Save Time and Double Your Business Online With an Email Newsletter
Learn how to create stronger relationships with your customers through email marketing. Sending out a simple email newsletter is s highly efficient way to keep in touch with your clients.
This page will give a brief overview of how email marketing works, and provide you with tools for creating your first email newsletter.
5 Steps to Sending Your First Email Campaign
1. Learn the Basics If you are gonna do this alone, please take some time to really understand what email marketing is, and learn all the rules and best practices. Sending out mass emails without following the laws of the CAN-SPAM act can lead you to paying hefty fines.
2. Establish an online presence This could be a website or even a blog. You definitely need a place to send your customers when they click on the links in your email. Nowadays, you can build a basic website/blog for very little to no money.
3. Define a Strategy and Your Goals Before you ever launch your first site, you will need to determine what purpose your newsletter serves, who it will be delivered to and what goals you have for this marketing vehicle.
4. Develop a List of Subscribers You will need to create a list of people who have given you permission to contact them via email on a specific topic. Read the section below on permission, titled "Ask for Permission" for more details.
5. Choose a Reputable Email Service Provider I strongly suggest that you avoid sending BCC or CC emails, and either solicit the services of a professional email marketer, or do it yourself with the help of an email service provider (see the section below titled "Choosing the Right Email Marketing Service Provider"). You can either hire a designer to build your email template, or you can opt to use one of the templates provided by your email service provider.
2. Establish an online presence This could be a website or even a blog. You definitely need a place to send your customers when they click on the links in your email. Nowadays, you can build a basic website/blog for very little to no money.
3. Define a Strategy and Your Goals Before you ever launch your first site, you will need to determine what purpose your newsletter serves, who it will be delivered to and what goals you have for this marketing vehicle.
4. Develop a List of Subscribers You will need to create a list of people who have given you permission to contact them via email on a specific topic. Read the section below on permission, titled "Ask for Permission" for more details.
5. Choose a Reputable Email Service Provider I strongly suggest that you avoid sending BCC or CC emails, and either solicit the services of a professional email marketer, or do it yourself with the help of an email service provider (see the section below titled "Choosing the Right Email Marketing Service Provider"). You can either hire a designer to build your email template, or you can opt to use one of the templates provided by your email service provider.
Choosing an Email Marketing Service Provider
I spent 8 months doing research on email marketing and invested countless hours into researching the email marketing services that provide the best value. Here are a few email marketing service providers that I can whole-heartedly recommend for the "do it yourself" newbie email marketer.
Constant Contact
is soooo easy to get started. This is an easy do-it-yourself solution for building your own email campaigns. They have a ton of templates for you to use, and have pretty good tutorials to get you started. I can't stress enough how easy it is to use ConstantContact, the biggest issue I've had is that the new "wizard" is a little quirky in how it brings up some of the emails, but it's not the big of a deal. *You can track and measure emails here at no extra cost! Fees start off at $15 per month.
Permission Based Email Marketing - 60 Day Free Trial
iContact (formerly Intellicontact) has an amazing set of features, such as the autoresponder, ability to create surveys, newsletter archiving, and event management (no extra charge). These are features that you just won't get with ConstantContact (although Constant Contact did recently implement their own survey feature that you have to pay additional fees for), and the pricing is really competitive. Be sure to check them out, they also offer a free 15-day trial. Pricing starts off at 9.95 per month.
Aweber I currently use Aweber as my email marketing provider, because they came so highly recommended and charge a very reasonable fee. I finally gave into peer pressure and signed up as a client. I have to admit, so far I'm pretty impressed with the features and customer service. Seriously, they are really great about making you feel like you are some part of a club.
Constant Contact
Permission Based Email Marketing - 60 Day Free Trial
iContact (formerly Intellicontact) has an amazing set of features, such as the autoresponder, ability to create surveys, newsletter archiving, and event management (no extra charge). These are features that you just won't get with ConstantContact (although Constant Contact did recently implement their own survey feature that you have to pay additional fees for), and the pricing is really competitive. Be sure to check them out, they also offer a free 15-day trial. Pricing starts off at 9.95 per month.
Aweber I currently use Aweber as my email marketing provider, because they came so highly recommended and charge a very reasonable fee. I finally gave into peer pressure and signed up as a client. I have to admit, so far I'm pretty impressed with the features and customer service. Seriously, they are really great about making you feel like you are some part of a club.
Asking for Permission in Email Marketing
Create an Inhouse Permission-based Subscriber List
Permission is absolutely vital to your email marketing efforts, because it ensures that your emails are wanted, expected and heartily welcomed by your subscribers.
This means that you CAN'T send emails to addresses that you paid for on a rented list, snatched off of the web, or perhaps exported from your personal email account.
You will need to find ways to get people to subscribe to your email campaigns. If you send emails without permission then your email is considered spam.
Let's clear up what spam is, and then what kind of permission you are gonna need before you can "hit the send button". Spam is any email sent to someone who hasn't given their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the email.
You can only email subscribers if you obtained their permission in any of the following ways.
-They signed up on your website by filling out a form to join your mailing list.
-They completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed.
-If someone gives you their business card and you have explained to them that you will be in touch by email.
-They have done business with you during the past 2 years. By making a purchase from you they have provided their permission implicitly. We still recommend that you confirm permission before adding them to your subscriber lists.
Samples that don't equate to permission
-You obtained the email addresses from a third party. Irregardless of whether you purchased a list, were provided one by a partner, or bought a bankrupt competitor's customer list, those people never gave YOU permission to email them and they will consider your email spam.
-You "copy and pasted" email addresses from the Internet. Just because people publish their email address on the Internet doesn't mean they want to hear from you.
-You haven't emailed that address for more than 2 years. Even if you initially got permission legitimately, they won't remember giving it to you. If you haven't sent something to that address in the last 2 years, you can't start now.
There really aren't many solid published books on the actual subject of email marketing, but here is a read on permission marketing that you definitely have to check out!
This means that you CAN'T send emails to addresses that you paid for on a rented list, snatched off of the web, or perhaps exported from your personal email account.
You will need to find ways to get people to subscribe to your email campaigns. If you send emails without permission then your email is considered spam.
Let's clear up what spam is, and then what kind of permission you are gonna need before you can "hit the send button". Spam is any email sent to someone who hasn't given their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the email.
You can only email subscribers if you obtained their permission in any of the following ways.
-They signed up on your website by filling out a form to join your mailing list.
-They completed an offline form and indicated they wanted to be emailed.
-If someone gives you their business card and you have explained to them that you will be in touch by email.
-They have done business with you during the past 2 years. By making a purchase from you they have provided their permission implicitly. We still recommend that you confirm permission before adding them to your subscriber lists.
Samples that don't equate to permission
-You obtained the email addresses from a third party. Irregardless of whether you purchased a list, were provided one by a partner, or bought a bankrupt competitor's customer list, those people never gave YOU permission to email them and they will consider your email spam.
-You "copy and pasted" email addresses from the Internet. Just because people publish their email address on the Internet doesn't mean they want to hear from you.
-You haven't emailed that address for more than 2 years. Even if you initially got permission legitimately, they won't remember giving it to you. If you haven't sent something to that address in the last 2 years, you can't start now.
There really aren't many solid published books on the actual subject of email marketing, but here is a read on permission marketing that you definitely have to check out!
Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers
Although this book was written in '99, it is a fabulous read. The book provides beginners with an overview of permission marketing, (which is the back bone to email marketing). In case you didn't know, the author is Seth Godin, founder of Squidoo.
Amazon Price: $19.00 (as of 12/28/2009) 
The CAN-SPAM Act
Here's a rundown of the law's main provisions:
Most commercial email service providers have already built in precautions to ensure that you don't break any "spammy" laws, but in case they don't...here are the requirements of the law.
It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information - including the originating domain name and email address - must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.
Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.
It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission's website to learn more about the CAN-SPAM Act.
It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information - including the originating domain name and email address - must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.
Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.
It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission's website to learn more about the CAN-SPAM Act.
Types of Email Campaigns You Can Send
Here is a quick sampling of what you can send out with email marketing.
e-Newsletters
Providing your customers with a newsletter will not only help your company stay fresh in their minds, but can also help to establish you as an expert in your field. You can send snippets on the latest news from your company, tips related to your field or even promotional coupons that your subscribers will find useful.
e-Bulletins
Perfect for announcing a new product/service, this is similar to a postcard. This kind of message will get to the point rather quickly.
Press releases
Electronically send out a press release to any media contacts you have on your subscriber lists. This is a great way to get media coverage if you have a solid list of subscribers.
e-Newsletters
Providing your customers with a newsletter will not only help your company stay fresh in their minds, but can also help to establish you as an expert in your field. You can send snippets on the latest news from your company, tips related to your field or even promotional coupons that your subscribers will find useful.
e-Bulletins
Perfect for announcing a new product/service, this is similar to a postcard. This kind of message will get to the point rather quickly.
Press releases
Electronically send out a press release to any media contacts you have on your subscriber lists. This is a great way to get media coverage if you have a solid list of subscribers.
Anatomy of a Successful Email Marketing Campaign
Here are a few basic components of a successful email
From Line: Who's There
Make sure you use a name that your subscribers will recognize, because your readers will DELETE your emails if they don't know who the sender is. . You can use your own name, company name or your brand name if it's more recognizable. Once you choose your sender name, stay consistent in using it each time you send out that email campaign.
Subject Line: Getting Your Email Open
This is prime real estate here, so keep it SHORT and simple (35 characters or less). You only get 3 seconds max before your readers will decide to open or delete your email, so make your subject line "pop" by conveying the biggest benefit.
ALSO, DO NOT USE ALL CAPS or exclamation marks!!!
Content and Copy Considerations
Most times email requires you to get to the point quickly, so be clear and concise, focus on emphasising benefits, and create a sense of urgency.
Content Don'ts
-Avoid spammy words like free, guarantee, spam, credit card etc, so that you don't upset spam filters.
-Don't use red text, ALL CAPS, excessive use of punctuation !!!, ??
-Don't hotlink the words "click here." Don't be afraid to hotlink a whole sentence.
-Make sure your headline matches the rest of the copy in your email.
The Call-To-Action
The call to action is basically what steps you'd like your customers to take. Many people still use the words "click here", but surely are more creative than that. Whatever you do, make it easy, make it clear, make it low or no obligation and perhaps offer a reward or incentive.
**Also remember to include your physical address, and an unsubscribe link in each campaign you send out.
Make sure you use a name that your subscribers will recognize, because your readers will DELETE your emails if they don't know who the sender is. . You can use your own name, company name or your brand name if it's more recognizable. Once you choose your sender name, stay consistent in using it each time you send out that email campaign.
Subject Line: Getting Your Email Open
This is prime real estate here, so keep it SHORT and simple (35 characters or less). You only get 3 seconds max before your readers will decide to open or delete your email, so make your subject line "pop" by conveying the biggest benefit.
ALSO, DO NOT USE ALL CAPS or exclamation marks!!!
Content and Copy Considerations
Most times email requires you to get to the point quickly, so be clear and concise, focus on emphasising benefits, and create a sense of urgency.
Content Don'ts
-Avoid spammy words like free, guarantee, spam, credit card etc, so that you don't upset spam filters.
-Don't use red text, ALL CAPS, excessive use of punctuation !!!, ??
-Don't hotlink the words "click here." Don't be afraid to hotlink a whole sentence.
-Make sure your headline matches the rest of the copy in your email.
The Call-To-Action
The call to action is basically what steps you'd like your customers to take. Many people still use the words "click here", but surely are more creative than that. Whatever you do, make it easy, make it clear, make it low or no obligation and perhaps offer a reward or incentive.
**Also remember to include your physical address, and an unsubscribe link in each campaign you send out.
Amazing Points of Reference
My favorite places to go...
Marketing Sherpa Just about everything here costs money, but you visit their homepage weekly to see what free articles they have available. They post new articles and case studies for free for the first few days. Wonderful way to get new ideas. You should also check out the winners of this year's email awards to get inspired.
Duct Tape Marketing Blog is one of my favorite blogs and I try to swing by this site whenever I get a chance. This award winning blog is written by John Jantsch, and he shares a lot of tips about online marketing.
Duct Tape Marketing Blog is one of my favorite blogs and I try to swing by this site whenever I get a chance. This award winning blog is written by John Jantsch, and he shares a lot of tips about online marketing.
FREE Email Marketing Tools
Like I mentioned earlier, I've spent a LOT of time researching this topic, and here are some of the free resources that I think you should know about.
- MailChimp's Design Guide
- If you are determined to design your own html email campaigns, then you gotta give this free pdf a read. I learned so much about the restrictions of email design in this handy little guide.
- Resources for helping you write that newsletter
- Creating a compelling e-newsletter can be VERY intimidating, and this is the reason so many people don't even bother with launching
- FREE Blog
- If you really don't have the money to hire a website designer and want a site/blog RIGHT NOW, then please check out Wordpress.com. You can get a free blog there, as long as you dont mind a http://YOURURL.wordpress.com for your domain. You can also upgrade and purchase a domain name to make the url look more professional. Alternatively, you can visit www.wordpress.ORG to get a free copy of this blogging software and tweak it to fit your branding needs.
- Free email newsletter services for bloggers
- I found this recently, and just haven't had time to give it a test run. But free is free, and so if your a blogger, you might want to give it a go.
- Pics to include in your emails
- Microsoft has a HUGE gallery of free images and clip art that you can use in your email campaigns.
Tools for Creating an Online Presence
Remember, you will need a website or blog if you want to successfully implement email marketing. Here are a few products from reputable companies that you can use to get you started.
Bluehost
Thinking of building your own site or blog? I know how incredibly difficult it can be to choose a host, and so I thought I'd share a host that I often use. I spent weeks surfing online reading reviews before jumping onboard with Bluehost, and I heartily give them my endorsement.
XSitePro Webdesign software for Internet entrepreneneurs. If you want to build your own optimized websites, or want to build a few sites to make extra income, then definitely check out this software. I've heard so many good things about Xsitepro and have yet to read a negative review. This software does cost $197, but they offer a ONE YEAR money back guarantee to try their software (a whole year to try this sucker out)! Really not too bad compared to Dreamweaver, GoLive or Frontpage. Best part is that you don't need to know how to write html. All you need to do is plug in your content and you can build as many sites as you'd like. I will let you know that building the sites is easy, but ya gotta check out their online tutorials and instruction booklet before you start to avoid a steep learning curve. Overall solid investment!
Build Your Own Site from Scratch
Build a site with MODx Content Management System (CMS). Content Management Systems (CMS) allow you to easily update your website yourself (no more calling tech department or a web designer to make changes to your website). Check out my lens http://www.squidoo.com/modxcms to learn more about how to build a site with MODx. This CMS is free for you to download.
Bluehost
Thinking of building your own site or blog? I know how incredibly difficult it can be to choose a host, and so I thought I'd share a host that I often use. I spent weeks surfing online reading reviews before jumping onboard with Bluehost, and I heartily give them my endorsement.
XSitePro Webdesign software for Internet entrepreneneurs. If you want to build your own optimized websites, or want to build a few sites to make extra income, then definitely check out this software. I've heard so many good things about Xsitepro and have yet to read a negative review. This software does cost $197, but they offer a ONE YEAR money back guarantee to try their software (a whole year to try this sucker out)! Really not too bad compared to Dreamweaver, GoLive or Frontpage. Best part is that you don't need to know how to write html. All you need to do is plug in your content and you can build as many sites as you'd like. I will let you know that building the sites is easy, but ya gotta check out their online tutorials and instruction booklet before you start to avoid a steep learning curve. Overall solid investment!
Build Your Own Site from Scratch
Build a site with MODx Content Management System (CMS). Content Management Systems (CMS) allow you to easily update your website yourself (no more calling tech department or a web designer to make changes to your website). Check out my lens http://www.squidoo.com/modxcms to learn more about how to build a site with MODx. This CMS is free for you to download.
Check out these Pages
-
The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Reliable Web Hosting Service
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Choosing the right host for your website can be a painful experience. In the past, I would go and choose the cheapest option available. This resulted in me using various hosts that had terrible down-time or made my sites run S-L-O-W-L-Y. I got...
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How to Build a Beautiful Site With MODx CMS (Content Management System)
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Learn about the MODx Content Management System. Find links to free MODx templates, examples of sites powered by MODx, and reviews comparing MODx to Joomla, Wordpress, Expression Engine, and Drupal. I spent months testing out various content mana...
Submit Your Own Tips
What do you to improve your email marketing efforts?
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Reply
- KatelynnD KatelynnD Nov 12, 2009 @ 2:41 pm
- Great information. Thank You.
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Reply
- drossart drossart Oct 7, 2009 @ 5:43 am
- This was really helpful.
Thank you,
artswami
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- trueprosperity trueprosperity Aug 23, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
- Great information on email marketing. 5 stars.
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