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Posts Tagged ‘e-mail newsletter’
Monday, March 18th, 2013
If you’re concerned that the demise of Google Reader will kill your blog, rest your eyes. I doubt that’s going to happen. In fact, I’m confident that it won’t – especially if you do these three things to increase your blog readership right now.
Don’t wait. If you’re not already doing these three things, then you should start doing them right now.
- Set up e-mail subscription – Few people within the general public ever figured out RSS enough to use an RSS reader, but everyone understands e-mail. You should set up an e-mail subscription link for your blog today and promote it wherever and whenever possible.
- Promote your blog through social media – I’d be willing to bet that almost everyone you know has a Facebook account. You should be promoting your blog posts through social media, and that includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. It may also mean YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, and other social media sites.
- Publish a blog promotion newsletter – While everyone understands e-mail, not everyone will subscribe to your blog posts by e-mail. However, many people will subscribe to your newsletter because they already understand that concept of a newsletter. You can use your newsletter to promote your blog while keeping your traffic returning again and again.
These are not the only means you have of promoting your blog, but they are a good start. You can start today. Google Reader may be dying, but it’s not the end of the world.
Tags: blogging, e-mail, e-mail newsletter, google reader, RSS
Posted in Blogging for Small Business | No Comments »
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
Building an e-mail list is one of the most challenging tasks for businesses as they make their first attempt at marketing online. But it can be done. And it can be done using off line, or traditional, marketing methods. Here are three off line ways to build your e-mail marketing list.
- Hold a Raffle – Give something away to your retail customers. All you have to do is require them to join your e-mail list to enter the raffle. You can have a sign up form on your counter or give them a flyer when they purchase something. Be sure to put signage in your store for the customers who aren’t making a purchase right away.
- Offer a Tips Newsletter – You can offer tips related to your specialty and take subscriptions at the point of sale. For instance, if you run a bait & tackle shop, you can offer fishing and hunting tips by e-mail. Get your customers’ e-mail addresses when you ring them up and check them out.
- Attend a Networking Event – If you are a member of your local chamber of commerce, attend the mixers. Pass out your business cards. Or join a business networking group in your community. Get face to face with people and let them know about your e-mail list.
Not all online marketing has to start, or end, online. You can build an e-mail list using traditional marketing techniques.
Tags: e-mail list, e-mail marketing, e-mail newsletter, list building
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | No Comments »
Thursday, December 27th, 2012
More and more, online marketers are integrating social media with e-mail marketing, but the integration may not necessarily be what you think. There’s more than one way to make it happen. Here are three ways you can incorporate social media with your e-mail marketing and two of them are probably something you haven’t thought about.
- Add social icons to your newsletter articles – This is a no-brainer. It’s likely something you’ve considered. If you haven’t done it yet, make it easier for your e-mail newsletter subscribers to share what they read with their friends on their social networks.
- Repurpose e-newsletter articles for social media – Take one article from your e-mail newsletter and share it on your Facebook page and your LinkedIn account. (Be sure to tweet them as well). Drive traffic back to your newsletter subscribe page to increase your subscriptions. If the article includes a call to action, give readers the shortest route possible to take the action you want them to take. Either include the Buy Now button on Facebook or link to the conversion page.
- Turn your newsletter into a series of videos – Or, maybe just one video newsletter. Keep it short. Turn your articles into little video articles that might even include a multimedia presentation.
These are just a few ideas. There are other ways you can integrate your e-mail marketing and social media accounts. Use your creativity and make it happen.
Tags: e-mail marketing, e-mail newsletter, newsletter, Social Media
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 4 Comments »
Monday, July 16th, 2012
No matter what kind of business you are in, you can develop a process or methodology of accomplishing your important tasks and then teach that to others. That is really the essence of running your business like it’s a book. And if you think about it, a book is nothing more than a teaching tool.
At least, that’s how John Jantsch thinks about it.
It’s also how I think about it.
Teaching is a great way to get people to see things the way you do. By developing a process or system around certain tasks related to your core business, you make your business more efficient. But a process can also be packaged and sold. Anything that can be packaged and sold can also be taught. It’s just a matter of coming up with the right structure.
Here are the down and dirty steps to turning your process or system into a book that helps others and profits you:
- Start with a well-designed website
- Put a blog on your website and write to it daily. Communicate about important core concepts related to your business processes.
- Start an e-mail newsletter and put your best content in your newsletter.
- Develop an e-course that teaches people to do what you do. Market that e-course through your blog and newsletter.
- Flesh out that e-course more, add some details, and write a book. A book is a great platform and makes you an instant authority.
If you run your business like a book and promote your book through your business, then you’ll see how easy a good process is to control. Be a teacher.
Tags: blogging, business, e-mail newsletter, online marketing
Posted in Business Writing | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Newsletters have been great business communication tools for years. In fact, the 20th century has seen a proliferation of newspapers of various sorts. When desktop publishing became fashionable in the 1990s, everyone soon had a newsletter. It became possible for small businesses to have their very own newsletter at an affordable price – as long as they had the time to do it themselves.
Then the Internet took off. Many people were reluctant at first to go online. But the few entrepreneurs who did go online for business started e-mail newsletters. And they had great results.
Today, e-mail newsletters are as common as print newsletters were in the 1990s. However, they are much more affordable to outsource than print newsletters were. That’s because you do not have to pay for the high cost of paper. The fact that you can deliver a company newsletter for your small business means that you can have a regular newsletter for a price that is more affordable than ever before. Even if you outsource it!
A newsletter has historically been the best traffic tool for anyone with a website. You have a captured audience! And you have their permission to contact them over and over again.
Learn how to get your own digital newsletter today.
Tags: e-mail newsletter, newsletters, traffic
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
People tend to avoid working on anything they’re not good at, so many online marketing tools are never utilized by small businesses. Everyone has a different list of what makes them squirm. Perhaps you avoid writing press releases because you’re not sure you’re doing it right, whereas another small business ignores blogging or writing an e-newsletter even though their business lends itself to this great online strategy.
What if there were a way to make these and other online marketing tasks easier?
What if there were a form or a template that you simply fill out and upload?
What if you could enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you had accomplished something you’ve been putting off for months, if not years–and now you know it’s not that difficult at all?
Online templates are an easy and effective way to break down those marketing mountains into manageable mole hills. There are a variety of templates available for web development and your online marketing strategy.
You can download templates for:
• Email form letters
• Promotional emails
• Office documents such as stationary and invoices
• Press kits
• Web site registration and registration report
• Web site linkage report
• News or press releases
• Blogging and other web postings
• E-newsletters
• Chat room discussions
• Webinars and workshops
• Syndicated articles
• Online purchasing
It will take time and effort to find the templates you like the best and create your files, but consider this an important component of setting up your business. Having these online templates can not only benefit your online presence, but these will also be a valuable tool for your brick and mortar stores as well. And if you don’t find one that suits you, you can even design your own.
There are many companies that offer template choices, and you can download many of these templates or purchase them as part of a larger software package. Do your initial homework and consider an ala carte method of gathering the best templates that work for your small business. Start with Microsoft.com and then take the time to explore a few others such as, InternetMarketingWeb.com, 40ArticleWritingTemplates.com, and Sparklist.com.
Templates help ease you into difficult marketing tasks, and they work.
If you choose not to spend your marketing dollars hiring outside professionals, don’t give up. Get a cup of coffee, take a deep breath, and pick an easy template.
You’ll find that templates make a daunting task doable, and before long, your small business will reap big benefits.
Tags: e-mail newsletter, press releases, Small Business Internet Marketing
Posted in Blogging for Small Business, Business Writing, E-mail Marketing for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing, Tools for Small Business, Uncategorized, website development | 3 Comments »
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
I must confess: I’ve never given this much thought since I don’t run a lot of contests, but Small Fish Big Money makes a convincing case that e-mail newsletters are better for promoting contests than blog posts are. Is he right?
I know he is right about one thing – newsletters are more personal than blogs. With blogs, you are talking to an entire market, essentially an anonymous mass of individuals. With newsletters you are talking directly to opt-in subscribers, a more captive audience and people who have volunteered to receive your communications. While blogs also have subscribers, they are anonymous subscribers and your blog readers don’t necessarily have to subscribe to be regular readers. It’s just that subscribing makes it easier and more convenient for them to read when they want to read.
But what about contests? Should you promote them through your blog?
Personally, I’d say if you are running a contest you should use every means of communication at your disposal to promote it. That does include your blog, but I think SMBMs point in discussing the topic is to say that on-blog contests, where you run a contest solely through your blog, are risky. I’d have to agree with that.
That said, I have seen some successful on-blog contests, but those contests are generally geared toward a particular marketplace where the goal is to increase a blog’s readership. Give away a gift for the best comment on a blog post, offer a coupon or free service in exchange for the best trackback, or something of that nature. Those are good contests, but they are better contests if you have a meager readership and you are trying to increase it. If you have a large readership then you might turn off the people who are your regular readers.
Another thing to keep in mind with blog contests is that you might get people entering your contest who would never read your blog were it not for the contest. These are people who are not really a part of your target audience. They are there only for the freebie and once the contest is over, they’ll be gone. Do you really want to encourage that behavior?
Before you run a contest through your blog, think about what your goal is first. It is highly likely that your contest might best be announced through your e-mail newsletter then promoted lightly through your blog and social networks. That’s my Small Business Maverick suggestion for the day.
Tags: blog, contests, e-mail newsletter, promotions
Posted in Blogging for Small Business, E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 1 Comment »
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