Staying in regular touch with your current and potential customers pays big dividends. After obtaining permission, you can send e-newsletters that give helpful information, offer coupons and provide links to online resources your customers might find valuable. And, provided you do it tastefully, you can tell about your products and services.

Treat your readers with respect. Since they’ve given you permission to keep in touch, aim to give value in return. Build trusting relationships, rather than simply selling to them.

For almost seven years, we’ve sent out In-Flight Refueling—Secrets to Small Biz Success twice a month to clients and others. And though it’s longer than we recommend, it’s proved an effective way to stay connected. Sometimes, after receiving the ezine for years, a reader will call and ask if he or she can join an Advisory Board.

Keep your emails simple and attractive. Be true to your brand. If you’re sending an html version, include photos and other graphics. Be consistent—send emails when you promised.

Warning
In his new book, Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone, author Mitch Joel warns that, if your customers are under 30, connecting via social media will be way more effective than email.

If your target client is over 30, email marketing can be very effective. Cheryl Beck of The Email Works helps business owners to use ConstantContact’s reasonably priced service. You can try it free for 60 days. “Some clients just want me to get them started, then they take over, “ she explains. “Others give me their text and graphics on a regular basis, and I format and send their ezines for them.”

Cheryl is also an organic farmer, and uses her e-newsletter to keep in touch with customers, letting them know what’s going on at the farm, what new produce she has available, giving them fun recipes to try and links to other useful sites. “The possibilities are endless with email marketing,” she says. “It’s the perfect way to stay in touch with my clients and a win-win for all of us.”

The Pros and Cons
Email marketing does take time, but the results are measurable and it’s definitely cost effective.

About the Author: Victoria Munro is co-founder (along with husband Dave Block) of Make-it-Fly® LLC, a company dedicated to creating success for small-business owners through creatively designed programs and tools. Victoria has started and run nine different businesses. To receive FREE business success articles with tips to help you with your business, sign up for their award-winning ezine, “In-Flight Refueling,” at: www.Make-it-Fly.com, and receive a free copy of the eBook, Get More Done in Less Time: 101 Quick and Easy Time Tactics & Tips.

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Copyright © 2009 Victoria Munro. All rights reserved.