So now that you are systematically collecting opt-in emails from your customers (if you are not see www.promoterz.com) how effectively are you using email to build the relationship with your customers? Do you see email as just a cheap replacement for traditional print, radio, or TV advertising? If so, you are leaving opportunities on the table.

The other day I saw a "Graduation-Wedding-Mother's Day" sale advertised on television. I was a little surprised that they left out Memorial Day, but it highlights a few of the draw backs of the medium. First, it is shotgun meaning that everybody sees the same thing so you are tempted to provide something for everybody in the same ad. Second, it is expensive and takes time to create ads, so the inclination is to make them either very generic or, again, cover all your bases.

Email doesn't have those problems. You know exactly who you are sending to (and with your opt-in list you know they want it) and you can put an email together in a few minutes and send it out (if you can't, check out www.promoterz.com). With these strengths, if you are using email just to say what the other guys are saying on TV you are shooting air balls

Think of the email you get from your friends. Do they send you "Happy Graduation-Wedding-Mother's Day" emails? No, chances are they talk about last night's game, what happened over the weekend, or a great place they visited. Email allows you to be immediate and to be current. Use it that way.

Here is an example. The Suns just lost game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Lakers. If you've got a business in Phoenix how about a "Beat the Lakers Special" in preparation for game 5? Throw in a blurb about how many teams have come back from 1 and 3 in the first round and sign off with "Go Suns!"

Customers not sports fans? No problem, find another local or regional event to mention. The point is that there are thousands of businesses out there throwing millions of dollars at generic ads. With email you now have a way to cut through all that chaos and capture your customers' imagination and enthusiasm with some thing that is uniquely you and your business. So use it.

Hey, if you got a big guy inside--get him the ball!

Use Email to Get Inside

If you've reached the point of exhaustion trying to keep up with answering the mountain of emails that threatens to bury you alive every single day, you're ready to learn about autoresponders.

The bad news is that people expect prompt replies to their email inquiries. However, unless you can figure out how to work continual twenty-four hour shifts, or hire enough people to constantly monitor incoming emails (while they're eating up your revenue), you have a problem. The good news is an autoresponder is an inexpensive - or even free -method of quickly responding to emails. What these programs do is automatically respond to incoming emails as soon as they are received.

Emails are essential to your business for many different reasons. Most importantly, these invisible email voices give you their feedback about your website - for free!
However, if you spend all your working hours answering these emails, how are you supposed to run your business? The answer is simple: use autoresponders. Autoresponders are programs that automatically respond to your emails without you so much as having to click on your mouse.

There are a number of good reasons why you need an autoresponder besides just answering your email. For example, autoresponders can be used if you need a way to
send information about your services or products, price lists, or if there are repeated questions asked across large numbers of emails. Maybe you want to offer your site
visitors a special bonus of some kind, such as advice or relevant articles. All of this can be handled by an autoresponder. Additionally, you can advertise your business and then build stable relationships with your customers by using autoresponders.

Autoresponder programs vary from software that runs with your email program to a specialized script that runs on your web hosting company's server. This kind of script may use a web page form or simply operate with your email account. This kind of script is programmed to send out a standardized message whenever an email is received. The message is sent to a particular script or email address.

Some autoresponders can do more than simply send out standardized messages. They can send out an unlimited number of follow-up messages sent at predetermined interval of time. For example, you can set your autoresponder to send out a new message every day for as long a period as you desire.

There are numerous companies who offer autoresponders free of charge. Your website hosting company often provides autoresponders as a free service. If this is not the case with your web hosting company, there are numerous companies who offer this service for a small fee, or free of charge, providing you attach an advertisement for their company to your emails.

To personalize your autoresponder messages, you can attach a signature. Signatures in this case are much like business cards. You can include your name, company, all your contact numbers and addresses, and a brief message.

It's a good idea to attach a signature to every email that is sent out. This works as a repeated reminder of your business identity every time a customer sees it. The more
they look at your signature, the more likely your company will spring to mind when your particular service or product is needed.

You can create a standardized signature that every employee in your business uses, or you can go wild, and let every staff member create their own personal signature. Of

course, like everything in life, there are some rules and guidelines to creating a personal signature.

Keep the length of your signature between four to six lines of text, with no more than 70 characters in a single line. Make sure that your email program does not cut off your text! The content should include your name, your company name, your email address, fax number, and any other contact details, such as 800 numbers. Lastly, always include a short personal message about your company. It should be a
subtle sell of your services or your products, and possibly your company's reliability and longevity.

Another specialized use of autoresponders is to create courses that you can then offer your site visitors for free. You must choose a topic in which you are an expert and that precisely targets your potential customers.

Once you have carefully chosen your subject, divide it into a number of different sub-topics. Then offer your site visitor a free 10 or 15 day course, each day offering a
different sub-topic. The first topic should always be a welcome message to your site visitor and an explanation about what is to follow. Your explanation should be
enticing, getting the point across that you are offering free, quality information that your target audience will find of great value.

With every lesson, include the number of the lesson, the topic title, information about your company and its services or products. At the end, include a few blurbs about the next lesson to entice the subscriber to continue on.

Make sure each topic is packed with essential and valuable information, and leaves the visitor lusting to know more. Otherwise, you may lose them in the very beginning.

Of course, you have to write up your course before you can offer it. Once you have done this, and gone over the material carefully, employing a professional writer or
editor if necessary, you must transfer your text to your autoresponder.

There are a number of free autoresponders you can use.
Try http:/www.getresponse.com, or http://www.fastfacts.net.
Or go onto Google and you will find a long list of free autoresponder companies. Then sign-up for your chosen autoresponder. Once you do, you will receive instructions as to how to set it up and transfer your text.

Email is an excellent marketing tool; it is inexpensive and it is fast. Use it to advertise your business by choosing your email address carefully. Your website should contain
different email addresses for different contact requests. For example, use info@yourdomain.com for information requests, or sales@yourdomain.com for questions about sales. It's a good idea to set up one for the owner, such as president@yourdomain.com. This presents your company in a personal, approachable light and insures that direct contact is provided.

Autoresponders are an effective and powerful marketing tool, allowing you to make contact with thousands of potential customers. This is an invaluable asset considering how many potential customers you usually have contact with before you make an actual sale. Essentially, an autoresponser allows you to automate part of your
marketing campaign.

in Email Marketing

AutoResponders Explained

=> Step #1 - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU`RE TALKING TO?

Before you sit down to write your email sales letter, you`ve got to determine exactly who your audience is. This is a master key to getting results from email marketing.

Ask yourself these questions:

- What do your prospects/customers want?
- What frustrates your prospects/customers most?
- Who else is selling something similar to you?
- Why should your prospects/customers believe you?
- Why should prospects/customers respond to you instead of someone else?
- What kind of appeals will your target market respond to?


=> Step #2 - A GREAT SUBJECT IS YOUR OBJECT

Before an email can generate results, recipients need to open it. But what can you do to spark their interest and get their interest "motor" revved up?

Your SUBJECT LINE is the key.

There are four types of email formulas you can use as a guide in crafting your email. Each has a different PSYCHOLOGICAL APPEAL that works like magic on consumers. Here are some examples:

- State a powerful benefit - "Empowerism Satisfies Your Need for Leads"

- Pique curiosity - "Empowerism Has Uncovered the Secrets of Success"

- Write your subject line with a news angle - "Empowerism Launches RSVP For Those Who Want to Double Their Money Fast!"

- Offer Immediate Gratification - "With Empowerism RSVP, you can start the money wheels turning before the sun goes down tonight"

Here`s an important "homework assignment": Write at least 25 SUBJECT LINES before you decide on which one to use. Take the best two and test them against each other in your marketing campaign. (Save the "losers" to use for other purposes or spruce up later.)


=> Step #3 - WHAT`S IN IT FOR THEM?

Sit down and write every conceivable benefit your product has. Don`t know the difference between features and benefits? Features describe the product; benefits describe the results of using the product. Features appeal to logic...logic justifies emotion...emotion drives sales (see below).

Here`s a rule of thumb for benefits: ask yourself "What can my product or service do for my customer?" Then begin to write your letter telling your reader WHAT`S IN IT FOR THEM. Tell them how much better life will be for them after they buy from you. Tell them how much better they`ll feel. Tell them how their peers will respect them more.


=> Step #4 - AN EMOTIONAL APPEAL

When promoting anything to anybody, you must remember that buying decisions are based upon emotion and later backed up by logic. Before you write a single word, determine what emotional hot buttons you need to push to "jumpstart" your prospect.




Selling health supplements? Go for the "fear of illness" button with "A Natural Way to Save Your Eyesight." Selling political bumper stickers? Hit the "anger" button with: "Let the President Know What You Think of His Policies." Other buttons include: curiosity, greed, ego, vanity, hope, and/or fear of scarcity or security.


=> Step #5 - A NAME YOU CAN TRUST

To convince people to buy your product or service, you must make them believe that your offer is credible and that you (or your product) will deliver as promised.

How do you do that? Here are three ways you can build credibility with the readers of your sales letter:

- Provide testimonials.
- Include endorsement letters from authority figures in your industry
- Make your offer and promises sincere and believable.


=> Step #6 - A GUARANTEE

Nowadays, trying to sell without some type of guarantee is a losing proposition. You`ve got to have one. And the stronger your guarantee, the better your response will be. And, believe it or not, although most people will NOT ask for a refund, they`ll trust your offer knowing that you stand behind it.

You can offer a 24-hour, 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, or even a full-year. And here`s an interesting fact: The longer the time period, the fewer returns you`ll have! It`s human nature to procrastinate, so the more time someone thinks they have to get a refund, the more they`ll put it off or forget about the refund altogether.


=> Step #7 - DON`T FORGET TO ASK

It happens all the time. Someone makes a fantastic sales presentation, and then doesn`t close the deal because he/she didn`t clearly ask for the order or made the process confusing rather than simple.

- From the Research Department: Statistics show that you need to ask for the order at least three times to close substantial sales. (Some studies put the number at 7!)

If you can, offer several ways for your prospects to order -- consumers love choice. It tells them, "You`re talking directly to me and meeting my unique needs." If you only offer one way to order, make it crystal clear how AND how easy it is. Describe it in detail and ask for the order. Then ask again.


=> Step #8 - THE EYES HAVE IT

It`s a well-known fact: Large blocks of copy are intimidating and will often send people running for the hills or at least the Delete button.

The solution? Break up paragraphs into two to four sentences. Use several subheadings throughout the email letter. And use asterisks, dashes, and ellipses (...) to give your copy more rhythm. Bullet points are excellent eye-catchers - use them whenever appropriate.


in Email Marketing

8 Steps To Irresistible Email Copy Every Time

For an advertising or marketing campaign to run smoothly and effectively good organization is required; for larger emailing campaigns this usually requires some kind of email marketing software. However, email marketing software has a lot more to offer than you would probably imagine.

Prospect Finder

Finding prospects can be a very time consuming activity. Some email marketing tools allow you to collect targeted email addresses from visitors to your web site. Creating a newsletter for visitors adds value to your site and keeps your company in front of your prospects.

Autoresponders

Responding to your prospective clients with a well-written and partial sales email is vital to winning business and gaining repeated business. Using email-marketing software you can set up autoresponders that will send these emails for you as soon as your visitors or customers complete certain actions, which are predefined by you.

Verify, Verify, Verify.

With modern legislation on spamming it is common practice to verify email addresses; getting prospects to click on a verification link makes them an opt in lead, meaning you can contact them as you will regarding your service or your product. Don't forget, though, you must always offer them the opportunity to stop receiving communication from you.

Removal Service

Once you have your bulk email list up and running and you've been contacting people on a regular basis to forge a good relationship and sell your products you will undoubtedly get emails that become dead links. You should be removing these to save time, effort and space in your email.Spamming policies mean you should also always offer your prospects the chance to stop receiving your targeted emails. Even though you won't want to let go, sometimes you have to.


Email

Obviously, email marketing software offers you the capability to send targeted emails to everyone on your email lists. That's what this software was originally intended for and what it is most commonly used for to this day. You can organize your prospects into categories and even status. You could run several campaigns at once and your email marketing software will keep track of which prospects belong to which campaign and therefore, send the correct email to them.

Most email marketing software will be able to schedule emails for you, so you could for instance send an email to new prospects that contains a link to your catalogue. After a week you may wish to contact them to answer any questions. This technique will put your company name back in their minds and possibly produce more sales. Or, perhaps you sell a consumable good that most people buy once a month. You can set your email marketing software to contact your customers one month after purchase, perhaps offering them a discount for repeated business.

All of these are genuine ways to use email marketing software. Bearing in mind that some estimate as many as 70% of Internet users from the USA have made purchases on the back of an email marketing campaign, most agree they are useful tools to help your website or business succeed.

in Email Marketing

Email Marketing Software Helps You Keep Track of Your Marketing Campaign