Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
Using E-Newsletters to Grow Your
Business
Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
Why Use and E-Newsletter over a traditional US-Mail
Newsletter?
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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
Why Use and E-Newsletter over a traditional US-Mail
Newsletter?
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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
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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
Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
What Should Write in my Emails!?Creating Valuable Content
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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
What Should Write in my Emails!?Creating Valuable Content
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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
What Should Write in my Emails!?Creating Valuable Content
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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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!
Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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
Lara Galloway, The MomBiz [email protected]
Mary Hickman, MHK Marketing Groupwww.mhksolutions.com
[email protected] Lierman, The Time Out Mom
Mom: Grow Your Business www.momgyb.com
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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