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Email Marketing for Small Business: Tips to Maximize Results

gutenk — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:11:55 +0000

Email Marketing for Small Business: Tips to Maximize Results

Article by Daniel J. Decker

Email marketing is a great tool for any business- but especially for small businesses. Email marketing allows you to reach an essentially unlimited number of customers, clients and prospects- and it allows you to do so at a fraction of the cost of direct mail campaigns. But like anything else, if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s easy to make mistakes. Below are six tips to help you get started:

1. Don’t do it alone. Many business owners try to run their own campaigns directly from their email outbox. It’s tempting to save money wherever you can, but if you’re serious about email marketing, use a service like iContact or Constant Contact. Basic plans are very affordable, and you will save yourself an incredible amount of time and frustration. In addition, you will be able to use an attractive layout, branded with your company logo and colors. 2. Make sure you have permission. Don’t be a spammer! Make sure that you do not send emails to anybody that did not choose to receive them. Sending unsolicited marketing emails will make your company look bad and could get you blacklisted by many email providers. Your mailing list should be “opt-in”, meaning recipients choose to join it, rather than choosing NOT to join. Also, be sure that each email has an “opt-out” link where recipients can choose to stop receiving your emails if they wish. 3. Keep them short, catchy and professional. Don’t get carried away- nobody wants to read an essay! Instead, make sure you have a catchy subject line and a couple of strong sentences that communicate your message clearly and concisely. If the purpose of the email is to persuade recipients to buy a product, visit a store, or subscribe to a service, be sure to end with a strong call to action. 4. Don’t end up in the spam folder. Unfortunately, thanks to the barrage of spam we all receive, spam filters have become more and more aggressive. It’s not uncommon for legitimate emails to be filtered into a junk or spam folder. If you’re using an email marketing service, you should have the option to “spam check” each message. Take advantage of this and make sure you follow their recommendations. 5. Don’t overuse video and sound. Videos and sound effects can be used very effectively in a marketing campaign, but they can also be overused. Many people are quickly scanning their emails and don’t have the time to watch a video. And if they have music playing, nothing is more annoying than unexpected blast of sound from an email! Use video and sound sparingly, and make sure that they DON’T autoplay. 6. Have a plan. If your email marketing strategy consists of waking up one morning and deciding to send out an email, it’s not going to succeed. A good email marketing plan is like telling a story- and you can only do this if you plan it out ahead of time. Don’t try to sell something every time you send an email… mix in holiday greetings, updates and other non-sales material. Each time a client or prospect opens your email, you have a golden opportunity to strengthen your relationship. Make sure you take full advantage!

Email marketing is a great tool for a small business… but only if it is done right. The tips above are far from an exhaustive list, but they will get you started in the right direction!

About the Author

Daniel J. Decker is an internet marketing strategist, writer and entrepreneur. He has been heavily involved in the world of social media, blogging and internet marketing since 2005. Check out his website at http://www.deckerinternetmarketing.com and his blog at http://www.danieljdecker.com.

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gutenk — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:45:12 +0000

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) — Mahendra Negi, chief financial officer of Trend Micro Inc., talks with Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo about the company’s financial results and growth strategy. Trend Micro, the worlds third-biggest maker of security software, announced a net income forecast of 3.6 billion yen ($39 million) for the three months ending March 31, compared with the 4.8 billion yen earned in the same quarter a year earlier. (Source: Bloomberg)

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gutenk — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:30:28 +0000

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This is a sample text from the e-Book “Glo-Bus Glo-Bus Business Strategy Game Demystified” To buy a copy of this e-Book, click here

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