Mom: Grow Your Business Using E-Newsletters to Grow Your Business.

Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com

Using E-Newsletters to Grow Your

Business


MomGYB is:Lara Galloway, The MomBiz Coach

www.mombizcoach.com

Mary Hickman, MHK Marketing Groupwww.mhksolutions.com

Melissa Lierman, The Time Out Momwww.timeoutmom.com

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Direct e-mail message to your email address – the sender must have your email address to

send this to you

Note that you may or may not have provided your email address directly to the sender

Forwarded from another personSpam or guessing

Purchased through another source

What is an E-Newsletter or E-Communication?

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Maintain a strong relationship with existing customers

Give prospects more information about your business

Provide the reader with useful and valuable content

Create more reasons for the reader to like, know and trust your business

What can an E-Newsletter do for my business?

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Save Money:Less design and printing costsLess fulfillment and postage costs

“Green” Savings:Less printed materialsLess mail efforts

Why Use and E-Newsletter over a traditional US-Mail

Newsletter?

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Better Reporting:Ability to track who is reading and forwardingEvaluate the success of each e-mail sent

Targeted Messaging:Organize your list by type of contactCreate unique messaging for different audiences


Newsletter?

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Difference between Email and other Internet-based tools such as a website, Twitter or a

Facebook Fan Page:

Not limited by character lengthDedicated writer/reader relationship“Push versus Pull” vehicleCompetition IS doing itOne part of your overall marketing strategy


Newsletter?

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Start with a strong list of friends, family, partners, providers, clients, etc. Add a front-end capture (catch box) on your websitePhysical collection at your store:

Enter at point of saleFish bowl/Drawing

Social Media – Twitter and FacebookAsk friends to forward your e-newslettersIncentive or contact via any of these methods

List Building:How to Gather E-mail

Addresses

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Organize Your Email Addresses:Email programs allow you to make different lists versus one big listBetter structure for different communications:

Example:Clients and prospects versus Professional affiliationsMen versus WomenKids versus Adults

Parsing out contacts as you build your lists will help you target specific messaging to each group in the future

List Building:How to Gather E-mail

Addresses

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Tues, Wed and Thurs:Before lunch hour (10:00 – 11:30)After lunch hour (1:00 – 2:00)

Mon and Fri – too much going on or checking outKnow your Audience

Biz to Biz sales typically not around on weekendExperiment and review your statistics

When is the Best Time to Send Email?

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Start slowly – typically quarterly or monthly are good standard intervalsOther Important Dates:

Something timely is happening You need the reader to take actionHoliday wishes, special time of the year offers, etc.

And remember, just because someone may not open it THIS time, doesn’t mean they won’t open it the next!

How Often Should I send Emails?11


We discussed best days to send…We discussed best time to send… What’s Next?

Planning Your Email Calendar!Create annual calendar by monthEvaluate by month what’s going on in your business or community that would be relevantHow do the holidays play into your business?When is your busy time?What are your different audiences?

Planning Emails for Optimal Response12


Determine your intention with each email:

Informational or AnnouncementAction-OrientedTime Sensitive Offer

Back into prep time:Creation, writing, photos, quotes, special offers Set your target release date for each emailBack into your start date based on the above

Planning Emails for Optimal Response13


Your contact info (address, phone e-mail)Your website (link)Always “sign” your emails for personal touchLogo or Header (so before I dig in I know who it’s from)“Forward to a Friend” BlockSocial Network Links Invite the reader to contact/connect youBonus – Time sensitive offer – call to action

E-newsletter Check List -The Basics Every Email should

include:

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Remember the purpose is to:Provide valuable content to your readersKeep you in the mind of the customer

Here are some potential “objectives” of your email:

Inform, educate, share, connect, promote, sell, influence, ask, notify, update, request, teach, train, support, advertise, endorse, persuade, inspire, encourage, request, solicit, inquire etc. etc.!

What Should Write in my Emails!?Creating Valuable Content

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Personal paragraph from you or your companyUseful information related to:

Directly to your businessIndirectly to your businessSomething that you care about personally

Tips, tricks and other ideas Special events you are involved withCommunity happenings


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Inspirational stories, client successes and testimonialsInfo about new products and servicesNew ways to use your products or servicesStaff bios, additions or good newsAwards or continuing education eventsPartner profile or guest writing (never give your email list out)Special offers for recipients of the emailPhotos – at least one per story


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Remember that you are always more interesting than YOU think you are!

Customers who have used your business in the past are the most likely to use it in the future!

Your goal is to provide useful and interesting information so you keep connected with them for future purchases and spreading the word about your business


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Once you think you are finished with your email, send it to yourself several times to make sure the messaging is clear, words spelled correctly, and the format/layout is the way you intended it to be

Print it out to check how any “offers” appear

Good technique is to read each sentence backwards, very slowly

Read, Re-Read Check and Re-Check Again

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Create an “opt-in” featureUse an email client, not your own email Ask contacts/recipients to add your email address into their contact listCreate an honest subject line and headerAvoid excessive capitalization, punctuation marks, anything potentially offensive or adultDO NOT purchase an email list

How to Avoid Being Flagged as Spam

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SEO = Search Engine OptimizationCopy your newsletter into searchable PDF format and post to website (hosting with email provider doesn’t help SEO efforts)Create a link to your newsletter and share that you have a new newsletter on your social networking sitesShare smaller articles of newsletter in your blogPost tidbits to Facebook, Tweet it, Linked In etc.Remember to use your Newsletter like any other hard copy, direct mail piece or business card – share, share share!

Using Newsletters for Benefits of SEO

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Many Options Out There:Constant Contact Vertical ResponseiContactAweber

All are template driven Most differ by price and customer serviceMost offer a free trial period

How Do I Choose/Get Started with An Email

Provider?

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Investigate which you think might work best for your business and how you will use the service

We will walk through Constant Contact to show you how to get started

How Do I Choose/Get Started with An Email

Provider?

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A Couple of Notes to Remember about CC:Offer 60 days free (up to 100 email contacts)

This is your time to play and experiment

They have good customer service – don’t hesitate to call

Once you become a paying customer you can request the Constant Contact Logo be removed from your emails

Constant Contact Email Software

www.constantcontact.com

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Constant Contact Email Software

www.constantcontact.com

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Remember that you need to have access to the email box from which you are sending the email!

CC will send you an email to that box to which you need to click on to verify authenticity


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Welcome Screen:

Create an Email, Add Contacts or

see past emails


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Tabs:Emails:

CreateReports

SurveysEventsContactsImages (buy the $5 unlimited)My Settings (change your info)


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Name your emails by topic and the date you sent them for

easy reference!


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Hundreds of formats and

colors to choose from each time!


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Time Saving Tip: Once you

have completed an email, use the COPY function for your next email versus starting from

scratch!


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Separate your contacts into several

lists for better target messaging!


33ContactsSCRUB prior to entering into email software

Look for missing “.com”s, misspellings etc.CC will take out any duplicates so your counts could be off

Uploading Contacts:Upload by file Cut and pasteAdd email and other fields (including customized)

You can also reorganize and export contacts once entered


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Click on the underlined

number to see the detail of who opened,

bounced, which links were

clicked on, etc.


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How to Interpret Reporting

Remember that often your response or open rate is only as good as your email list!

10-20% is considered a good rate(comparatively a direct mail response of 1-2% is considered good!)

CC will automatically remove any address for Opt-out or Spam reporting

Bounces need to be addressed manually – can download


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Get Started Now!

Gather your current emails contactsSign up for a free test periodCreate your first email newsletterPlay and practice – the more you work on a plan and messaging, the better your emails will be!


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Offers and Options

Need more help with your e-newsletters?

Mary Hickman of MHK marketing is offering $50 off the establishment email account, design and set up of template, and one-on-one basic training for tonight’s attendees

MHK also offers on-going writing, coordination and management of e-communications for her clients


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MomGYB Contact Information:www.momgyb.com

[email protected]

Lara Galloway, The MomBiz [email protected]

Mary Hickman, MHK Marketing Groupwww.mhksolutions.com

[email protected] Lierman, The Time Out Mom

[email protected]


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Questions????

Thank you for Attending Using Newsletters To Grow Your Business

Visit www.momgyb.com to learn about upcoming workshops including January 2010

Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business

Mom: Grow Your Business Using E-Newsletters to Grow Your Business.

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