In the past two weeks we’ve looked at what email marketing can do for your online business and how to build a mailing list.  Today we will outline some good email marketing practices and why it is important that you adhere to them.  As you all know, there are few things more annoying than spam and junk emails.  Even if you signed up to receive them, they can still get very irritating, especially if you get an email every day.  So above all, you should avoid sending out too many emails, as this kind of practice will quickly have people labelling your messages as spam, or unsubscribe from the list altogether.  The more people that label your emails as spam, the more likely it is that your messages will end up in junk mail folders of even the people who do want to receive your messages.  So how can you avoid this?

Top 5 Good Email Marketing Practices

1) Get Permission to Send Out Emails

When building your list make sure that everyone has given you their permission to contact them.  You can achieve this most easily by having an opt-in sign up process that outlines the exact terms and conditions of signing up.  Then, once you get the permission, make sure you send out the type of emails that you promised you would.  For example, if you promised advice then that’s what you should give.

2) Offer Useful Content

Strive to provide useful content in the emails that you send.  In other words, do not simply market your services or products in the emails, but offer substance as well.  This will ensure that people actually read your emails and do not simply dismiss them as spam.  And the biggest reward for having people reading your email marketing messages is of course having them visit your website or blog, buy your product or service, or do whatever else you are trying to achieve through the email marketing campaign.

3) Be Memorable

People sign up for a lot of newsletters and they will quickly forget why they did so.  This is why you should contact them as soon as they sign up.  Do not wait until the scheduled time for sending out the emails, but either send new subscribers the latest message immediately, or have special content prepared especially for them.  By sending some content to new subscribers immediately you are ensuring that they will not have forgotten all about you by the time you send them your regularly scheduled newsletter.

4) Don’t Over Do It

Do not send emails more than once a week. Sure the big companies such as  Amazon or GoDaddy sometimes send promotional emails every day, but they can afford people unsubscribing or labelling their emails as spam.  If you are just starting out with email marketing, you can’t.  So aim to send out one email a week, or every other week, provide useful and interesting content and you should have a successful email marketing campaign.

5) Remind People Why They Signed Up

Using an email marketing managing software, such as Aweber, allows you to attach a signature to the emails with the information on when they signed up to receive emails from you, what the emails are about, and how to unsubscribe if they want to do so.  People appreciate this information and, needless to say, if they choose to unsubscribe you should honor their wish and not send them any more emails.
Following the above list of good email marketing practices will keep your readers happy and your emails out of their junk mail folder.  If you need more information on how to conduct a good email marketing campaign, or how to build a mailing list, please read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series of posts on email marketing.

Last week we discussed the important role that email marketing plays in building a successful online business, and today it is time to get a little more specific.  The size and quality of your mailing list are at the heart of successful email marketing.  So, in order for your campaign to bring in the maximum amount of traffic and revenue, your mailing list must be highly targeted and constantly expanding.   Below you will find the top 5 tips on how build, or create such a mailing list, as well as how to manage and maintain it.

1) Create a Privacy Policy

Most people are wary of giving out their email address online, especially at websites they are not familiar with.  The general fear is that you will sell their email address, or that they will receive copious amounts of spam mail.  To avoid this, create a Privacy Policy that addresses all these issues and place it in an easy to find spot on your website.  To do so check out the Privacy Policy of a similar website and use it as a guide to create a similar one for yourself, or hire a professional to write it for you.

2) Find a Mailing List Managing Software

To ensure greater efficiency in managing your mailing list, use a so-called mailing list manager.  There are many free ones available online, such as the Mailman offered by  Gnu.org, though if you want a more complete email marketing tool consider signing up for a paid manager, such as Aweber.com.  A good mailing list managing software will allow you to easily build your list, as well as send out the content in a hassle-free manner.

3) Offer Free Content

In order to get as many people as possible to sign up for your mailing list, consider offering them something for doing so.  This could be a free e-book, an informative newsletter, some free software, or a free course.  Make sure that this free content is closely related to the focus of your business and not just random freebies though.  This will ensure that people stay on your mailing list and even pass the information about your business on to their friends and contacts.

4) Make It Easy To Sign Up

Place the subscription box in a prominent area on your website.  The top left side of the webpage is the spot where the visitor will look first, so consider putting it there with a heading such as “Subscribe now and receive a free e-book,” or something similar.  You might also consider having the subscription form in a pop-up window, though keep in mind that most people find these annoying. Also, do not ask for too much information, such as their age, phone number, address and so on.  People do not like sharing so much information over the Internet, so it is best to simply ask for their first name and email address, as this will get you the most sign-ups.

5) Build a Good Relationship With Your Subscribers

Give your subscribers the feeling that they are dealing with a real person, and not just an automated mailing system.  The best way to do this is to answer all their queries quickly, preferably in less than 24 hours.  While many of the mailing list managing programs give you the option of setting up autoresponders, try to personalise the message contained in it and also respond with a personal message as soon as possible.  People who like the content they receive from you, will automatically tell their friends about you. However, to make sure that they do, also ask them to, in a polite and straightforward manner.

Following the above tips should help you create a successful mailing list quickly. Next week we will look at the third part of this email marketing series, namely what practices to avoid when conducting your email marketing campaign.

Simply put, email marketing is the advertising of a product, service or brand through sending electronic mail messages, or emails.  The main goal of email marketing is to drive more visitors to your main website or blog, thereby trying to either gain more readers, or sell more products or services. The main advantage of email marketing versus traditional mail marketing is that sending emails is cheaper and faster, since there are no printing and postage fees associated with it.  Another great plus of mounting an email marketing campaign is that it allows you to reach a large number of people in a relatively short amount of time.  However, the main drawback to this type of marketing is that it is very close to the practice of spamming, which is hated by everyone the world over.

5 Steps to Successful Email Marketing

1) Build a Mailing List

Having a long email mailing list is the dream of all internet marketers. When building this list, aim for a so-called opt-in mailing list, which means that the people you will be emailing have all given you their permission to contact them.  You can achieve this most easily by adding a box to your website asking people to sign up for your newsletter. To keep track of your list, and even send out emails automatically, consider using a service such as www.aweber.com.

2) Create Materials to Send

The most widely used material that gets sent in the course of an email marketing campaign is a newsletter.  This is basically a longer email, detailing the current and upcoming promotions, sales, or other points of interest associated with your business, website, or blog. Keep the information in the newsletter short, simple, clear and easy to understand.

3) Have a Mailing Schedule

Send out your newsletter about once or twice a month. Doing so more often will quickly get you labeled as a spammer, causing your emails to be ignored.  Also, aim to provide real value in your emails and try to offer something to your readers for free and without the need to purchase anything.

4) Track Your Email Marketing Campaign

One of the biggest advantages of email marketing is that its success is easily measurable.  A vary simple way of doing this is by including links to your website or blog in your email marketing messages and having tracking software, such as Google Analytics, installed on your website. This way you can see how many people follow the links in your newsletter.  By changing the actual content of the emails, you can also use this technique to find out what appeals most to your readers.

5) Periodically Review Your Email Marketing Campaign

Set aside some time about every six months to study how successful the campaign has been, by seeing if your sales, click-through rates or number of readers has increased, decreased, or is stagnating.  Armed with this information, you can then revise your email marketing campaign to make it more effective.  Also, make sure that your mailing list is constantly growing, and do not stop trying to get new people to sign up, thereby refreshing your list.

Over the next two weeks the separate elements of email marketing, such as how to grow a mailing list and what not to do with email marketing, will be discussed in greater detail.

If you are in the field of selling products, or services through your website, then you will appreciate today’s post.   As you are aware, it is not enough to simply put the products onto the website and wait for the customers to come.  Here is a list of the top 10 tips on how to improve online sales:

1. Fully describe the product or service that you offer.

The more detailed the description, the more likely it is that a potential customer will decide to buy from you.  Always keep in mind that customers shopping online do not have the benefit of holding the item in their hand and examining it, so make the descriptions as thorough as possible.  Include a good and clear picture of the product, as well as all the factual information about it, such as its size, weight, colour, price and so on.

2. Make the descriptions of what you are offering as passionate as possible.

Draw the customers in with the words you use.  Think of the website as your storefront, and the descriptions of the products you offer as your salespeople.

3. Practice the technique of up selling to your customers.

This is one of the oldest sales techniques and involves offering complementary products to the customers who have already decided to buy something.  For example, if you are selling shoes you might present the customer with the option of buying shoe-polish to go with their purchase of a pair of shoes.

4. Chose a set of products to feature and highlight.

This will help you sell more of a specific product by making it more prominent.  But make sure that you refresh this list at least once a month.

5. Present your customers with the options.

Buying gift vouchers for themselves, or as gifts. This will encourage them to both come back to your online store, as well as tell others about it.

6. Use viral marketing.

Make it easy for your customers and visitors to share what they see in your online store on Facebook, Twitter, and by email. You might even consider offering special discounts or rewards to those who bring a certain number of customers to your website in this way, which is an especially good tactic if your online store is new.

7. Introduce an option to subscribe to the mailing list.

Send daily emails to those who do, reminding them of special offers, discounts and new arrivals. Offer special discounts on holidays and special occasions, such as Christmas and Easter sales.

8. Remember that a happy customer is a repeat customer.

Offer a high quality customer service. Reply to all queries within 24-hours, and keep your customers informed about the status of their order through emails.

9. Offer a secure form of payment on your website.

Explain to your customers fully just how secure it is. This way they will not feel like they are taking a risk ordering from you, and will do so more readily.  Also, have a clear and easy to find return policy and adhere to it.  Remember that there is a certain amount of fear associated with buying online, so give your customers the option to easily return the product that they bought.

10.  Maintain a relationship with your customers.

Even after the transaction is over send them a thank you note, and news of further discounts and special offers, provided they agree to it.