subject: Local Business Email Marketing: The Basics [print this page] Let's go over how local business owners can use email marketing and do it very simply. Getting started is very easy to do and the steps are not hard to follow.
1. You need an autoresponder and for that I suggest Aweber. They are one of the most popular online auto responders.
The service runs around $20 a month and let you follow up with thousands of names and email addresses. It's very easy to get started with and they offer training on how to use their system.
2. When using an autoresponder you want to build a sign up form and then place the code on every web page you have. If you are promoting your local business properly you will have website visitors coming to your site on pages other than just your home page.
For this reason placing your sign up form on every page gives you a chance to build your mailing list faster. Doing this will help you increase your business as you can follow up with people over a period of time.
3. Offer a free report or ebook that gives some inside tips relating to the theme of your business. This is what will help entice your website visitors to subscribe to your mailing list. This does not have to be anything real long, but it should include unique information that would make your website visitor want to read it.
4. Set up a series of pre written email messages in your autoresponder. These only need to be around 200 words in length and should offer helpful information or something your reader would find interesting.
The advantage of pre writing them is you can set them up to go out at various intervals and then forget about them. This makes following up with your new subscribers very easy to do and automates your email marketing efforts.
5. Consider publishing a tips newsletter and send it out on a monthly basis. This is an excellent way to maintain contact with your email subscribers and keep your name in front of them. This is also a good way to sell new products as you can promote things directly in the body of your email newsletter.
These are a few of the basics that will help you do local business email marketing more effectively. Placing a sign up form on your web pages when building your list will give you a tremendous competitive advantage in the marketplace as most of your competitors are not doing this.
