Stay Connected to Customers via Email Marketing!

“Think of your email marketing program like a “giant team of friendly virtual salespeople” reaching out to your customers on a regular basis.”

BE FRIENDLY:

Email marketing does not have to be cold and impersonal; it can be fun and friendly, like a regular visit from a good friend. The secret to a successful email marketing program can be summed up as: Give readers information they can use or enjoy and design it with a warm, human, personable style. Then deliver your message consistently with a professional distribution system.

FOLLOW-UP CONSISTENTLY:

Sales results do not happen overnight, they are cultivated like gardens. Customer relationships develop slowly over time, from many points of contact. Businesses that do not follow-up with customers are forgotten faster than yesterday’s news. Did you know that consumers may need to see your brands dozens of times before they even begin to feel familiar with it? It can take hundreds more positive contacts to convince them to actually buy your products or service.

GROW CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS:

Developing customer relationships is about more than just sending them an annual form letters or holiday greeting card. You gain people’s trust through positive and consistent experiences with your company. Think of your email marketing program like a “giant team of friendly virtual salespeople” reaching out to your customers on a regular basis. This hard working team keeps in touch with your entire customer base, educating them on your products, services, specials, announcements and events. Staying ‘Top of Mind’ with customers leads to increased repeat business and more referrals.

Your Virtual Sales Team reaches more clients than any in-house sales team ever could! Thus without the expense of wages or overhead, the return on investment is amazing! Don’t you think it’s time you put a virtual sales team to work for you?

1. Consistent Contact (Online Newsletters):

In the online world, businesses are forgotten faster than yesterday’s news, unless you keep in close contact with customers. Staying in clear view is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd. To strengthen customer relations, it is highly recommended to have a monthly online newsletter. This is called the “soft sell”. The newsletter should contain interesting and useful articles (that is what is in it for customers). Having customers remember to contact your business the next time they need your services (that is what is in it for you!). Want to increase your success with online marketing? Contact us, we’d be glad to help!

2. Rev Up your “Social Media” Impact:

Social media is a great way to get attention online and it’s cost effective because it’s generally FREE. You-Tube Videos are a great way to explain what you do, they are like a friendly virtual sales person. Facebook pages are a nice way to get more personal with your customers, so post photos of your recent events and tell interesting stories about your business. Promote your upcoming events on Twitter and let everyone know what you’re doing next.

3. Use “SEO” to Get Found in Web Searches:

All the buzz about SEO (search-engine optimization) reflects the new realities of the digital age. When customers want to purchase goods or services they research them using search engines like Google (i.e. when was the last time you looked up a business in the Yellow Pages book? It’s probably been a while…) Since people rarely click below the first few listings, getting your company or product ranked higher will result in more traffic to your website. If you need a hand in this area, we offer excellent SEO services, so let us be your advocate in this complex technical process.

4. Hire Online Marketing Professionals:

Nothing says that a business is “NOT serious about success” more than a poorly designed website or online newsletter. So don’t be hesitant to invest in your own success. Hire the experts in who can guarantee that you will shine online!

A client of mine told me that a customer opted for an additional $3,000 in services on top of a $5,000 order simply because of a follow-up message that was sent.

That same message that prompted this customer to purchase another service is one that goes out to his entire prospect list (the prospect list is the customers that may need your services but have not gone forward) on a regular basis.

Every prospect should be put into a database to be contacted forever unless they “buy, die, move, or scream get me off your mailing list.” This should be considered a “holding tank” for future return on marketing expenditures.

Why should we “feed” and maintain our holding tank of prospects?

If we don’t, we are throwing away something we’ve paid for. Most businesses don’t even know they are throwing an asset away. Every time you meet or a potential prospect calls your office, you have quite literally paid that prospect to call you through some mechanism be it internal or external marketing purchased with either time (networking, referrals), money (marketing, advertising), or both. It is likely that this occurred because you bought their phone call through some form of internal or external marketing.

Meeting and getting the customer to call that very first time is the biggest marketing expense in any business. After the first call, our ongoing marketing expense is tiny to continuously keep us ‘first in line’ in their mind so that they only think about getting their service/product with us when they become ready.

As a result of understanding this, businesses not only reap big rewards immediately with the prospects that are ready to buy right now but they also continue to reap big rewards from prospects that they literally paid to call them years ago. They know how important this is.

Looking beyond the ongoing sales to keep you in business, the Prospect List is a Tangible Practice Asset. Here is another very big financial reason your marketing system must build and automatically keep a marketing contact database.

You already know that one of the ways your practice is valued is by your existing clients and your bottom line. Another asset that is hugely valuable in any business is having a list of people that you have contacted that have a known problem for which you are selling the solution (literally customers that need you and have told you by their actions that they are likely to spend money with you).

In marketing terms this is called a prospect list because these people have literally ‘raised their hand’ and said to you that they have the very specific problem for which you have the solution. Business Owners pay $25,000-$200,000+ for these lists!! In creating your own list you are building an asset in your business!

Here’s A Little Secret You Won’t Read in Economics – Having a prospect list is a business asset that can be sold as part of your business and depending on the size of your list and how many years you have had a relationship, the list can save a future owner several hundred thousand dollars… that’s just how valuable it is! Or take the list to a business you may buy.

So Be Honest – Do you have the contact information for every person that you feel could potentially use your business. Are they in a holding tank that is constantly being fed and fished? Does your marketing system automatically perform follow-up and is it constantly doing everything it can to keep your prospects engaged so that they are more likely to be ready for your help?

If you choose to let the right systems make this happen for you, the warm prospect list it creates for you can add tangible value to your practice when you sell it to another owner that will want the same things you have… a pool of potential customers that constantly show up as they are marketed to over time.

This is super advanced knowledge. Few accountants understand it and even fewer businesses know about this or even know how to create this effect to reap the financial reward.

There you have it… one more method to increase the future sale value of your business without it requiring any effort on your part.

Need help building your database… Contact us today for some list building strategies.

604-985-3739    Gail@eXtraContact.com

Let’s face it, online marketing isn’t a fad-it’s not going away anytime soon. And social media is the fastest growing component of that marketing medium. As a business owner, speaker or consultant, it is important to realize that what you put out there reflects on your business, even if you are just being social! These tips will ensure that you put the best you forward in the social space and attract the right people online to your business!

1-Be real: Use your real name. Research actually shows that people connect more quickly and trust you faster when you use your name. More importantly, use a current, energetic headshot. If they meet you in person and you don’t really look like that, not so good! More importantly, that picture is actually very small where most people see it -in their streams, not on your profile. So look at it as a friend or follower would and make sure it connects energetically!

2-Brand and Complete Profiles/Pages: I am amazed by how many business people I connect with that have not fully branded their pages, filled out their info, and posted their websites/blogs for me to look at. Take the time to do this; it will only help people know you and what you do better and in a non-threatening way.

3- Project your authentic voice: This is the most important thing I work with clients on. And trust me, they all say: “But I know my voice, Ann!” Often when we write content for our Facebook page or twitter account we change that voice. People hire you because of who you are- so align that with the written messages you share. I’m feisty in person and feisty online. This is also why I say be careful of outsourcing the writing; it typically doesn’t sound like you (I wrote about this on my blog).

4-Determine “boundaries” in advance: So many worry about privacy. But I personally think it’s a different issue. If you determine what you absolutely will not share about your life, or conversations you will not participate in, then privacy doesn’t really become an issue. Will you discuss religion? Share pictures of your children? Decide, and then respect your boundaries and you won’t have privacy issues. Besides, most sites allow you to choose who you want to share which posts with, which helps tremendously.

5-Understand the difference between engagement and promotion: Why is it that so many people just turn into slimy sales people when they participate in the social space? The social space is just that: social first. Take the time to log in and participate in others posts. Listen to them and comment, without promoting. Believe it or not, this is one of the most powerful sales strategies there is.

6-Relationships Rule! Ok, makes sense after point 5, but the most powerful outcome of NETWORKING online is word of mouth marketing. Build relationships, follow though, and show you care. Get to know people. It works, people will LOVE you for it and will share your offerings!

7-Decide where to post what: this is actually a sales strategy, one that creates tremendous success for my clients! If you post the same content, at the same time to every site you have an account on, people have NO reason to follow you everywhere. And they start to hate it when you fill up their feed with the same thing at the same time on every site (and even worse several pages/accounts on a site)! If you share different things on each site, they have reason to follow you in more than one place and they love you for new and different content.

8-Repect and Know TOS, FTC and ICANN rules/law: TOS: Terms of Service, FTC: Federal Trade Commission, ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. These entities create the laws for website, sales online and rules for how to participate in their social media sites. Knowing and respecting the laws are the things that demonstrate you run your business ethically online and in the social space. For example, did you know it’s against TOS on Facebook to have a profile with a business name and your account can be removed if reported? That the FTC can fine you up to $1000 for not fully disclosing an affiliate link? Or that ICANN requires that any subscription have a single opt-in, preferably a double opt-in, and fines are up to $16,000 for email loading without it? Knowledge increases your professionalism online and ensures you represent your business well! Take the time to read the TOS!

9-Friend and Follow: Most importantly, the social space is about connecting with people. Friend people when they request it. Follow people back. Don’t just ask yourself if they could be a potential customer. Ask yourself: Is this someone that could become a referral source? Could they be a “true fan”? Could they become a part of my word of mouth marketing in the social space? Then accept that friend request. Follow them back. Get to know them. The rewards could be fabulous.

These 9 tips are powerful cornerstones to presenting the best you online. I could probably go on and on! I find if you start here, you will build a powerful following and grow word of mouth marketing, because your image is one people want to share!

Ann Evanston
www.warrior-preneur.com
e: ann@zenaenterprises.com
Named one of the TOP 6 Marketing Consultants on About.com

Ann Evanston, MA, has been named by About.com as one of the Top Six Marketing Consultants, Feb 2001, and recognized in the Huffington Post for her unique approach in using Facebook to increase profits though giving. In October 2008 Ann created the Social Networking Coaching Club, a forum where you get personalized support to learn how to “discover your REAL edge” and make more online in less time with integrity.

Here’s the catch with email. If you do it right, email works to grow your business like nothing else out there! If you do it wrong, people think its spam and people HATE spam. Hates isn’t one of the buying emotions. So I think its safe to say that you don’t want people to HATE your communications.

In order to steer your business away from negative perceptions and towards positive ones, you need to practice Professional Email Marketing, not spam marketing.

Email marketing is delivering professional email communications, representing the characteristics of your business visually (your brand), while delivering information that educates your audience and/or differentiates your business from the competition

Must contain information “they – your readers” find valuable. The #1 reason for opt-outs is “doesn’t keep my attention.”

Love: As John Lennon sang. “All we need is love,” and this word doesn’t only dominate the titles of romance fiction. It’s commonly used in songs as well. Maybe it’s because love is what we’re all longing for. Yes, guys too. Even if you don’t always admit it.

Heart: Now becoming synonymous to “love” (e.g., “I heart Copyblogger”), this word is increasingly used to soften traditionally tough topics: “business with a heart,” “writing for the heart,” “selling from the heart.”

Secret: As the stereotype would have it, women love to keep, tell and discover secrets. Actually, so does everybody else. This word appears in all the headline swipe files of those (male) copywriting masters.

King, Queen, Princess, Prince (or some other honorable title); Women are fascinated with royalty. Blame it on fairy tales. But it’s not just women who respond to a market position as the “King,” “Queen,” or “Duke” of your niche.

Temptation and Forbidden: That darned Eve started it all, giving into temptation and making Adam bite the forbidden apple. These are still two irresistible words to make your copy more compelling.

Cloud, Moon, Stars (and other celestial bodies): These words evoke freedom, creativity, and unlimited possibilities. No wonder women love them.

Heaven, Paradise: We use these words to describe ultimate pleasure, goodness and perfection. “How was the spa?” “It was heaven!”

Kiss: Sweet, mysterious and seductive, a kiss is the ultimate romantic word.

Virgin: Here’s one word that’s sure to make your heart race — whether you’re male or female. And of course, Richard Branson, a masculine guy if ever there was one, built an entire mega-brand around it.

Magic, Enchanted, Bewitched (and other references to the supernatural): Our fascination with these words is another result of childhoods molded by fairy tales. The idea of having a fairy godmother to make all our dreams come true and get rid of our evil stepmother is simply irresistible.

Take your magic wand and transform your copy

Here’s the real test. How do romantic words hold up in real-world copy? To find out, I decided to give a romantic makeover to the same copy Ali Hale put a heroic twist to.

Here’s what I came up with:

Plain: “Solve Email Problems”
Heroic: “Battle Your Email Overload”
Romantic: “Love Your Email Inbox Again”

Plain: “Stop Procrastinating”
Heroic: “Defeat Procrastination”
Romantic: “Kiss Procrastination Goodbye”

Plain: “Advice to Help You Do Better”
Heroic: “Advice to Help You Win”
Romantic: “Advice to Make You a Star”

Plain: “Ditch Your Bad Habits”
Heroic: “Conquer Your Bad Habits”
Romantic: “Make Your Bad Habits Disappear Like Magic”

Women’s pockets are growing bigger and deeper. Isn’t it time our copywriting and marketing language caught up?

If your writing is bland, sprinkle a little romance into it. You don’t always have to resort to pumped up, violent imagery to put more zing in your copy. A little romance may be just the flavour your readers are craving.

About the Author: Lexi Rodrigo is a copywriter and online marketing consultant who used the words “love,” “heart,” and “passion” on her home page long before researching for this post.

Your most important files are usually the ones that you are currently working on… yesterday & today. Backing up data on CDs or external hard drives can eat up a lot of time. When was the last time you backed your files up? You can only manage to do it every so often. And there’s still a chance that these external storage devices can be lost, destroyed, or stolen.

What is your backup plan?… Save time and effort – Use an automated online system… I use Mozy… for less than $5 a month I have my files backed up daily! Peace of Mind alone is worth it. Hold onto your latest work files; family photos; music; financial documents. Back up what you want, when you want.

Mozy is 100% automatic. You always have the most recent versions of your files in a safe online environment that you can access from anywhere. And Mozy is owned by Fortune 500 company EMC, so your files are protected for the long haul with military-grade encryption – the same security online banks use during data transfer. Check them out…

• 91% of internet users are between the ages of 18 – 64 send and read email  EVERYDAY! (source: emarketer)

Another study by AOL indicates that people are checking their email at work, home, in bed , in the bathroom, in the middle of the night, while they drive and even in church!

Email way is a great way to connect with your audience because your audience is constantly looking where email gets delivered!

Another great reason: It is cost effective… Direct mail vs. Email -Direct mail costs 20 times as much as email. Email ROI is the highest when compared to other internet marketing mediums (source: direct mkting assc.)

Contact us if you need extra help incorporating Professional Email Marketing into your business plan.