it is consistently done, issue after issue. There are many Newsletters that provide archives on their previous issues on their website. This is because it helps to make the decision whether to subscribe or not. This will also help you to capture a larger market, as even though the issue in which your article appeared is not in circulation it is still available for the readers. You will also be able to get free advertising, as the Newsletter will promote itself. With the money you save here, you can use it to advertise on other Newsletters. Writing for Newsletters helps you to earn extra income from other sources as well. Many people will want you to write for them and will hire you for the same. They may even hire you to write books or even speak at seminars. These are great ways by which you can add extra income and promote your business. Many Newsletter publishers offer free ebooks. If you allow the publishers to publish your articles in their e-books, you are opening your doors to many new readers. Furthermore, some publishers have a free content directory. This allows visitors to the Newsletter to republish your articles. In this way, your presence is created beyond your expectations and with little effort from your part. When people read your articles, they are more likely to trust you and buy your products. This will help you to increase your profits by bringing in more customers. Newsletter is liked for so many reasons and the user enjoys a multitude of benefits.
Blogs are very popular delivery mediums nowadays. They are used by all for all purposes. Many are using blogs as a marketing tool. The popularity of blogs has led to a successful platform from which to deliver your ezine articles. Many would suggest you deliver your articles for ezine via a blog because of the many advantages it offers. As a blog is a web based, you have the chance to post your articles as and when you choose. It can be done anytime of the day and from anywhere you are and the updates take place instantly. The availability of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds enables the subscribers to receive your content to their desktops, void of spam. In this manner, the subscribers get what they wish to read. Blogs are also an inexpensive way in which you can create a presence online and that too without the hassle of a website. Many sites offer you a blogging environment free of cost. Even if they do charge a fee, it is generally a nominal rate. You have the facility of setting up a subscription form as well as send email to your subscribers when you add new content. Apart from this, you can use the side column to provide links for ads and your affiliate programs. This will allow you to advertise without letting it interfere with your content. Another advantage of using blogs is that they are easily linked to other blogs. This will help you in creating a virtual marketing system and at the same time increase your exposure online. The blogs help you to increase your ratings on search engines and thus have more visitors. You have improved ratings because of the key word rich content that is also text filled. Your ezine blog is not only popular but also trusted by your subscribers because you provide content that they require and that saves them time that they would have spend on finding similar content. Blogs also allow easy archiving of articles. This is because when you post an article, it is done on a new page. This new page creates a permalink which is what the readers use to share the article. When this link is passed on to others, they directly access the article. It also provides space fro people to post their comments, allowing you to create rapport and build relations with your readers and subscribers. Like any other website, you will be required to promote your blogs as well. People should want to add your site to their RSS feed or subscribe. Use the blog as a tool to market your ezine. The basic idea is to use the blogs to generate more traffic and lead them to become subscribers wherein they eventually become your clients.
Blogging your way for successful Ezine marketing
Smart tips to build a high potential Newsletter list The Newsletter subscriber list comprises of a very important group interested in the product or service you provide. There are many ways of building high potential Newsletter lists. Given below are some of them. Free Stuff – Give out useful free incentives that you feel the audience would need and want. Subscriber box – Insert a subscriber box on every page of the website. Many experts suggest a simple sign up box on the left top corner, as this catches the eye quickly. Ad exchange – Swap plugs for the Newsletter with other websites so as to run in the Newsletters. By following this with a rotating selection of web partners on a frequent basis would definitely help in keeping the subscription page active. Cross-registration – Many businesses find subscribers by having a plug for the Newsletter on the thank you page of another website. You can present an exchange for your site, and make sure you list only two other Newsletters at the most. Moreover, remember to include only reliable, good publications that can reach the target audience. Bonus – Give out bonuses to other sites for using or buying a product. For instance, many businesses use a common marketing technique of a 1-2 day promo wherein big bonus lists are offered when people buy a certain product on certain specified days. You can use some of your best Newsletter articles in a PDF format. Also insert an explanatory copy about the Newsletter as well as a subscribe link towards the end of the PDF. A Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners
Use boards or discussion boards – These are basically places where a group of people come together to discuss common topics. Steer clear of unmoderated sites, as these are least likely to be target of spam, which produce less authentic traffic. Offer genuine help to members on the forum. Include a signature with information about the Newsletter and subscription. Autoresponders – Have an autoresponder that captures email addresses and names. Thereafter you can set it up for emailing a series of messages. For instance, some business owners have set up messages that are automatically mailed to clients over a time span of 2 years. Thus, one can go on extended leaves and not worry about money. Allow reprints – Permit newsletters to reprint your articles. There are instances wherein an email requesting permission is sent. The given database helps in choosing articles to be reprinted for future use. All you would have to include at the end of the article is a request box mentioning your name and authority to allow others to use the article, but only after sending you a mail requesting the same. When it comes to expanding business using Newsletter articles, the possibilities are endless. Build your Newsletter list with the above given tips and you would soon get a firm base much needed for the success and traffic that your Internet business relies on.
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How To Attract More Subscribers? Here are a few useful strategies on how you can spread your subscription net in order to attract more ezine subscribers: Use Subscription Rocket: In order to increase your ezine subscribers, establish a SR code on your website. The subscription rocket is a small pop-under that introduces visitors to your website and offers them free subscription. Increase Traffic To Your Website: With a pop-under like SR, you can attract targeted as well as non-targeted traffic to your website. They will enhance the appearance of your ezine to targeted visitors from other websites. Another way to boost ezine traffic to your website is to publish a page with some personal information like your hobbies with the keyword optimization technique. In this way, by providing the visitors with some basic information about yourself, you build a relationship with them. Besides this, you can also include affiliate links to sell products that can serve as an additional source of income. Take Advantage Of Sub-Affiliates: Getting numerous sub-affiliates will definitely provide a boost to your ezine subscriptions. All you need to do is refer to some useful websites and every time these referred websites attract more visitors, you receive credit for it. This increases the chances of your ezine getting noticed by targeted visitors of other websites.
loads, games, recipes, contests, jokes and other interesting trivia ensures constant flow of traffic to your website. Ezine subscribers make it a point to visit your website when they find useful articles. This increases your ezine notice and helps you to attract more targeted traffic from other websites. Easy Sign-Up Forms: Make your ezine sign-up forms conveniently available and easy to sign. Put one up on every page of your website. Don’t make it too complicated or the prospective subscribers may lose interest. Only ask for the visitor’s name and e-mail address. Include Your Ezine On All Your E-Mails: Since your e-mails may be forwarded to numerous other people, you can use this to your advantage by incorporating it in your e-mail signature line. This will definitely attract more traffic to your website. Request For Further References: You can ask your already existing subscribers to forward your ezine to their associates, friends and family members since they found it so useful. You can use bonus or any other special reports to reward them for doing so. Include Your Ezine In Your Business Cards: Including your ezine and relevant links on your business card will assuredly tempt people to visit your website at least once. And once there, you can easily get them to sign the subscription form.
Use Subscriber Drive Codes: In addition to the SR, use Subscriber Drive Codes also. This ensures that you never fall short of attracting targeted ezine subscribers. Attract Subscribers To Your Website Regularly: Including certain regular and attractive features on your website like free downA Digital Publication From Sacred Earth Partners
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Thanks and Attributions Thank you so much to every one that made this months magazine a success!
Images: • • • • • • • •
DeaPeaJay DeclanTM CarbonNYC dan taylor DeclanTM Davide Restivo Gepat Robert S. Donovan
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Contact Info Email Mail Info@SacredEarthPartners.com Snail Mail
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