Internet Marketing - Email Marketing

E-mail marketing is a great way to promote your website or your products.  It can also be very profitable.  There are three main reasons e-mail marketing works as well as it does - if done correctly.   

First, you can establish your credibility as a knowledgeable source about whatever you are selling.  You send out e-mails with valuable information about your product or industry.  As people read your e-mails they begin to see you as a knowledgeable source.    

Second, as people come to know you as a credible knowledgeable source they will begin to trust you.  When people come to trust you they are more likely to buy products from you.   

The third reason e-mail marketing works is the same as with traditional marketing.  You keep your name in front of people so they remember you and when it is time to buy they will buy from someone they know. 

It is a well known fact that most people do not buy the first time they visit a website.  Depending on what information you read it takes up to 7 exposures before someone makes a buying decision.  You using e-mail you keep your name and product in front of potential customers.  When they are ready to buy, the customers think of you and buy from you.

Getting Started With E-Mail Marketing

 E-mail marketing in its simplest form is not very complex.  You need a list of people to send e-mails to and a way to send them.  It is that simple.  Please take a moment and sign up for our e-mails if you have not already done so.  You will find the sign-up on the right side of the page.    

E-mail Marketing List Building

The first thing you need is a list of names and e-mail addresses of people to send e-mails to.  There are places you can buy lists but those lists are sold to numerous people and are not necessarily targeted towards people interested in your product.  Sending e-mails to people that are not interested in what you have to offer is a waste of your time and resources.

The best way to create a list is to collect them from your own website.  This way you know the people want the information you have to offer.  You also have gotten them to trust you enough to give you their name and e-mail address.  Offer people an incentive to sign up for your e-mail list.  Free reports, price discounts, free drawings are some popular options.

You can manually send e-mails individually to each person that subscribes to receive your e-mails.  This will be extremely time consuming.  You should get an auto-responder.  Here are two of the most popular.  AWeber and TrafficWave.  Both are simple to use and you can run multiple e-mail campaigns from a single account.   

Here is a List Building Resource.  

Benefits Of Using Auto-Responders

You can avoid or greatly reduce spam complaints.  If you choose either of the auto-responders mentioned above they require a double opt-in from subscribers.  The people need to fill out their e-mail information and then click on a link at their e-mail address to verify they want to receive the e-mails.

Setting Up Your E-mail Marketing Campaigns

There are different schools of thought on how frequently e-mails should be sent out.  Your first e-mail, delivering the information you offered as an incentive, should be sent as soon as the person confirms they want to receive e-mails.  The second one should go out the next day.  From there it depends on what you want your goal is.  With my traditional sales websites I send out an e-mail every two weeks until the series is done.  I have a series on how to use Traffic Exchanges and the e-mails go out a few days apart.

Do not send out e-mails more often than you said you would.  If people are expecting an e-mail once a week they do not get upset when one shows up.  If they start receiving e-mails more than that it irritates them.  You will lose trust and potential customers.

Make sure your e-mails provide relevant interesting valuable information.  You need to send out regular e-mail marketing messages to your list. Your customers will start to recognize your name and be more willing to read you e-mails. If they only receive an e-mail marketing message every six months you will not build a relationship with customers and they will not recognize your e-mails. The messages you create for your e-mail marketing need to be short, informative, interesting and the titles of your e-mail marketing messages need to catch the reader's attention.

By using e-mails campaigns you can get your product or service in front of potential customers multiple times.  You build a relationship with them so when they are ready to buy they trust you.  You can establish yourself as a trusted expert in your field.  When people trust you and have a relationship with you they are more willing to buy from you.