If you have a website, you MUST have a sign up form to capture people’s names and email addresses. You can’t imagine how much business you are throwing away if you don’t.
Now, people are somewhat reluctant to give out their email address as freely as they once were. That’s why it is a good idea to give out a freebie in exchange for the information.
One common example of a freebie is a free report. With a free report, you provide background information on a subject which helps establish your authority in your field. For instance, a therapist might offer a report on “5 ways to fight depression” or a financial planner might offer a report on “Surviving the Current Recession.”
If you have a product or service that can be discounted, consider sending a coupon to the inbox of everyone who subscribes. This way, they get something tangible out of giving you their contact information.
Perhaps the best thing you can offer is a free e-course. In an e-course, you send out information over a period of days. For instance, the “5 Ways to Fight Depression” report could be turned into an e-course with each way being sent out over a five day period.
The reason that e-courses are especially powerful is because they condition your visitors to open email from you. This is important because you want to continue contacting the visitor.
You do this by having a monthly newsletter that goes out on a set day each month. You can either do these newsletters on a monthly basis or load up twelve months worth of newsletters at one time and not worry about them until the next year. If your service is sensitive to changes in the economy and news, you may not want to write all of the information in advance. However, if you want to give out pet tips, these don’t tend to change with the current events in Washington or Wall Street.
In addition to the regular newsletters, you can send specials to the people on your list. If there is a current event or trend that you want to take advantage of, send out a quick email. If you are having a limited time special, let your list know. Offer specials available only to the people on your list.
When business is slow, use your email list to drum up customers.
You can also collect the email addresses of people on fliers, coupons, or other special offers and manually enter them into the system. They will have to confirm their participation on the list, though.
If you don’t have an email marketing list, you are leaving money on the table. Get started on developing an email marketing list today by calling Inland Web Services at (909) 809-8566.
