Where are you interacting with your prospects? Is it over the phone, at trade shows, in seminars, at a storefront? Wherever this interaction is occurring, one place or a combination of places, take the opportunity to ask prospects for permission to send them an email and /or to join your email list. Email marketing works best in conjunction with a well conceived website. Even if you don’t sell products directly on your website, your site provides you the ability to provide detailed information on your product or service. By inviting prospects to your website, they can peruse your information – and get to know you better. In doing so, it builds a bridge to the prospect that lays a foundation for making sales.
I heard somewhere recently that roughly 60% of major purchases today are first researched via the Internet, but are then purchased locally. Whether we are talking about big screen TV’s or accounting services, this is not a statistic to ignore! You must take the time to describe in words what you are about and post such information on your website. (See Post: Creating a Website that Works). Once your website is in place – and it sufficiently and professionally tells your story, you’ll need to draw folks to the site. There are many ways to do so, one very important way is using email.
Permission Based Email Marketing
Essentially, permission based email marketing refers to marketing emails that (in general) include links back to your website. All such email must be sent with the direct permission of the recipient. This practice is regulated by something called the CAN-SPAM Act. The best way to get started is to hook up with an email service provider or ESP. Reputable ESP’s will help you learn best practices and how to comply with the law when it comes to email marketing.
Many ESP’s will allow you to try their services for free initially. Spend some time perusing their websites! I remember the first time I sent emails to some of my clients, I was amazed at how terrific the service was. My ESP provided me with statistics about who opened my emails and who clicked through to various links to my website. It showed me who was interested and in what. They provided me with fantastic research for follow-up. The next step I took was to create and send survey’s to clients and prospects. The same story was true. I learned who was happy, who was not and what kinds of new products current customers were interested in hearing about.
Here are some Sponsored Links to email service providers:
Other Resources
A great book on email marketing is, [Sponsored link - E-Mail Marketing For Dummies
], by John Arnold. At first, I was not the biggest fan of the Dummies books, but every one of their books I have read recently has been outstanding. Arnold’s book is no exception – check it out!
Improving Prospecting with Email Marketing
Where are you interacting with your prospects? Is it over the phone, at trade shows, in seminars, at a storefront? Wherever this interaction is occurring, one place or a combination of places, take the opportunity to ask prospects for permission to send them an email and /or to join your email list. Email marketing works best in conjunction with a well conceived website. Even if you don’t sell products directly on your website, your site provides you the ability to provide detailed information on your product or service. By inviting prospects to your website, they can peruse your information – and get to know you better. In doing so, it builds a bridge to the prospect that lays a foundation for making sales.
I heard somewhere recently that roughly 60% of major purchases today are first researched via the Internet, but are then purchased locally. Whether we are talking about big screen TV’s or accounting services, this is not a statistic to ignore! You must take the time to describe in words what you are about and post such information on your website. (See Post: Creating a Website that Works). Once your website is in place – and it sufficiently and professionally tells your story, you’ll need to draw folks to the site. There are many ways to do so, one very important way is using email.
Permission Based Email Marketing
Essentially, permission based email marketing refers to marketing emails that (in general) include links back to your website. All such email must be sent with the direct permission of the recipient. This practice is regulated by something called the CAN-SPAM Act. The best way to get started is to hook up with an email service provider or ESP. Reputable ESP’s will help you learn best practices and how to comply with the law when it comes to email marketing.
Many ESP’s will allow you to try their services for free initially. Spend some time perusing their websites! I remember the first time I sent emails to some of my clients, I was amazed at how terrific the service was. My ESP provided me with statistics about who opened my emails and who clicked through to various links to my website. It showed me who was interested and in what. They provided me with fantastic research for follow-up. The next step I took was to create and send survey’s to clients and prospects. The same story was true. I learned who was happy, who was not and what kinds of new products current customers were interested in hearing about.
Here are some Sponsored Links to email service providers:
Other Resources
A great book on email marketing is, [Sponsored link - E-Mail Marketing For Dummies
], by John Arnold. At first, I was not the biggest fan of the Dummies books, but every one of their books I have read recently has been outstanding. Arnold’s book is no exception – check it out!