Email Marketing - Get That Email Address!

Every successfull e-preneur knows this: "The Money Is In The List!". If you are not capturing your website visitors' email addresses, then you are missing out on one of the best sources for generating revenue!

Most website owners concentrate their marketing efforts on gaining new visitors. This is fine & dandy, but what happens when they leave your site?

Maybe this visitor wasn't ready to buy just yet. Maybe he was just doing some research. Maybe he had to let his daughter use the computer to write a book report. Maybe the toilet upstairs started to overflow and his wife was yelling at him to "Come fix this NOW!".

The point is that you may never know if this visitor is genuinely interested in what you have to offer or not. By building a
mailing list from your website you have the opportunity to contact each potential customer from time to time with your latest offers.

Here are some suggestions to help bring in some traffic and repeating sales with email marketing:

1. Make sure you are giving your customers a way to opt-in to a newsletter that offers discount coupons, etc. Make it
clearly visible on your site to grab the attention of "browsers".

2. Give the customer an incentive to sign up for the newsletter. For example, I offer a free sample PLUS an entry into a
monthly prize drawing for the customers that sign up for the newsletter. The customer must still be on the newsletter
subscription list when I draw the name in order to be eligible to win. HINT - This is a great way to get rid of excess inventory that isn't moving, too!

3. Go to a few freebie/sweepstakes forums and list your offer. You will be AMAZED at the traffic it brings. Don't expect to
get any sales from this....that comes later. Freebie posters will find the freebie and will go to other forums to post it. So
all it takes is a few posts and your offer will be on many forums!

4. Once or twice a month, email your newsletter with coupon codes, special deals, etc. If you have already done the drawing
for the past monthly contest, post the winner's name. This will encourage most customers to continue to receive your newsletter.

I'm not guaranteeing you will reap tons of sales from this technique, but it least it will keep your site in the minds of
your visitors!

Many people are "window shoppers" by nature. They want the best quality goods at the best price they can find. If they found
your site 2 months ago but decided at the time not to purchase, do they still remember your site? Probably not! But sending a
newsletter with special offers may make them decide to give you a try the next time they need your "widget"!

Of course...DO NOT SPAM! Make sure each visitor has agreed to receiving your emails by opting in to your list. And please,
please, don't abuse the privilege this visitor has given you by sending massive amounts of emails! Once or twice a month
should be your maximum. I can't tell you how many newsletters I have subscribed to that send me emails every day! It is
really annoying and you may lose that contact if you do this.

RECOMMENDED SERVICES

Here are some email management services you may want to try. Both have free trials, email templates, list management, and will send your emails from their servers.

Constant Contact

iContact

Remember, the "Money's In the List!"....so start building yours today!