Great newsletters as a form of e-mail marketing can sell stuff!

It’s happened to me, and I’m sure it’s probably happened to you too. In the past I have seen a good email newsletter and signed up to receive it in order to get hold of what looks like a good source of free information.

Things went well to begin with and I really came to enjoy that particular email newsletter when it arrived every week. But then things started to change. It became less about offering good information to its readers and more about promoting certain products each time. Eventually I stopped subscribing altogether.

Connect to you Customers

Now I know that a lot of people make a lot of money from their email newsletter, and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use it as self promotion and to promote products in them because that’s half the reason you send them out in the first place. There are some great newsletter tips out there.

But notice that I said half the reason. The other half is to connect with your customers and give them real value, even though they are getting your email newsletter for free. If you don’t give people enough reasons to keep on reading your email newsletter they will simply delete it as soon as they see it arrive, because they know it will be nothing more than an advert in disguise.

Create a Steady Balance

You need to maintain a balance between giving your customers valuable information and also letting them know about certain products – and ironically if you take the bonus off of selling they will actually be more likely to provide you with an income, since they will view you as someone to be trusted and they will pay more attention when you tell them you have something to recommend them to.

So make sure you pay attention to what you are putting in your email newsletter. It could mean the difference between people opting out of receiving it, or carrying on reading it for months and years to come.

Have a most outstanding day.

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
www.SeanSEO.com © 2009

Social networking can make a huge difference in your success online but there is a bit of a fine line between marketing or networking and spamming.  Let’s look at some examples:

E-mail Marketing

Marketers build e-mail lists and market selectively. Spamming would include many tactics such as anonymous email blasts, ignoring those who try to opt out or selling lists. If you want to build an e-mail list, consider giving away something for free, having a valuable newsletter or doing something else to build a list of people who are likely going to be interested in what you’re selling.

Article Marketing

Valuable articles will give the reader some information and may direct them some place they can go to in order to find out more information. They don’t generally contain affiliate links and they do provide value. If you try to spam through article marketing you probably won’t get very far because most e-zine sites have requirements and terms of service that prohibit spam.

Blogging or Splogging

While it’s perfectly fine to do advertising on your blog, you want valuable information there as well otherwise it’s considered a splog (spam blog) and you won’t have too many repeat visitors. Visitors who do arrive probably won’t buy anything or return again. Give people value and you’ll have more chances of making sales and having them do some of your marketing for you through social bookmarking.

Social Media: Don’t Be One Sided

If you’re constantly asking people on social networking tools and forums to Digg or Stumble your entry but never do it in return and never participate in discussions in a reciprocal way, eventually everyone will just ignore you. Reciprocate a little in your online marketing efforts and you’ll find a bit difference in how people receive you.

(photo credit: www.sxc.hu)

Have a most outstanding day.

Dana Prince
Internet Marketing Blog
www.SeanSEO.com © 2009