"Keep in touch!"
by Jim Daniels
Do you regularly contact people who have shown an
interest in your products, services or opportunities?
It is a fact of business that most people need to see
your offer up to seven times or more before they take
action. Regular contact establishes both your reputation
and your marketing expertise. It is a must for every
business, especially in cyberspace.
In the real world, a "quarterly mailing" of a newsletter
or postcard was probably about all you could afford.
After all, mailing to a few hundred or thousand prospects
can generate a significant expense, especially for small
or home business owners like ourselves.
But now.... You have no excuse.
Keeping in touch with your prospects in cyberspace is
virtually free. It costs nothing but time and a little
expertise.
Time is one commodity I cannot provide for you. (If I
could, I'd brew up a batch for myself!) What I CAN share
is my expertise - after all, that's what this space is
all about!
So, exactly HOW does one keep in regular contact with
their prospects on the internet.
Simple: Innovative email contact.
Now I'm not talking about looking through your AOL
address book and manually sending messages to everyone
lucky enough to still be there. I'm talking about
utilizing real software and web resources that automate
and professionalize what can be a very tedious task.
What are the best methods of regular contact?
As I've mentioned many times in the past, an ezine, or
electronic magazine is an excellent way to establish
regular contact. I publish mine weekly, but you can
choose bi-weekly or monthly. An ezine is simply an
electronic newsletter that shares information about
the things you are marketing.
If you'd prefer not to publish an ezine, consider a tip
sheet. This is similar to an ezine but smaller. In it
you can offer a weekly tip about your area of expertise.
Other forms of regular contact include web surfing guides
(a regular email referral to the best sites about your
business) and moderated discussion groups. A moderated
email discussion group is a forum you deliver by email
that allows participants to post messages while you
decide which posts are published in each issue.
All of the above are acceptable and effective methods
of regular business contact online. They generate
interest in your business and, in turn, income. This
is why they are so popular! Perhaps you have an idea
for a similar weekly or monthly mailing. Hey, use your
imagination - you do not have to do what others are
doing.
Once you decide on a format that fits your style, all
that's left is to implement it.
Here is my "Elite Eight" list of best online resources
to aide you with this task:
1. UltraEdit-32. http://www.idmcomp.com/products/index.html
A good ascii based word processing program is a must for
anyone running a list. This program offers "must" features
for anyone publishing email newsletters or discussion groups.
These include a spell-checker and the ability to set line
width for easy message reading in all email programs.
2. CoolList -
This company will host your mailing list for free. In
exchange, they put a small, 3-line ad at the end of each
message that you mail out.
3. ListBot -
Listbot will also host your mailing list for free. In
exchange, they put a small ad at the beginning of each
message that gets mailed out.
Note: Although using the services of CoolList or ListBot
means you will be promoting their services for free, it
also makes things easier on newbies by handling subscribe
and unsubscribe requests for you. A fair trade off -
especially for newcomers to e-publishing.
4. Sparknet -
An excellent majordomo list host and the host of my BizWeb
Gazette. This company offers a hybrid web interface for
simplifying your list management. Very competitive pricing
and very good support.
5. Mail-List -
A pay-by-size list host that offers an easy to use system
for both you and your subscribers. Offers hosting of
announcement lists and discussion groups.
6. Mailloop -
A big time saver for anyone managing their own email lists.
Although this program is designed as a bulk email program,
I use it solely to manage my email lists. Key features
include the ability to filter email addresses out of text
files, eliminating duplicate addresses in lists, combining
email lists and subtracting one list from another (great
for unsubscribe requests). The demo version of Mailloop is
available for free download at their site.
7. SmartBounce by Orion -
A great program to handle the tons of undeliverable
notifications that all email list managers invariably face.
If you're tired of wading through piles of mail bounces and
sorting them by hand, consider SmartBounce. This program
will process, classify, and sort your bounces for you, and
will create a pre-formatted file of defunct addresses that
you simply send to your list server for removal.
8.
This address will help kick your new list off with a flurry
of participants. You simply post a message telling people
about your newsletter to this "NewList Announcement List"
address.
Before you post to the New-List announcement list, get your
hands on a copy of my book, "Insider Internet Marketing"
at . On pages 86 and
87 you'll find the exact message I sent to announce my
gazette back in 1996. It resulted in over 500 new
subscribers, a great way to kick off any email list!
Do you have a favorite resource you rely on to get your
marketing message out? Don't keep it to yourself - come
tell your peers at our new cybermarketing "hot spot". The
CyberMarketing InfoBoard:
Where the real internet marketing experts converge!
Article courtesy of JDD Publishing, Home of "The BizWeb E-Gazette!"
For a free subscription, Mailto:Subscribe@JDD-Publishing.com today!
Want some FREE online marketing help?
Visit JDD Publishing on the web at http://www.bizweb2000.com.
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