Newsletter Marketing to Improve your Business

Improve traffic, improve sales, improve your reputation.

A newsletter is a MUST for any on line business.  It is a way of keeping in contact with your potential customers and current customers.  The newsletter helps you to become a well known and trusted business.  I can honestly say that my business improved greatly after starting a newsletter.  In the beginning, my only sales were from my subscribers. 

Most web surfers do not purchase from a website the first time that they visit it.  Studies show that they usually will not make a purchase until they have visited a website three times.  Surfers will pop into your site, leave and forget about it.  How do you get people to visit your site over and over again?  Get them to sign up for your monthly newsletter, of course.

Here are some examples of my newsletter that I have used for my retail jewelry site:

http://www.lantanadesignwear.com/newsletters

Your newsletter can be formatted any way that you want. 

Here are a few of my suggestions:

• Don't try to sell -- Don't make your newsletter a big sales copy.  Your readers will hit delete faster than you can say it.

• Include interesting articles that your readers will enjoy.  Keep their interest.  Make them look forward to your newsletter each issue, not dread it and unsubscribe.

• Let your subscribers get to know you.  Write in a conversational tone. I use slang in my newsletter a lot because I talk that way.

• Include one "featured item" --  I don't try to sell it, I just feature it.  People usually click on the featured item and some will buy.

• I like to include a little something about my subscribers occasionally.  Everyone likes to see their name in lights.  For instance, I have a lady that was featured in the newspaper.  I will tell about her "success story"

• Go on a "subscriber spree" -- get as many people to sign up to your newsletter as possible ( more on this later)

Subscribers Spree

Get as many subscribers as you can in a short period of time.  Make your newsletter subscription your first priority.  After all, your subscribers are eventually going to buy something from you!

• Ask -I ask everyone that I am in contact with during my day. "Would you consider signing up for my newsletter?"  Most people will sign up.

• Offer Freebies - Offer free report, article, or e-book for subscribing
• Sign up Form - Have a newsletter sign up on every page of your website

• Email Signature -  Put something catchy in the signature of all of your emails.   

• Newsletter "Thank You" Page Swap - Find someone that is interested in working with you that has a newsletter that is similar, but not competitive with your newsletter.  On your “thank you for subscribing to our newsletter" page, list your partners newsletter and they do the same:

  "If you enjoy our newsletter, you are sure to enjoy Perfect Pastries newsletter as well. Sign up here."

Submit Your Website to Newsletter Directories

Add your newsletter to all of the newsletter directories out there.  We have listed a few here.  Newsletter Directories

Intellicontact is the company that we use to distribute our newsletter.  It beats the price of all others once you get a lot of subscribers and the program is extremely easy to use.  You can even try it for free.  See what Intellicontact Offers.

Here is a fantastic article from Intellicontact that will tell you how to use your newsletter effectively.

by Ron Evans

Email marketing when used correctly, can be one of the most effective marketing techniques around. To get results, each emailing that you send has to be specific in terms of what you want each reader to get out of it. Without a clear understanding of what the purpose is for a mailing, you will not have any way of determining what impact each has on your business.

There are a number of different ways to use email marketing. The three most effective ones are:

Special offers like coupons and discounts are classic direct marketing techniques that translate extremely well to email. In order for an offer to be effective, it must provide something of real value to the recipient. Minimal discounts are not enough to get the readers’ attention; you have to offer something of substance. Don’t discount lower than your profit on the transaction, however. "Buying the business" rarely leads to a repeat sale, as this kind of customer will usually just go to the next such offer rather than build any loyalty. Lastly, having a time limit on these types of offers is extremely important, in order for the call to action to work. That’s why late night TV commercials always seem to end with "Offer ends midnight tonight. Call now!"

Invitations to events like seminars, conferences, and other special events are another type of highly effective email marketing. Seminars work particularly well for service industries like financial services, insurance, etc. These types of offers can be very effective when sent using email. Repetition is extremely important; sending two invitations spaced apart before the event will increase the number of attendees. Clicking thru from the email directly to a web page that permits online registration or RSVP can up to double the percentage of recipients that register. Sending an emailed reminder to people who have registered for the event is a good way to minimize on "no-shows".

Staying in touch with customers and prospects by providing useful information like newsletters or postcards is the third major email marketing technique covered here. As opposed to offers or invitations, where you are trying to get an immediate response from the recipient, the purpose of sending a newsletter is simply making contact. Keeping the information short, to the point, and most importantly useful is the main objective. The content can range from "how-to" tips to a digital photograph from a recent event. The point is to have something that the reader cannot see anywhere else, and that makes a meaningful connection because it is something that matters to them. The originality of the content is very important, as well. Your company’s individuality is your best weapon when it comes to standing out in the crowd against the competition.

Ron Evans is the President of Great Big Noise, LLC, a provider of Flash Email Marketing Campaigns