How does an email newsletter fit in to a blog?
By Karen Skidmore | September 19, 2008
Email newsletters and blogs are 2 different marketing tools and yet they work very effectively together.
If you are already a blogger or intend to start building a blog to compliment your marketing plans, then one of the easiest ways of combining your blogging with your newsletters is to start with an email newsletter that uses RSS feeds to drive new content in to your emails.
What this means is that your blog, which is driven by a RSS feed (see below if you want a quick & dirty definition of a RSS), can be fed in to your email newsletter system and an email newsletter can be automatically created from your blog content and sent out.
This goes beyond an email subscription to a RSS feed and actually generates an email that looks like a newsletter.
To check out two great email newsletter systems that offer this tool go to www.aweber.com and www.icontact.com
Why create more work than you have to?
(Quick & dirty definition of RSS: stands for really simple syndication and it means that the content that you publish on your blog can be sent out to people who have subscribed to your RSS feed. Just think of it like your daily newspaper delivery boy - you write the news and the delivery boy drops it through the letterboxes of the people who have ordered it.)
Topics: Recommended email newsletter software, Using email newsletters with blogs | No Comments »
How reliable are web based email newsletter systems?
By Karen Skidmore | September 17, 2008
Earlier this week, 1ShoppingCart (the all singing, all dancing e-commerce system that I regulary recommend to people as well as using myself to manage my online sales & marketing) went down for several hours.
I was testing a few sign-up pages on another site and something was going wrong and then saw it mentioned on twitter. Lo and behold, yup - 1shoppingcart was well and truly down.
Now this was the first time it had happened to this extent in almost 5 years but the impact of it being down meant that nobody could sign-up, subscribe or buy anything from any of my websites. I went to bed that night hoping everything would be up in the morning and sure enough, it was.
I am a huge fan of using wweb-based marketing tools in my business and recommend them over and above of the majority of software you can buy off the shelf or download off the internet. But what this does mean is that my business does hang in the balance when these systems are in maintenance mode.
However, don’t be put off. If we put this in context, yes it is my problem that the systems are down but it’s not my problem to solve them. I am sure 1shoppingcart where putting in all the resources possible to correct the situation and it was nice to know that I didn’t have to sitting at my own PC trying to rectify the faults.
So if you are looking at the various web based email newsletter systems out there, make sure you:
a) choose a company that is big enough to have been established for many years - you can check out their maintenance history and any downtime they have had
b) test out their service desk and make sure you are happy with the quality and speed in the response to your questions if anything was to go wrong
c) go with a company that some of the big internet mareketers use - they can’t afford to be offline for long so using a company they use is usually a great recommendation
Topics: Getting started with email newsletters, Recommended email newsletter software | 1 Comment »
Email Newsletters: Are they different from email marketing?
By Karen Skidmore | September 16, 2008
There is a lot of jargon around about what an email newsletter actually is. And I do believe that many people who run their own business get confused over whether an email newsletter is email marketing.
It seems that many of you don’t want to become email spammers (and quite right, too!) yet still want to build an effective way of marketing via email to their clients and customers.
Email marketing does tend to bring up images of sending out mass emails to thousands of emails purchased from a mailing house. And there is nothing wrong with this approach if you feel your business would benefit.
However, an email newsletter, in its very nature of its wording, is less about direct selling and more about adding value through news and articles.
So yes, an email newsletter can still be an incredibly powerful marketing medium but don’t be put off by feeling nervous about becoming an email salesman. An email newsletter adds value to your subscribers, your prospects and your paying customers and in return will add considerable value to your business.
Topics: Getting started with email newsletters, Why are email newsletters so effective | No Comments »
Do you need autoresponders to go with your email newsletters?
By Karen Skidmore | July 31, 2008
If you are thinking of starting up an email newsletter, one thing you need to consider is whether you need an autoresponder facility.
First of all, what is an autoresponder? An autoresponders are the fabulous automatic emails that are sent out when someone subscribes or purchases something from you on the web. Let me give you an example.
Last night, I took my daughter to see Kylie at the O2 (who was amazing, I hasten to add!) and the O2 have a wonderful email notification system that informs as well as upsells in a great way. A few days before going, I received an email that helpfully gave me all the instructions on how to travel to the O2. A day later, I then received an email offering a special offer of pre-concert drinks and meals at their “VIP lounge” (thanks, but no thanks - I just deleted it but would have thought about it I was going with a group of friends.)
This morning I received a “Thank You” email, saying that they felt they were only as good as the last event and asked for feedback as well as offering links to all relevant future gigs (good upsell again!).
All these emails were autoresponders. They had been re-written and programmed to go out at set days depending on when the event I actually attended was. And for self-employed professionals and home business owners, these emails are invaluable. No staffing costs, no complicated databased needed - just an autoresponder subscription that most email newsletter systems offer.
If you are planning (or already offering) workshops, downloadable products or even physical products, then autoresponders are a must-have facility. Make sure you take this in to consideration when you look for an email newsletter provider for your business.
For all the latest recommendations on email newsletter providers, as well as all the steps you need to take to create your own email newsletter, check out my home study programme - “Create an Email Newsletter in Just 30 Days!”
Topics: Getting started with email newsletters, Recommended email newsletter software | No Comments »
Once you start an email newsletter, do you have to keep sending it out?
By Karen Skidmore | July 9, 2008
Once you get started with an email newsletter, there is often a feeling of obligation to keep sending one out.
I received an email from one How to do Email Newsletters subscriber yesterday stating that, because of a change with franchise she was working under, she was going to have to re-brand but was worried about sending out an email newsletter in the meanwhile.
Email newsletters are an excellent way of building relationships with potential customers, but if you haven’t anything to specifically offer, promote or ask for help on, then it is pointless putting yourself under pressure to write and send one out.
For an email newsletter to actively grow and build your business, each one needs to have a call to action. If you haven’t got a real business reason to send one out (and I don’t mean a sales pitch here!), then don’t send one out. Give yourself a break and, I promise you, your subscribers won’t realise. If they do wonder “where you’ve gone” for a few weeks, then that’s a good thing, surely! 
Topics: When to send out email newsletters, Why are email newsletters so effective | No Comments »