Millions of people use their computer everyday as a form of communicating with others by sending messages through email.
From sending newsletters, updates, articles, follow-ups or simply sending an email message.
If you have an online business, email marketing gives you the opportunity to target your products or services to a selective audience. Whether you use it everyday, weekly or monthly, it is a great way to communicate with your customers supplying them with useful information.
It is known that many Internet marketers generate more revenue from their mailing efforts than they do from their website. This is mainly because when you have a large mail list and correspond frequently, people are more inclined to buy from someone they have established a relationship with.
As with any business, you have to start to build a mail list and develop some strong mailing campaigns. You can accomplish this through customer sales, newsletters, memberships, subscriptions, referrals, etc. The most efficient and practical way will be from your website, such as offering your viewers a free newsletter that they can subscribe to.
Publishing your own newsletter is by far the best way to build up a mail list in the shortest possible time. Although the time involved in writing your own publications is more demanding, once you have a few publications published, your mail list will begin to grow quickly.
Key Points:
In publishing a newsletter, here are a few key points to consider.
- Have a form on your website giving your viewers the option to subscribe. To increase the amount of subscribers you receive, have this form on every page of your website.
- You may want to consider having a page on your website explaining the benefits of subscribing to your newsletter in more detail.
- On your form, make sure you give a short description to the benefits to subscribing to your newsletter. Do not just put a subscribe form on your site and expect people to subscribe.
- You need to give a brief explanation of what information they can expect to receive for subscribing. Also let them know how often your newsletters are sent (daily, weekly, monthly). It also is a good idea to give them something for free as an incentive for subscribing (discounts on your products, ebooks, coupons, free reports, etc.).
Added Benefits:
Not only can you build a mail list from offering a newsletter from your website, but you can get added subscribers to your newsletter using the following techniques.
Swap Ads
You can swap ads with other newsletter publishers. Look for publishers that have an opt-in mail list of people who would be interested in your newsletter, products or service.
Message Boards
Placing an announcement about your newsletter in message boards can always bring you a few subscribers.
Press Release
You can get added subscribers by using a Press Release about your website and the benefits of your newsworthy ezine.
Ezine
Listing your newsletter in ezine directories is one of the best ways to get added subscribers. Remember you can use free directories as well as paid ones to list your newsletter.
Discussion Groups
Discussion groups are where people participate in topics pertaining to a certain interest. By participating in these groups your business can generate many new subscribers.
The idea behind this is to be part of the group, getting involved and participating in the general discussion. Everyone in the group needs to stay focused on the common interest. This is not a place to post ads about your website or newsletter.
If you are asked about an issue that relates to your business, it is perfectly okay to direct them to your website.
Another way that is acceptable is in your signature file. You can respond back to comments leaving your signature file with a brief description about your newsletter.
Referrals
Last but not least, always ask for referrals from your viewers or subscribers. If you supply solid information in your newsletters, youll be surprised how many referrals youll receive.
Building a mail list is the key to your success and will be your true source to increasing revenue.
Final Note
When we talk about building a mail list, this is only to imply building one through an opt-in list. An opt-in list is from people who have given you their email address and agreed to receive information from you.
Never send out email to people who have not requested it or use email addresses through another source (companies that sell or rent email addresses without the addressees permission).
If you build a mail list that is not opt-in, it will be considered Spam (Unsolicited Commercial Email). Spam is considered illegal in some states and you can risk the possibility of your business being shut down.
Copyright 2003-2005 by John Kovacs
John Kovacs is the CEO and founder of A Home Business Opportunity. His website mainly focuses on supplying free marketing tips, resources and support for home startup businesses and Internet marketing. To get a step-by-step guide in building an online business, visit
In a fast moving global economy, e-mail offers you the convenience of being able to quickly get your message across to your colleagues or clients at any hour of the day or night. The Internet revolution has had the unintended effect of decreasing the use of oral communication and increasing the importance of text - particularly e-mails - as the primary means of business communication. Employees are no longer writing memos to each other; they are sending e-mails.
But are we taking e-mails as seriously as our other business correspondence Remember, your correspondence says a lot about you, and E-mail etiquette (also called netiquette) not only makes for effective professional communication, but also helps you build a good professional image within your organisation and with clients.
Mind Your Manners
Be conversant with the fact that there are some people who are very sensitive to being addressed by their first names. When in doubt, use Mr., Ms., Sir, Madam or Dr. (if appropriate). When you are replying to an e-mail and the sender of the original message has used his or her first name only, then you could safely assume its all right to use that persons first name as well.
Next, there are three words in the dictionary that are very important to netiquette. People may not notice these words when theyre there, but if you forget to use them, youll come across looking disrespectful and ungrateful. These very powerful words are Please and Thank You.
Dont Use That Tone With Me
Tone is a difficult thing to explain. Remember when your parents would say Dont use that tone of voice with me, young lady (or young man) Your feelings come across by the way you say something. It is easy to change your tone when youre speaking. When youre writing its very hard to do so. Whenever you write an e-mail, you should read your message over several times before you hit send. Make sure that you come across as respectful, friendly, and approachable. And dont sound curt or demanding. Sometimes just rearranging your paragraphs will help.
If youre writing to someone youve communicated with before, you might want to begin by saying I hope you are well. E-mail writers often use emoticons to convey a certain tone. For those of you who dont know what these are, emoticons are little faces made up by arranging parentheses, colons, and semi-colons. Use good judgement here. If you are writing to someone frequently and share an informal relationship, then emoticons are okay. If youre writing to a prospective client or your boss, stick to words only. Avoid writing your message using all uppercase letters. It looks like youre shouting.
And Your Point Would Be...
When possible, dont ramble. Be concise and get to your point as quickly as you can. However, dont leave out necessary details. If providing a lot of background information will help the recipient answer your query, by all means, include it. You may even want to apologize for being so verbose at the beginning of the message.
Plz Dont Abbrvt.
Never ever use U instead of you, 2 instead of to or too, plz instead of please, and thanx instead of thanks. Its fine for personal e-mails. Business e-mails should be more formal. Of course, frequently used abbreviations such as Mr. and Ms., FYI (for your information), inc., and etc. are fine.
Spelling Counts... Grammar Too
Use your spell checker. Thats what its for. Dont rely entirely on the spell checker though. If youre using the wrong spelling for a particular use of a word, i.e. two vs. to vs. too, the spell checker wont pick it up. A minor typographical error in a lengthy e-mail will generally go unnoticed, but a series of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors will indicate a lack of professionalism and has the potential to cost you business or maybe even your job.
Use A Descriptive Subject Line
Always use a subject line in your e-mails. Make sure the subject line is brief, but descriptive. Make an effort to keep your subject line to six or fewer words. The subject line is supposed to be brief and summarize the message, and not become the whole e-mail content. You can summarize the action item of e-mail in the subject line e.g., Tues. meeting canceled.
Keep Check On Numbers
Be conservative about who you send your e-mails to. Only send it to those who are directly affected by the issue in question. Ask yourself, is this information useful to this person Is this level of detail appropriate for this person, or should I send them a summary when everyones input is gathered and we have come to a conclusion
Send the e-mail To the person or people that you are asking for an answer or action, and be specific about what you are asking of whom. Send a courtesy copy (cc) to those who need to be aware of the request but are not asked to act upon it or respond to it. Double check that you have properly attached documents to avoid sending a second message.
Check messages frequently - at least three times a day. Immediately respond, delete, forward, or save to a folder as appropriate. The more you leave messages sitting in your Inbox, the bigger the chore to gain control again. It is also easy to lose track of an important action item, or message, if you do not keep it organised.
Just like any other type of written message, be aware that it could be forwarded to others or saved indefinitely. Be prudent in what you decide to write in an e-mail.
Include a signature of no more than four lines. Your signature should provide the recipient with a means to contact you other than e-mail, and should mention your designation, company name etc.
For internal communication, it is not necessary to always produce highly organised and precisely worded e-mails. However, etiquette is not totally abandoned in internal communication, particularly when it comes to professional courtesy.
Make A Good First Impression
Though e-mails are less intrusive than a phone call and faster than a letter, first impressions are as important here as any other business communication tool. An e-mail may be your introduction to someone you never met before like a prospective client or new boss or colleague or even a prospective employer. Take your time putting together a well-written message. Once you hit the send button you wont have another chance.
Rajat Rajwansh