Email marketing is the use of emails for the purposes of direct marketing. Email marketing is a broad term and could mean any of the following:
• Sending emails to customers to promote customer loyalty or inform them of new services or products that are available.
• Thanking customers for their business and encouraging them to repeat business
• Sending emails with advertisements to new customers to help generate new business.
The biggest advantage of email marketing is that it is virtually free. Compared to traditionally mail marketing, email marketing is much cheaper and can reach a larger target audience. For example, a company looking to promote a line of products will first have to design a promotional document. After that they will need to print copies and envelops. These (the envelops) then need to be addressed, stuffed, sealed and mailed. If the company opts for an email instead of the traditional mail, all the company needed to do was create the marketing mail and then send it out to as many people as they wanted. The process can even be automated.
The disadvantage of email marketing is that not all people have access to the internet. Out of those that do most either skip or ignore these mails altogether. Email providers also screen and block quite a few of these mails.
Marketing emails need to be designed so that they attract and hold a person’s attention when they open the mail. This can be hard to do. So email templates are divided into two categories – HTML templates and non HTML templates.
HTML Templates use HTML code to create interactive emails while the non HTML templates are the normal mails with text and pictures. HTML coding has changed as the years have gone by and much more can be done with HTML now.
Ideally marketing emails should start out with a line or two explaining the reason of the mail. That’s the traditional way of doing it. With HTML you can add in a flashing picture or graphic that explains the reason of the email.
If you plan on adding content in the form of articles, then add extracts of the article with a link to the entire article. That way the person reading the article can go to the article if interested and the space in the mail can be used for other things.
A word of warning though. Don’t get carried away with the HTML code. If an email is too heavy and takes time to load, people will probably not look at it. Also, email providers direct heavy mail directly to spam folders. Keep the email light, informative and to the point.
If you are looking email marketing templates you can find plenty on the internet. You can buy and use these email templates from the internet as they are or order custom designed ones. It makes more sense in outsourcing your email template work to professionals rather than struggle and try to put together an email yourself.
When growing your MLM business many Network Marketers run into a couple of problems. They are four problems to be exact and they need to be addressed before you can proceed to lucrative growth for your business.
The four problems that network marketers face are as follows:
1. Connecting with people is your number one priority when it comes to online success, especially when you are trying to grow your business. What I mean by connecting is that you want to build rapport. You want people to feel comfortable and have that trust factor when interacting with you. The best way of doing that is to provide value. If you provide value, connecting with people should be very easy. You can provide almost anything if you put your mind to it. Provide solutions to problems, provide facts, provide news updates, provide training/coaching, or provide past experiences that may hit home to the other party. These are great ways to connect and build trust. For example, no one is going to buy a house from any real estate agent. You must build rapport and have that trust factor. That agent must meet the buyers expectations like what type of house they want, location, price, rate and term, etc. Attitude plays a big role as well. If those expectations are met then do you think the buyer will respect and trust the agent? Of course you would. It’s no different than connecting with someone online. Like I said before if you provide value connecting is simple.
2. Follow up is very important because this lets the other party know that you really do care about their well being. Follow up is what most network marketers ignore when it comes to growing their MLM business. The reason I say this is because humans are lazy and they procrastinate. We are all guilty of these traits and we need a little push every now and then. If you don’t follow up then you are losing half of the battle. You should follow up with a phone call which is preferred or an email to get the fire burning again. This lets the potential prospect know that you are serious and passionate at what you do. Don’t chase but just follow up to see where they stand. This is a great way to get people to say yes even though they told you no in the beginning.
3. Overcoming objectives is an art that can be mastered in time. I’m sure you have heard them all like, I don’t have the money, I will think about it, is this a pyramid scheme, or my favorite; are you making any money? When addressing some of these objectives make sure you are very professional and don’t get offended. There are many rebuttals that you can use when addressing most of these objectives and I will provide an example. If someone asks you how much money have you made? You can response by saying: “That is a great question. Let me ask you a quick question. How much of my money can you spend? None… Exactly, it’s not about how much I made, it’s about how much you can make. This rebuttal works like a charm. My suggestion is to practice on your family and friends like I did because after awhile you will be immune to objectives.
4. The last and final problem network marketers have is closing the prospect. When you are doing the closing you must be direct and very confident about what you are talking about. If you mumble and don’t show confidence then you might as well expect a big fat N.O. Getting straight to the point is very key because you don’t want to waste any more time than you have to. I like to address my prospect like they have already said YES. “Let’s setup your account so you can get started on your training in the next 10mins.” You see, that is routine for me. I’m very direct and to the point. I don’t sugar coat anything when it come to the closing and you should be the same way. The more direct and to the point you are the better your results will be.
If you master each one of these steps your online career to success is very bright. Like they always say practice makes perfect. Network Marketers that don’t follow these key aspects can forget about growing a strong and long lasting MLM business.
How many of you out there have an e-mail address. I am pretty sure that everyone reading this article has his or her hand high in the air. I don’t think that I know of anyone that has ever not owned or heard of an e-mail address. With this being said, can you imagine the power that e-mail harnesses as a direct marketing tool. It is by far one of the cheapest and most efficient ways of sending out flyers and brochures.
How is this done, you ask? One of the most efficient ways is by using an auto responder. With an auto responder you create a single message and push it out to everyone in your contacts list with just a click of a button. It is an amazing tool and definitely saves on time. An additional perk with an auto responder is that your consumers will have the ability to subscribe or un-subscribe. How is this a perk? If your current contacts are receiving your e-mails and feel that it would be something of use to one of their friends that are currently not in your contacts, then they can simply forward the e-mail onto them with the link necessary for them to opt in to receive your e-mails. It is a great way to build your contact list and works almost as good as social networking. If someone finds that they no longer have a use for the information that you are providing to them they can easily un-subscribe out of your list allowing for more room for the subscribers that still enjoy and happily utilize the information that you are sending out.
Another great use for e-mail marketing is by letting your customers or client list know about upcoming promotions and events. Better yet you can start a newsletter or send out press releases related to upcoming products or services. The amount of services that e-mail can take the place of is unlimited, not to mention a very wallet friendly marketing technique. One of the many services out there that not very many may know about that can be used by just about anyone.
Though the only experience necessary is that of owning an e-mail address of your own it may be beneficial to learn some of the necessary skills to enhance your marketing abilities. With e-mail marketing comes a whole new handbook, so to speak, on etiquette. You would be amazed of the many different punctuations out there that can lead a person to misconstrue something that was not initially meant to mean any harm. If your going to venture into this form of marketing a little bit of video training or researching would be beneficial. After all, it’s always good to know the most efficient way to perform a technique, especially in marketing. This form of marketing, when done correctly, will greatly increase your customer base.
So you’ve just finished creating your very own fashion line and you’ve truly logged your man hours. You’ve spent hours at the drawing board, sketching your masterpieces. You’ve spent days dying fabrics and debating over what patterns to use. You’ve cut and sewed clothes together until your hands are sore and raw. Finally, after endless hard work, you’ve done it! Now, you want the world to see your collection and recognize you for it? Guess what? Nobody blames you. However, getting your fashion business off the ground requires more than just the hard work of creating a brilliant collection of designs. You must know how to market your apparel strategically if you want store buyers to pay your work any attention. Here are a few tips on how to give apparel marketing your best shot.
Decide on a target audience. Know your own collection well enough to know exactly who you would like to market it towards. Even though you might think narrowing a target consumer might hurt your sales, it will actually help. The more specifically you advertise the clearer and more focused your product will seem. This will appeal to more people overall, including those outside of your target range. Deciding on a target audience will also help you sound informed when talking to store buyers and it will help you decide on what stores to approach about your products in the first place.
Make direct appointments with buyers. Rather than sending out a mass message to every store or boutique you’ve ever heard of, choose carefully which stores you think would best represent you and your collection, and make direct appointments with buyers from those stores. When you meet with them, make sure you have samples of your work neatly prepared, and offer them the most professional, most elaborate examples of the direction you want your work to go in. Remember, you only have one chance to make a good first impression, and in the fashion industry, impressions mean everything. Thinking about who you want to meet with and then being fully prepared to meet with them will make it seem like you have thoroughly researched your strategies, and the buyers will thank you for not wasting their time.
Research pricing. If you’re trying to sell your designs, you will inevitably have to decide on prices for every piece in your collection. When you get to this step, it is best to do a lot of field research to arrive at the right decision. Study what else is out there that is similar to your collection. Research the proper price range for your quality of work, and make sure you choose prices that are low enough to be competitive in the marketplace, but high enough to establish your products as high quality.
It is easy to forget how much hard work goes into fashion merchandising. However, don’t let all of the importance of marketing strategies take away from the initial importance of designing apparel with creativity, passion and love for design.